Museum of Science and Industry

Sustainable design isn't just about minimizing our impact on the environment; it's also about enjoying it.

Stroll the Smart Home's native and sustainable landscape, featuring beautiful gardens around the house that are alive with plants native to the area.  Starting in the garden, you'll explore the possibilities of a sustainable vegetable garden, rain gardens and other vegetation—how it can be used for food, indoor climate control and water recycling and conservation.

The Smart Home garage is a multi-purpose space and you won't want to miss it! In addition to housing vehicles, it can also be used as a movie room, or offer other flexible uses in the future, when families of the future may not own two cars. The garage houses one of the latest in low-emission and energy-efficient vehicles, a Honda Civic Hybrid, which was awarded 2006 World Car of the Year "greenest car."

Your tour will conclude on the roof, which is covered by a green-roof garden as well as photovoltaic film, which harvests daylight and provides much of the home's electrical energy. Rooftop gardens not only act as a source of cooling in the summer and insulation in the winter, but also absorb precipitation, which reduces storm water runoff, which can be reused for landscape irrigation. In the exhibit, you'll discover the process of building a garden, along with its many environmental benefits.