Drexel Smart House seeks to address many problems in the built environment related to sustainability, energy, and occupant well being. This page identifies areas we wish to examine further, and some approaches our students have proposed.

• Human computer interaction
  • Elimination of paper and the printed medium
  • Collaborative interaction & display platforms
  • Single user human computer ergonomics
• Total human circadian rhythm regulation
• Cool colors
  • Infrared reflective cool coatings
  • Incorporate infrared reflective pigments into concrete
  • Develop colored infrared reflective roof coating which preserves the look of shingles
• Urban water recovery & storage
• Water usage monitoring & water saving practices
  • Integration of flow meters and ZigBee radios to track water usage
• Sustainable cooking techniques
• Wastewater treatment: personal care product formulation
• Exercise Monitoring
  • ZigBee networked exercise equipment for gyms
• Collaborative resource management (webdav implementation)
• Building Information Modeling
• Ubiqutous control: Google wave & database driven home automation
• Smart refrigerator
  • College students typically bring personal refrigerators into dorms and apartments, an inefficient solution
  • Shared refrigerator equipped with RFID or QR code labels which allows occupants to track and share items and food bills
  • integration with social media platforms (google wave, twitter, etc)
  • automatic generation of shopping lists, mobile access
• Intelligent window control for lighting & ventilation