Cutting-edge innovation meets tradition and indoors merges with outdoors in this LEED-platinum Cincinnati home. It’s more than a beautiful example of traditional architecture. It’s also one of the greenest and most energy-efficient houses in the entire country.
According to Frontgate, the company that coordinated the tour, “In practical terms, the Rath home’s platinum certification translates into a lifestyle so maintenance-free that it feels futuristic. The house’s entire energy and security systems, for example, are controlled via the Raths’ iPhones. With a touch, glass pocket doors to the porches glide open, screens lower or raise, temperatures are adjusted, televisions turn on, sound systems are engaged or any one of twelve security cameras are monitored. The home has also earned the rare net-zero certification – an achievement that essentially means that the house produces more energy than it uses, netting the owners an annual refund check from their local power company. It also means, thanks to Cincinnati’s forward-thinking energy policies, that the Raths pay no property taxes for fifteen years.”