Custom homes go high-tech.

• Author: Gerhart, Clifford
• Position: Smart homes - Special Home Section

The high-tech world has caught up with homebuilding like it has everything else. For those who always wanted to live like the Jetsons, or just thought that a little more though should go into something as major as a home, you're in luck.

Bob Petersen, a custom homebuilder in Anchorage, built and sold what he is proud to call "the one and only smart home in Alaska. We're pioneers," says Petersen. "We did the first demonstration energy home (with the Alaska Craftsman Home Program), the first Smart House and the first Idea House." He adds that though Smart Houses are the leading edge of technology now, there is already talk about the completely wireless homes of the future.

Petersen's company, the Petersen Group, builds about two dozen houses a year. "We kind of grew into it," he says. "Only about eight or 10 of these homes are luxury houses."

The home market has become very competitive, especially at the high end, and builders can no longer put up little boxes made of ticky-tacky and expect to find buyers. Being competitive in this market means coming up with innovative features to make a house stand out from the crowd.

So, what's the difference between a Smart House and an Idea House?

SOPHISTICATED SMART HOUSES

A Smart House is essentially one that is computer-controlled. This system allows you to program and use appliances (such as dishwashers, but also including hot tub and video cameras in every room) by remote control. With a fully installed Smart House, you can, for example, check on the baby without getting out of bed, turn on the outdoor barbecue from the kitchen, or start the clothes washer from work.

According to Roger Williams, dealer in Anchorage for Smart American Home Centers, the notion of an automated house is not new. "The idea has been around about 30 years. The Smart House is the first time that a nationwide residential system that is cost-effective has been set up."

Williams says the first Smart House was built in 1984 by the National Home Builders Association. Leaders in the home-building industry wanted to establish standards good throughout the United States and Canada for automated houses so that a trained technician could service any of them.

"They spent about $40 million in putting the system together," Williams says. "I've been following the technology since 1988. The first fully operational home was opened in January 1992, in Las Vegas, Nev., at a cost of $1.5 million."

The Anchorage Smart House, completed in 1993...