Building & Design | Construction

GE has unveiled plans to develop a portfolio of products allowing homeowners and builders to construct zero energy homes.

The multinational giant already has a range of products from energy-efficient lighting and appliances to demand response technology, currently under development.

But now GE says its plans to add residential power generation technologies like solar photovoltaics and wind turbines.

“We have a long, trusted relationship with consumers, strong presence with home builders, demand response appliance technology and, the extremely critical, smart grid technology leadership,” says James Campbell.

The GE net zero energy home range of offerings will cover energy efficient products, energy management products and energy generation/storage products.

The company says it wants to be the “first manufacturer to offer a full suite of demand response appliances that will work with utility smart meters”. Appliances will work with smart metering systems to reduce energy usage and save costs without impacting performance.

In the US, appliances, lighting and HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) make up over 80% of the electricity consumption of a typical home. According to US federal figures, managing demand better could reduce peak demand 7% in the US.

Next year, GE will launch its Home Energy Manager to coordinate all the other technologies in the home to optimise energy usage.

The final part of the zero homes jigsaw, microgeneration, will follow after that, in conjunction with GE Energy.

For further information:
www.ge.com