iT House - Exterior/Outdoor Area

Built: 2008

The iT House brings together raw industrial aesthetics with the tactics of green design to forge a new home in the sunbaked wilds of California's east. Temperatures climb higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit each summer and drop to nearly 32 degrees during the night in winter. The pre-fab iT House is a collection of off-the-shelf manufacturing systems combined with custom-made interior elements. Passive heating and cooling strategies are employed through the house - the windows and sliding doors are made of Solar Ban 60 glass, coated with a low-e coating for long-wave radiation - and the roof is configured so that it blocks the summer sun. In winter, when the sun is lower and temperatures drop, sunlight can penetrate through the windows. Solar power generates hot water and electricity.