Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
that warmed and cooled air also escapes. Thus, safety and green operations can be competing values.
However, it does point the way to creativity and innovation. For example, how might heat-exchange
systems be used to optimize safety
and
sustainable design?
More information is available at www.usgbc.org/LEED/LEED main.asp.
THE HOME DEPOT SMART HOME AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
The Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University is a live-in laboratory dedicated to advancing the
science of living smarter.
Green Roof
A green roof (also known as a vegetated roof) is an area of roof surface that is covered with living plant
matter. In the case of the Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University, the green roof is populated with
succulents that are low maintenance and drought resistant. Benefits of green roofs include:
Preventing heat gain (also known as the urban heat island effect)
Evaporation creates a cooling effect on the building
Prefiltering rain water for later use
Buffering rain water to prevent rapid site run-off
Pleasing aesthetics
Increasing the roof lifetime
Water Efficiency
The irrigation system for the Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University uses 100% captured rainwater.
This guarantees that no public water will ever be used to water vegetation on the Home Depot Smart
Home at Duke University site. The rainwater is collected from roof run-off and stored in two 1000-gallon
storage tanks for later use (Fig. S.1.2). The Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University site is also
populated with indigenous plant species which further reduce the demand on the rainwater system.
Energy and Atmosphere
At the Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University, there is an array of 18,160-Wphotovoltaic panels (see
Fig. S.1.3), which creates a
3-kW solar power station. The energy generated by the panels is connected
to the public power grid and puts energy back onto the grid for use by the neighbors. It also reduces the
total energy consumed by the Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University by approximately 30%.
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