The Wired LivingHome combines high design with the latest in green technology.
The five-bedroom, four-bathroom house is a joint project of Wired Magazine and the architectural firm LivingHomes and was constructed out of eleven glass and steel prefabricated modules on a sloping canyon lot in the exclusive Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The concept is to show that connectivity and sustainable living don't have to be mutually exclusive.
"Up to now, green has been thought of as really granola and you have to make a sacrifice," says Shiron Bell, one of the Wired LivingHome tour guides. "There's no sacrifice in this house at all."
The dwelling is literally built on a foundation of recycled materials that includes the glass in the windows and the steel girders that make up the modules. And the redwood planks that provide the distinctive exterior face have already had two other lives before this latest incarnation-once as the roof of an Army barracks and once as the trestles of a bridge.
Inside, the floors are made of bamboo, a plant that grows so quickly it nearly dares you to cut it down, walls are softened and warmed with coverings of hemp-and insulated with soybean fiber. There's a chair made of discarded margarine containers and a bench constructed of recycled milk cartons.
If that's all too low-tech for you, step inside one of the four bathrooms, which offer two water-saving flush options (depending on the nature of your pit stop). There's also a countertop range that won't burn your hands or anything else it's not supposed to, since it only conducts heat when in contact with cast iron cookware.
Touch smart computers can be found in almost every room, allowing you to control nearly every aspect of the house while monitoring energy and water usage. Heated family debates can be settled conclusively with a quick Internet fact check.
Every gallon of water and kilowatt of energy used in the house can be tracked on the Web.
On the more romantic side, the home's electronic control system allows you to automatically adjust the lighting, music and temperature of each room in the house. An upbeat Buena Vista Social Club salsa vibe in the living room can seamlessly slip into more subdued lighting and a chill, martini lounge atmosphere as you approach the master bedroom.
The home was designed by celebrated architect Ray Kappe, whose foray into sustainable architecture has led to experiments with prefabricated, modular units-in which some homes can be completely assembled in as little as one day.
But while the home is green, the price tag is hardly lean - the Wired LivingHome comes in at a bank-busting $4.3 million, a not-so-subtle reminder that conservation wrapped in luxury is not without its price.
