Onteriors Wins Electronic House Home of the Year

Onteriors has won Electronic House's 2008 "Gold" Home of the Year, announced Thursday at EHX in Orlando.

The San Diego-based integrator also won for the "Green" home of the year with the same project, built by homeowner Kevin deFreitas.

Dan Merrill, vice president of business development for Onteriors, says the winning project is the first residential home built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System standards.

Its green features include:

• Radiant floor heating
  
• High-velocity, ultra-efficient furnace
  
• Tankless water heater
  
• Self-expanding foam insulation
  
• Solar roof
  
• Energy Star appliances
  
• Natural ventilation and venting skylights that eliminate the need for air conditioning
  
• Automated window blinds
  
• Dual-glazed windows with film that reduces UV and infrared exposure
  
• Lighting control
  
• LED lighting
  
• Smart irrigation in which sensors detect ground moisture and react
  
• Gray water retention for irrigation

The project, however, isn't just about being green. It had to be livable too, Merrill says.

A multiroom audio systems, for instance, was a major priority. Control of the music, along with security, climate and lights, were all high priorities.

deFreitas, who built the home for him and his family of six, isn't just focused on systems and performance. He's also very concerned with design and functionality.

For Onteriors, the part of the challenge was cramming all these features into a home that looks warm and inviting.

"This ground-breaking project will effectively drive home the point that thoughtful design can be accomplished in concert with earth-friendly goals without sacrificing comfort, function or aesthetics," Merrill says.

The 2008 Home of the Year Gold winning project was designed to be ahead of the curve -- 12 years ahead of the curve that is.

Merrill says residences in San Diego will be a lot different in 2020 out of necessity. According to predictions, the city's population may increase by another 1,000,000 during that time and there simply won't be enough water and electricity to go around.

Onteriors figured it would beat the rush and start pushing the envelope in terms of incorporating energy-efficient features.

But "energy efficiency" and "high performance" are no longer mutually exclusive in "electronic houses." That was the gist of Cindy Davis' presentation prior to unveiling the big winner.

Davis, editor-in-chief of CE Pro's sister publication, said that more than 400 submissions poured in from companies in the United States and Canada.

The award program has quickly gained steam as custom electronics integrators have grasped the marketing potential of having their installations honored in the magazine.

Award categories include five price ranges of home theater installations -- from $10,000 to over $250,000.

Awards were also given in the categories of Master Suite, Kitchen, Fun Room, Outdoor Space, Family/Media Room, Wow Factor, Green Project and Home of the Year. These categories are broken into gold, silver and bronze winners.

The entire scope of Onteriors' project along with all award-winners will be covered in the May 2008 issue of Electronic House, including myriad photos. For now, here is a sneak-peek at the winners:

Home of the Year
Gold - Onteriors
Silver - Majul-Total Home Technology
Bronze - London Audio Ltd.

Family/Media Room
Gold - Stone-Glidden Inc.
Silver - Beyond Home Theater Inc.
Bronze - AViX LLC

Fun Room
Gold - Premier Electronics
Silver - Hi-Tech Home/Cobb Enterprises
Bronze - Innerspace Electronics

Grand Spaces
Gold - Electronics Design Group
Silver - Audio Command Systems
Bronze - Advanced Home Theater Systems Inc.

Green Project
Gold - Onteriors
Silver - Solaris Home Systems
Bronze - Capital Construction, Laskey (builder); Ambiance Systems (integrator)

Kitchen
Gold - Frankentek
Silver - HiFi House
Bronze - ASL Home Entertainment Group

Master Suite
Gold - Neteam AVI
Silver - Innerspace Electronics
Bronze - Absolute AV Consulting

Outdoor Space
Gold - Sanja Resort Living
Silver - Automatic Home Systems
Bronze - Simply Sight & Sound Inc.

Home Theater $10,000 - $25,000
Gold - Connected Technologies
Silver - The Audio Video Pros Inc.
Bronze - Harmony Interiors

Home Theater $26,000 - $50,000
Gold - Station Earth
Silver - Tri-Phase Technologies
Bronze - Fox Audio Visual

Home Theater $51,000 - $100,000
Gold - Audio Video Concepts Inc
Silver - Innerspace Electronics
Bronze - Beyond Home Theater Inc.

Home Theater $101,000 - $250,000
Gold - AVI Inc
Silver - HiFi House
Bronze - Tri-Phase Technologies

Home Theater $251,000 Plus
Gold - Design Cinema & Automation
Silver - Trikin Home Theater
Bronze - Gramophone

Wow Factor
Gold - Horner Networks LLC
Silver - ATKDG
Bronze - Custom Interiors by Brian David