Innovation Way: A living laboratory for the future of home building – Babcock Ranch Telegraph
Innovation Way is comprised of seven smart homes, three by Lennar and two each by D.R. Horton and Pulte Homes. STEVE MITSKAVICH / BABCOCK RANCH TELEGRAPH
Babcock Ranch has opened the doors to its novel Innovation Way project.
The newest neighborhood in Babcock Ranch, Innovation Way is a testing ground and living laboratory of seven showcase homes featuring three national homebuilders. Lennar, Pulte Homes and D.R. Horton are exploring the possibilities for a new wave of homebuilding solutions in Innovation Way.
Florida Power & Light Company will collect, analyze, and compare the test homes’ energy data during the testing phase. In addition to the test homes, there are two control homes in Innovation Way.
The public was invited to an open-house glimpse of the future and what new technology and energy efficiency can look like in real-life applications. Viewing is offered now in completed models by reservation for in-person, self-directed tours using your smart phone and QR codes.
In a walk-through of three test home models situated on an active neighborhood street with a scenic curving sidewalk and front porches overlooking a hammock of trees and native vegetation, signs of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology at your fingertips were evident in mood-setting, color-changing lighting and whole-house sound.
D.R. Horton representatives Salvatore Valenziano, left, and Director of Operations Kyle Knight, right, demonstrate features to a visitor. STEVE MITSKAVICH / BABCOCK RANCH TELEGRAPH
Offering a wow factor were faucets and showers that operate on voice command to deliver water immediately at just the right temperature you chose, along with phone- or voice-controlled window and door shades that can instantly block the sun or offer privacy, even when you are away from home. In one home, the remote controlled “blinds” are a cloaking device built into the glass panels of the front door and rear sliding doors, instantly turning the clear glass to translucent and back to clear again when desired. Ranges and microwave ovens have built-in video screens that can call up a recipe or cooking tutorial without having to boot up other devices.
One model features a prep kitchen artfully tucked behind the open-concept main kitchen. It offers creature comforts for the cook, such as a built-in coffee maker and convenient storage for bulky kitchen appliances and gadgets. One model includes a refrigeration unit that allows you the versatility to switch the freezer compartment to a refrigerator and back again, depending on your needs.
John Bell, co-founder of the Greyter Water Systems recycling and water re-use management company, in one of Lennar’s Innovation Way models.
The Innovation Way floor plans are designed for efficiency and storage options while providing optimum clean and uncluttered living space.
Some of the more impressive features are not as obvious, however, such as new construction processes and materials, including stucco and insulation materials that do a better job of conserving energy, outside walls made from foam panels and poured concrete, and a cable construction method for building and securing walls on the second story of two-story houses.
Energy savings from small-duct indoor HVAC systems can add up, and water consumption can be reduced with a whole-house gray water recycling system that filters gray water from sinks and showers and re-uses it to supply water for flushing toilets. The reclaimed water is clean, just not potable. Using recycled water will save homeowners on water bills and save municipalities in water delivery and wastewater treatment costs for a more sustainable community.
Lennar Area Sales Manager Jeff Dew points to himself in an instructional video that plays on a screen incorporated in the door of the microwave oven in one of the builder’s three Innovation Way test homes.
Several programmable battery back-up systems are being tested throughout Innovation Way homes that will provide seamless electricity to run some or all the homes’ appliances during a prolonged power outage without the need for a generator. Simulated power outage conditions are being staged to test the systems and to determine if anyone notices when the houses are switched to battery back-up mode.
Both the gray water recycling system and the battery back-up systems fit in the garage with a relatively small footprint. Some innovations are readily available today, such as color- and mood-changing decorative lighting, and a programmable security system that lets you unlock your door, turn on your lights, and turn down the thermostat before you arrive home.
Shady Hellman of Pulte Homes in the kitchen/great room of one of the builder’s Innovation Way test models.
Other innovations are so new they are experimental and only exist in prototype form at Innovation Way, which makes it difficult to put a current price on the model homes.
When asked if Innovation Way was the culmination of his vision, or just the beginning, developer Syd Kitson hinted that more innovative projects were on the horizon at Babcock Ranch.
“We’ve had this vision of building the first environmentally sustainable solar-powered community for 15 years; we want our actions to speak louder than our words,” he said. “There’s a high level of excitement for our residents of watching their hometown being built before their eyes.”
“There is no other place where residents are able to live and work in a community that is also a laboratory for future energy and natural resources sustainability,” said Tom Hoban, president and CIO of Kitson & Partners. According to Stevany Cole, FPL project director of development, the data and analysis collected from Innovation Way will be used to increase the resilience of the energy grid, and companies will use it in the development of new appliances and construction methods in the years to come.
The Pulte homes have WiFi-enabled circuit breakers with which the homeowner can interact via a smart phone app.
Which of the innovative features displayed here does Mr. Kitson, himself, wish he had in his home today?
“All of them,” he said wistfully. “I want all of them.”
GlassGl ini theh frontf doord off a D.R. Horton test hhome can go ffrom clearl to translucentl withih the press of a button. Sliders at the back of the home can do the same.
One of D.R. Horton’s two test homes in Innovation Way is the three-bedroom, 2½-bath Cordale model.
TOM HOBAN
STEVANY COLE
In the garage of one of the two test homes Pulte is building in Innovation Way, the Ford charger is equipped to either charge the vehicle or have the vehicle supply power to the home if needed.