Haiku Ceiling Fan with SenseMe by Big Ass Fans The fan is now compatible with the smart home darling Nest's thermostat. The devices communicate to offer the optimal cooling level for energy consumed. From $1,045.

SleepiQ Smart Bed by Sleep Number In a perfect world, bedtime for kids means junior falls asleep before you reach the end of Goodnight Moon. If reality is more of a pain, getting the right bed might alleviate some of the stress of getting a full 10 or so hours (the recommended amount for nightly sleep for children). Sleep Number developed a smart bed that tracks the quality of a night's slumber, features lights that shine down on the floor to unobtrusively illuminate midnight trips to the bathroom, and there's also a "Monster Detector" for those afraid of what goes bump in the might. Expected retail is $1,000.

+Farm is based in upstate New York, where land can be cheap but new housing prohibitively expensive: when a resident breaks ground on a waterfront site, their taxes can dramatically increase. What if new housing didn't need to technically break ground? "Our thought," says +Farm Director William Haskas, was "let's discuss ideas for a new type of dwelling....one that could potential help the people that actually live in the area."

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."

Keen Home's Smart Vent lets users remotely close heating and cooling vents in unused rooms, or rooms that tend to get excessively cool or hot—slight adjustments that could add up to big savings on the next utility bill. Decorative faceplates may be purchased for $20.

In short, "turning the trailer into a smart home has also eliminated a lot of potential stress." Air cards connect the trailer to the internet via cellular networks, so Pendl can monitor it from anywhere.

In a like-minded trend alongside Quirky's recent smart home launches, the sleek additions to the WeMo ecosystem announced at CES 2015 use sensors to relay information needed to help keep your home in ship shape condition. The products connect to your house's WiFi network via a bridge, allowing you to control and monitor them using the WeMo app from anywhere in the world.

More accurate than a motion detector, the WeMo Room Sensor detects heat to see if someone enters a space. Program this to work with smart bulbs to automatically shut off lights if you leave a room, or turn them on if you enter.

The drought on the west coast has made more people consicous of water consumption. While energy monitors on outlets and power strips allow you to see exactly how much electricity it takes to run your Play Station (or other specific electronic device), information about how much water a shower, toilet, or sink uses isn't as readily available. You get your monthly meter reading from most utilities, but being able to pinpoint they thirstiest item in your home with WeMo Water could help save you hundreds of gallons of water.

The magnetic contact sensor in this gadget works on nearly any type of door or window in your home—refrigerator doors, medicine cabinets, interior and exterior doors, doggy doors, you get the picture—to detect if they've been opened. The sensor can connect to other smart devices in your home and programmed to run an action. For example, if you have the air conditioner on and a window is opened, the sensor can shut off the A/C to help conserve energy. (No need to cool the entire neighborhood!)

The compact keychain sensor allows you to keep tabs on when family members come home (ie. kids returning from school).

Dado Labs has developed a user-friendly smartphone interface that helps connect users to their home appliances. The company's first partnerships are with Char-Broil and Saber grills and the coffee-maker company Behmor.

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.

Slide-In Induction Chef Collection Range with Flex Duo™ Oven Induction cooking is gaining interest in the United States (it still trails gas and electric stoves, though) and Samsung introduced a new range as part of its Club des Chefs collection—an appliance line developed in tandem with Michelin-starred chefs around the world. This range is designed to offer the look of pricier built-ins but with easier installation and an easier sum for the pocket book (retail is $3,699). The glass cooking surface extends slightly from the edge of the range for a snug fit with adjacent countertops and the control panel is in the front, allowing for a the back of the appliance to sit flush with the backsplash. In a move that makes induction a little less "foreign" to consumers, this model also features LED lights on each of the cooking zones to illuminate the base of pots, much like a gas flame looks. The stronger the cooking power, the brighter the flame. Yes, there's a lot of show in this product, but there's ample utility, too: the flex-duo oven allows users to divide the cavity into two separate temperature zones if so desired.

BeoVision Avant 75" by Bang & Olufsen At CES, there was no shortage of big news about the small screen. Sony released an ultra-thin 4K model (a smartphone is actually thicker than its .25-inch silhouette), technology mastermind Yves Behar created a curved screen for Samsung, and there was even a bendable option. We tend to lean toward the practical, covetable, and design-conscious tech options and B&O just added a 75-inch model to its family of ultra high-definition 4K televisions. The amount of 4K content available isn't too ample yet, but there's more and more available, even from streaming services like Netflix which is adding devices to its compatibility list (B&O isn't listed…yet). But the TV is perched on a handsome stand— which is actually a subwoofer—and the screen is on a programmable mechanism to allow you to rotate it with the touch of a button (you can also create presets so it remembers your preferences). B&O designed the BeoVision Avant with modern, open-plan spaces in mind: it's unobtrusive when not in use (just call your own personal Ad Reinhardt) and flexible when it needs to be. This'll set you back about $17,000.

Many elements of the home can be controlled remotely from the residents’ smart phones, including internal temperatures. The GPS on their phones will activate heating systems 20 minutes in advance of their arrival to optimize energy consumption. A similar system is employed for the showers; a water recirculation pump fills the pipes with hot water five minutes before a scheduled shower time.

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

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.

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

Apple may not be exhibiting at CES this year, but it will still have remarkable reach thanks to HomeKit, a platform that lets companies develop smart-home gadgets that users can control with an iPhone or iPad. The introduction of HomeKit has sparked a race among innovators to create gadgets that can run on the platform. One of these, Withings, made a name for itself with wearables and other gadgets that promote health. This year it is branching out with Home, a smart HD camera and air-quality monitor that users can control from anywhere with an Apple device via HomeKit.

Recessed lights are installed above a ceiling so that the body of the light— the mechanism and wiring—is hidden in the ceiling with a flush bulb or lens.

The kitchen is a long sleek space.

Sleek Architect’s Home (Sydney, Australia) Providing a modern update to the predominantly Victorian style of surrounding suburban homes in Paddington, this urban home is bathed in natural light during the day and offers the respite of a Japanese garden on property.Listing at Architect's Own Central Sydney Home

Rising to a catwalk above, a huge glass-and-steel central stair envisioned by architect Filippo Caprioglio spans four floors of the Chiavellis’ newly expanded house.

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

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.

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.

With Control4 automation, everything from music to lighting can be managed with the tap of a touchscreen. The Casalis balanced their home’s high-tech features with rich materials including a marble backsplash by Ciot, a wood table from Kantelberg + Co., and quartz countertops by Caesarstone. The casual dining area features Kartell Masters chairs and an airy Triumph chandelier by Eurofase.

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.

One-Family Custom Housing: Olson Kundig Architects created this home in Washington's remote Methow Valley as four structures oriented around a central courtyard, each positioned to best enjoy the surrounding vistas in all four seasons.

Here's what you need to know before undergoing a building project with a contractor but no architect.