Its a house that knows how to put its money where its mouth is and canshow you where every penny is going. Atlantas $1.5 million EcoManor isa symbol of the green revolution, a growing consciousness abouteco-friendly energy-saving systems that has come knocking on the doorsof residential integrators.

Conceived and built as an educational resource by eco-activists Lauraand Rutherford Seydel, the five-bedroom Tudor mansion is the first LEED(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified house in theSoutheast, an honor bestowed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Itfeatures solar and geothermal energy and a host of earth-friendlymaterials highlighting green living without sacrificing design andluxury.

A Crestron-powered green energy monitoring and management system,operating 24/7, keeps tabs on utility usage and manages lighting,climate control, security, AV distribution, and collection andre-distribution of grey water for irrigation. Installed by InteriorMedia of Atlanta, the system features a Crestron TMPC-15 touchpanel inthe kitchen to display real-time energy consumption and allowhomeowners to make changes or set the automatic system to Economy,Miser or Entertainment mode. The high contrast display supportshigh-resolution graphics and images, dynamic text and animation,operating on an embedded Windows XP platform.

In addition to the main touchpanel providing remote access to allsystems, several Crestron keypads, and thermostats are also installedthroughout the home for local control. Crestrons CEN-IDOC delivers theiPod experience to touchpanels throughout the house. Additionally,Niles Audio donated 17 ceiling and in-wall speakers, OS weatherproofindoor/outdoor speakers, a systems integration amplifier, speakerselector, and 11 volume control systems. EcoManor also has two Philipsplasma TVs and a Philips LCD TV.

Going green as an integrator adds a level of complexity indecision-making, noted Interior Media president David Hardy. There arenot as many product choices, and you have to make value decisions, hesaid. At the beginning of the project I had to explain to thehomeowners that systems integration on this level is all customized.
Interior Media brought several people to the EcoManor table, assemblinga team that included Lucid Design Group of Atlanta, which provided itsBuilding Dashboard system, and independent Crestron programmer, SynprosCorp., of Atlanta.

The house underwent several system revisions throughout its two-yeardesign and construction process, Hardy said. We spent a lot of timeupfront with pie in the sky ideas such as trying to block or harvestsunlight by integrating a shading system, he explained, until werealized that these Low-E windows block most of the heat. The customerand I ultimately felt the funds were better invested in other areas.

Hardy has no doubt that green represents the next level of integration.Its not a sea change, but a level that is higher than what wecurrently see, he said. Anybody with an i...

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