Smart Home Exterior.


The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry recently opened a new “green” exhibit “. . . for guests to see the latest innovations in reusable resources, smart energy consumption, and clean, healthy living environments in a contemporary setting. Conceived by Michelle Kaufmann Designs, the country’s leading designer of sustainable, green homes, the Smart Home: Green + Wired exhibit celebrates exciting new directions in sustainable living and environmentally friendly technologies for the 21st century.”

The 2,500-square-foot mkSolaire home-located on a park on the east side of the museum – was constructed in two parts. The modular three-story house was built in a factory by All-American Homes of Middlebury, Indiana. After the pre-fabricated components were transported to the museum site, Norcon, Inc., the general contractor for the Smart Home, assembled the three levels with the use of a crane and then completed the interior work and exterior green landscaping.

Installer “rolling” the floor to smooth the wood after it was installed with Ultrabond 990.

The tile floors in the bathrooms were installed at the plant in Indiana using Mapelastic 315, Kerabond/Keralastic for setting and Opticolor for grouting. The Blazestone  2” x 2” wall tiles in the powder room on the first floor were made entirely from post-industrial and post-consumer glass, as were the Blazestone “Subway”  3.5” x 7.5” shower tiles in the master bath. The floor tiles in the master bath – from Terra Green Ceramics – were made with 55% recycled glass content and qualify for LEED certification points. The shower and floor tiles in the second bathroom were handmade from recycled glass, paper and low-carbon cement.

The Jurastone™ Beige limestone tiles used for the flooring throughout the ground level were set with the Kerabond/Keralastic mortar system to stand up to the heavy traffic from the thousands of visitors who tour the Smart Home. The tiles were grouted with #94 “Straw” Ultracolor grout.

On the second and third levels, the wood flooring was set with Ultrabond 990 premium solvent-free, one-component urethane wood-flooring adhesive. SYNERGY prefinished strand bamboo flooring from Teragren was used for the bedroom and hallways because bamboo is a highly renewable material. It grows quickly – more than 90 feet in just one year. Ultrabond 990 was chosen for this installation because the bamboo had to be bonded to the steel base of the pre-fabricated modules.

MAPEI is pleased and proud to be a part of this exhibit, which mirrors our company’s vision for sustainability and minimal environmental impact. - Diane Choate, MAPEI