Environmentally-Friendly Home Debuts in Lancaster, Calif-

A house powered by batteries and solar panels, featuring a “smog-eating” roof, was unveiled earlier this month in West Lancaster, California. “This remarkable new house is truly the home of the future,” said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris in an announcement of the prototype built by KH Home and BYD, a manufacturer of clean energy technologies. According to USA Today, the city waived local development fees and expedited approval for its construction. This green home touts energy storage batteries, BYD’s solar panels, LED lights, an electric vehicle outlet for charging, and tiles that reduce smog-creating nitrogen oxide pollution. The roof tiles have an embedded catalyst that, when exposed to sunlight, speeds up oxidation and reduces the nitrogen oxide pollution that creates smog. Created by MonierLifetile, they are the first-ever in the United States and are said to reduce as much pollution as the average car creates while driving roughly 10,800 miles annually. This four-bedroom, two-bath, 1519 square-foot home meets the EPA’s Energy Star guidelines and is now open daily for public tours. It will eventually be offered for sale in the low $200,000 range, according to a KB Home spokesman.