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Eco-friendly Home of the Future.. for $2 million

Hybrid Technologies is all set to launch the eco-friendly Smart Home. But will the price tag of $2 million appeal to anyone but celebrities?

California-based Hybrid Technologies Inc., has announced that the eco-friendly "Smart Home" is almost complete. Priced at a whopping $2 million, the 6,000 ft. square house, built in collaboration with Calgary-based companies Enviro Custom Homes, Your Energy Company and SmartSpace, will be ready by December, according to Hybrid spokesperson Richard Griffiths.

The house, which is being described as the world's smartest home, was referred to by Griffiths as "the Rolls Royce," having "every bell and whistle you can think of." Located in Calgary in Canada, it may become the home of Hollywood stars like Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio, whose attention has been caught by the state-of-the-art home, according to Griffiths. The company, known for its lithium-powered products, is no stranger to celebrities: their first consumer model sports car was sold to Jay Leno.

The house, which looks 'ordinary,' aside from the solar-powered web camera, stands some six kilometers south of the city and will run entirely on solar and wind energy. At night, and during cloudy days, it will run on power stored in lithium batteries. Four vertical turbines, disguised as fireplaces and chimneys, and capable of producing 2 kilowatts of energy with a slight wind and several slips of solar panels that can double the energy generating capacity of the turbines make the house highly eco-efficient and environmental friendly, and provide DC power for all home energy requirements. Additionally, solar energy is collected to heat the house, as well as stored in rocks underneath for the winter. The house is also equipped to manage temperatures; a tiny computer detects the presence or absence of persons and heats or cools the room accordingly.

What this means is: no utility bills, and no gasoline bills.

With a walkout basement, five bedrooms, a nanny suite and seven bathrooms, the house promises to be a palace.

The home also makes use of eco-friendly building materials, such as asphalt for the driveway and recycled glass as tiles, as well as fast maturing woods supplied by Eco-approved plantations and reclaimed woods. The house is also geared to make use of systems and materials to provide clean and allergen-free air: high-efficiency air filtration is made possible using UV and ionization filtration.

All this looks more than promising, but customers are still looking at the price tag. It's big (perhaps too big), eco-friendly, and saves on energy bills, but who can afford it?