Why can't a house, particularly a "green" house built as a Near-Zero Energy Home, be considered a giant gadget? (Anyone remember when BASF made audio and video tape?)

What makes me think this is BASF's demonstration of a home that is 80 percent more energy efficient, more durable and faster to construct than conventionally built homes in Paterson, NJ.

BASF, along with more than 150 of its customers and strategic allies, built the Near-Zero Energy Home-Paterson, N.J., to exemplify how BASF chemistry helps further energy-saving, durable, sustainable and affordable building practices. The project is designed to achieve a 95.5 HERS Energy Star score, an unprecedented accomplishment in New Jersey Energy Star history, and is a prototype for the U.S. Green Building Council’s newly launched rating system for the energy efficiency and environmental impact of homes.

The Near-Zero Energy Home-Paterson, N.J., will be the site for a number of seminars and tours to architects, builders, government officials, homeowners, realtors, financial institutions and other interested parties throughout the summer of 2006.

Once the demonstration phases are completed, the home will be donated to St. Michael’s Housing Corporation, which will then turn over the home to a local family with a quadriplegic boy to occupy. As such, the project is also designed to showcase elements of accessible design.

BASF has partnered with the United Nations to provide similar technologies for tsunami relief projects in Sri Lanka and India and is working in the U.S. Gulf Coast region to provide energy-saving, disaster-resistant buildings to replace those lost in hurricane-ravaged areas.

Environmental futurist and architect William McDonough has specified BASF chemistry to help him with his biggest project yet: China. Contracted by the China Housing Industry Association, McDonough has been charged with overseeing the design of seven brand-new cradle-to-cradle cities with enough housing for 400 million people. In the next 12 years, many of these homes will be built using the basic BASF technologies featured in the Near-Zero Energy Home to help China achieve a reduction of energy use by 65 percent by the year 2020.

www.basf.com