Using another service, Outback Power, Pendl can see how much energy he's drawing from (or sending to) the grid when his 450 watt wind turbine and 800 watts of solar panels are operating. This all being said, the trailer isn't yet fully integrated with smart technoly: climate control and HVAC are still a separate system. "Another nice addition down the road would be to add smart tires to the trailer so that I can monitor and adjust air pressure from afar," Pendl says. "I take the Airstream on some pretty bumpy forest roads—the high desert of Nevada for Burning Man included—and it'd be great to quickly see an adjust tire pressure for better traction."

The Lai family—Mayuko, baby Shota on her lap, David, Maya, and Yumi sitting on a cushion on the deck—relaxes in their indoor-outdoor living space, made by opening the glass sliding doors to connect the living room and engawa deck.

The most sustainable element of all is the Lais’ intention to make their first home their last home as well. “Some people have this mentality of getting a starter house, then upgrading from there,” David says. “We just wanted to find a place to live in and then stay there forever.” Eventually they imagine passing the home down to their children.

In the kitchen, the continuous kitchen worktop and table are made of marble from Caledonia Marble. The pink Tamatik dining chairs are by Connie Chisholm and are from the Canadian design shop Made. The Blinding Love pendant lights are by Periphere, which has shops in Montreal and Toronto. Photo by Naomi Finlay.

A 55-inch Samsung Smart TV, a gift, is one of few indulgences.

Smart ForTwo BoConcept Editionby Smart To appeal to design-savvy consumers, Smart collaborated with the Danish furniture company BoConcept to develop the ForTwo’s leather-trimmed interior. On the market in the USA in late 2013, it offers a top speed of more than 78 mph. When fully charged, its range is 76 to 90 miles. Smart’s handy mobile app alerts drivers to real-time battery status and the closest charging stations. At 8.8 feet long, it’s among the smallest cars on the market today. smartusa.com

Earth tone tiles back a Kohler sink at this energy efficient home in Davis, California. The backsplash is from Heath Ceramics, the sink is Kohler, and the custom millwork is by Schmidt's Cabinetry.

No compromises were made throughout the development process or the various stages of production. The sleek and clever city car in essence is a transportation solution to urban living challenges.

Arias said a core concept of the design was to focus on something approachable, made with soft material you’d want to grab with your hand, instead of overloading people with technology. Booo eventually wants to collaborate with designers to design new versions of the Smart Booo with even more tactile variation.

"Smart is not just a car. It is a statement of urban living and the perfect city car in terms of beautiful, functional design" says Claus Ditlev Jensen, Collection Director at Boconcept.

A second-floor balcony overlooks a landscaped garden and a 1,000-square-foot detached garage.

Tech enthusiasts will recognize August Smart Lock as the DIY security device that allows homeowners to create virtual keys for guests to come and go. Design seekers will notice the second-generation lock, soon to ship, has a more tactile, intuitive form profile that resembles a traditional knob. The latest model is also Apple Homekit enabled.

Jestico + Whiles created this five-bedroom villa for a family near Prague, Czech Republic, outfitting it with the latest smart-home technology.

A signature feature is the natural oak stairs, whose treads appear to be suspended between the wall and a transparent railing.

A skylight emphasizes the division of the upper level into master's and children's wings, and draws natural light deep into the core of the ground-floor kitchen and dining area.

Floor-to-celing glass overlooks a deck and the garden beyond. The facade is a combination of light-gray stucco and cement panels.

For their full court "Simply.Connected." push, Bosch brought to CES a holistic smart home system that can be governed centrally via a single platform and smart controller. Lighting, shades, smoke alarms, windows, and other features work in concert to deliver efficiency, convenience, and security.

Smart Locks–No need to carry house keys ever again. Or wonder if you locked the front door when you left for work. Smart door locks work through an automated system you control via an app on your smartphone or other web-enabled mobile device. Whether you’re letting the kids in the house after school or granting remote access to a neighbor to water plants or feed the family pet, smart lock technology gives you total control of your door locks from anywhere and at anytime.

The collaboration birthed a unique, compact design from interior to exterior. Using specific materials and colors to emphasize a warm sense of home, lead designer Adriana Balko explains "the car really shows bipolarity of both brands. We have a radical exterior and a cozy interior".

The kitchen features button-free appliances, and carbonated water on tap.

Samsung Smart Care Washer If you're the kind of person who forgets to start a load of laundry and only realize after leaving the house, Samsung's Smart Care Washer might be a good fit. It features an app that lets you remotely turn on the appliance and track its progress. And when you're home, you interact with the washer through an LCD touchscreen, accessing plenty of washing options and settings. Photo by: Samsung

The aesthetics of both devices and the app to which they speak come from fuseproject, the design firm responsible for the Jawbone Jambox.

Smart Body Analyzer by Withings, $150 Weight alone isn’t a sufficient metric for gauging health. This scale will tell you your body fat percentage and heart rate—and can even detect carbon dioxide. Sync the data to the Withings Health Mate app to create a full health profile.

The familiar thermostat design can be used without the app, as well. Like previous Honeywell thermostats, turning the exterior wheel changes the temperature, and an audible click indicates each degree of change. The all-white exterior uses motion sensors to light up with control displays, and then dim when you walk away.

Smart Power Strip One of the best things about home automation is that it not only makes life easier for you, but it can save you money and the environment at the same time. A smart power strip is a great way to do this, as it will detect when your appliances are doing nothing but wasting energy, and turn them off.

The smart garden stake analyzes pH levels, humidity, and light intensity, then factors in local meteorological readings as it instructs the water valve to hydrate plants as needed.

Although many people rely on smart phones for their alarms each morning, there is something to be said for the reliability of a standard clock. Braun’s travel alarm clock is a high-functioning clock that features German precision quartz movement, a crescendo alarm, a motion-activated snooze function, and more. For global travelers, the clock also includes a detailed world time zone map on the clock’s cover.

Lyric by Honeywell, $279 For its new thermostat, Honeywell sticks with the round shape Henry Dreyfuss introduced in 1953. It syncs with your phone to determine your location, adjusting settings to real-time indoor and outdoor weather conditions and temperature. Apple HomeKit–compatible. Read more about Lyric here.

Apple announced the August would be among the first devices to work with their forthcoming iOS 8 HomeKit system. That means the stakes are high enough for the designers and programmers to deliver something that’s seamlessly functional and actually pretty.

Eliminate the pain in house chores with gadgets that will do the heavy lifting for you.

Dornbracht's Smart Water line of kitchen and bath fixtures uses electronics to help regulate flow and temperature.

Smart Security Cameras–Your smartphone camera is great for capturing all kinds of fun events and activities. And now, with the aid of smart security cameras, your phone can give you a birds-eye view of all that’s happening in and around your home any time of day while you’re away. Activated by motion, smart cameras record clips of detected movement for added security. They also come in handy for looking in on the nanny, kids, pets, or elderly parents in your absence.

In contrast from the sleek matte exterior, the vehicles interior combines tobacco brown leather with ash grey sofa-style fabric seats.

Smart Home Kit by LittleBits, $249 at littlebits.cc This kit turns a home into a smart home without the wholesale replacement of every fixture. The kit comes with 14 modules that can be combined to turn virtually any object into an Internet-connected device.

Smart-flush toilets You can save enormous amounts of water by buying the right appliances. In the bathroom, choose smart-flush toilet systems, like the Double-Cyclone mechanism employed in the TOTO Drake® II 1G Two-Piece Toilet, pictured. The system uses two nozzles to siphon water in a centrifugal, cyclonic motion, eliminating the need for multiple flushes.

The app contains a database of around 5,000 plants, with information on the ideal growing conditions for each.