If some group gave out awards for the least energy-efficient structures-the way those LEED (Leadership in Energy Environmental Design) designations for state-of-the-art green buildings are handed around-our home upstate would likely make it into at least the semifinals. 假如某个机构要授予最不节约能源建筑奖――正如那些能源与环境设计证书(Leadership in Energy Environmental Design)称号被颁发最先进设备的“绿色”建筑一样――我们家在州北部的住宅有可能最少能闯进半决赛。The furnace dates from the 60s and burns lots of oil. We have three large hot water heaters. Why three? Dont ask me. The insulation, to the extent there is insulation, includes horsehair from the 19th century-we believe the place was built around 1850, if not earlier-and some sort of foam my grandparents, who bought the place in the 1940s, had injected into the walls in the 70s. 我们家的炉子还是上世纪60年代的，十分耗油。
我们还有三台大热水器。为什么有三台？这个问题别问我。房子的隔热材料（如果说还有隔热材料的话）夹杂19世纪的马毛――我们指出房子初建1850年左右或更加早于的时候。
另外，它们还所含我的祖父母（他们在40年代卖给这所房子）在70年代流经 内的某种泡沫材料。Theres also central air conditioning that my mother added as an afterthought when she renovated and enlarged the place in the early 80s. And a sunroom with lots of glass. 在80年代初，母亲在整修和改建房子时又新的加到了中央空调系统，并且辟了一个覆有大量玻璃的阳光房。In short, the place is probably an energy sieve, and one Id like to stanch as quickly as possible. I have no illusion that it can be turned into one of those net-zero structures that actually contributes more energy to the grid than it takes, but it would just be nice if it didnt bankrupt me. 简言之，这所房子算是是一个“能源漏筛”，一个我想要尽早把它木栅上的漏筛。
我不幻想它自在身兼一座零能耗建筑，实际产生的能量比它花费的还要多，只要它没有让我倒闭就不俗了。In the hope of cleaning up the houses act, I paid a visit last week to a solar house conveniently situated in Hoboken that students and professors from Stevens Institute of Technology have just completed. Hoboken isnt its final destination. Ecohabit, as its called, will be disassembled and trucked to Irvine, Calif., where it will be reassembled for Octobers Solar Decathlon. Thats a biannual competition hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy where 20 energy-conscious schools, such as Stanford, the California Institute of Technology, Middlebury College and the University of Texas, compete in categories such as architecture, engineering, appliances, hot water efficiency, home entertainment and communications to create the most energy-efficient solar homes. 怀著转变房子耗电现状的期望，前不久我去附近的霍博肯(Hoboken)参观了一所太阳能房。
它取名为“Ecohabit”，刚由斯蒂文斯理工学院(Stevens Institute of Technology)的学生与教授们重新组建已完成。霍博肯并非它的最后一站。接下来它将被拆卸装运至加州尔湾市(Irvine)，然后在那儿新的搭起以参与10月份的国际太阳能十项全能竞赛(Solar Decathlon)。
这项一年两度的竞赛由美国能源部(U.S. Department of Energy)主办，还包括斯坦福(Stanford)、加州理工(California Institute of Technology)、米德尔伯里学院(Middlebury College)和得克萨斯大学(University of Texas)在内的20所具备节约能源意识的高校将参赛，竞逐建筑设计、工程技术、家用电器、热水供应能效、家庭娱乐以及通信等类别的奖项，以打造出最节约能源的太阳能房。Two years ago, we won affordability, explained Michael Bruno, the dean of Stevenss Schaefer School of Engineering and Science. This year, we want to win the whole thing. 斯蒂文斯理工学院谢弗工程与科学学院(Schaefer School of Engineering and Science)的院长迈克尔布鲁诺(Michael Bruno)说道：“我们在两年前夺得了可开销性方面的奖项，今年我们想要赢得总冠军。” Let me state from the outset that I know nothing about electricity (solar or otherwise), plumbing, air conditioning, heating, construction, condensation, etc. I grew up in an apartment. Besides which, Im mentally, physically and emotionally impaired when it comes to doing anything with my hands more advanced than replacing a light bulb. 首先，我要声明一下，我对电能（太阳能或其他能源）、管道、空调系统、暖气、建筑以及冷凝技术等等都一无所知。我是在公寓房中长大的。
除此之外，不免牵涉到到要我动手做任何一件可玩性低于换灯泡的事情时，我在精神上、身体上以及情绪上都会受到蹂躏。My consciousness of such things is pretty much limited to having an intuitive sense of whether something is cool. So lets examine the house from that point of view. From a distance, situated in a parking lot overlooking the Hudson River, the $300,000, 980-square-foot home is way cool, and not just because the New York City skyline served as its backdrop. 我对此类事物的了解基本上只仅限于凭直觉辨别某个地方否炎热，因此竟然我们从这个角度实地考察这所房子吧。
它坐落于一个眺望哈德逊河的停车场上，远远望去，这所斥资300,000美元、面积为980平方英尺（约合90平米）的房子非常地傻，而这不仅是因为它有纽约的天际线作为它的背景。The architecture reminded me of one of Frank Lloyd Wrights prairie houses, an exercise in elegant simplicity. 这座建筑让我回想了弗兰克劳埃德赖特(Frank Lloyd Wright)设计的牧场风格住宅，一座简洁又朴实典雅的房子。The front of the house is covered in attractive red cedar. Other parts of the structure are clad in a paneling that Im sure has some sort of futuristic purpose but that resembled sheetrock before its painted, or wallpapered, and whose appearance I wasnt wild about. 房子的正面铺着引人注目的红杉木，其他区域则铺着镶板，我坚信它认同有某种未来主义的用途，但它在未刷漆或张贴上壁纸之前看起来像石膏板，外观不是让我十分讨厌。
However, my interest was genuinely piqued when I was shown one of the solar shingles-not panels, shingles-of which the roof was constructed. This is one of the most innovative things and one of the easiest things somebody who already owns a house can do to make it more energy efficient, explained Claire Griffin, a Stevens sophomore studying mechanical engineering. 然而，当我看见一块用作铺设屋顶的太阳能瓦片――不是面板，是瓦片――时，我的兴趣确实被凸了一起。斯蒂文斯理工学院机械工程学系的大二学生克莱尔格里芬(Claire Griffin)说明道：“对于早已有房子的人来说，这是能用来提升房子节约能源效率的最有创新性、最简单的东西之一。” They work like normal shingles but generate energy at the same time, added Liem Nguyen, a senior who is another member of the Ecohabit team. Ecohabit团队的成员之一、大四学生连源(Liem Nguyen，音)称之为：“它们的功能与普通瓦片一样，但它们同时还能产生能量。” These devices, donated by their manufacturer Dow Chemical, which include a fully integrated photovoltaic system to power the house, would certainly fall into the cool (bordering on awesome) category. 这些材料设备由它们的生产商陶氏化学(Dow Chemical)捐献，它还包括一个给房子供电的全构建光电系统，房子的温度似乎是归属于较为炎热的（相似于令人惊叹的程度。
） I mean, I assumed that if I wanted to solar-retrofit my house, Id have to find a field somewhere or cut down a grove of trees to provide space for the array of solar panels required to power my dishwasher or dryer. It would obviously be a lot easier if I could simply slap a bunch of shingles on the house. The existing ones on the garage are starting to look pretty cruddy, as it is. 我想要说道的是，我曾多次想当然地以为，如果要将我的房子改建成太阳能的，我得在其他地方寻找一块地或是砍一片树林，以此为给我的洗碗机或烘干机供电的一排太阳能面板获取空间。如果意味着换成屋顶上的一批瓦片就可以，事情似乎就要非常简单得多了。车库上现有的那填瓦片早已开始看上去让人喜欢了，它们显然也让人喜欢。
Theres also a green wall. It wasnt green yet, but will eventually be hydrated by a rainwater-capture system and covered in plants and flowers native to Southern California. Once the Solar Decathlon is over, the house will be donated and turned into a veterans center on the campus of California State University San Marcos. Ecohabit还有一面绿色的。现在它还没变绿，不过它最后将由雨水搜集系统供水，茂密南加州土生土长的植物和花卉。待此次比赛完结，这栋房子将被捐出过来，沦为加州州立大学 马科斯分校(California State University San Marcos)的老兵活动中心。
I neglected to ask whether such a system of plants could survive a Northeast winter, since theres probably nothing quite as dour as dead plants decorating the outside of your home. On the other hand, it would be pretty cool to have your garden growing up the wall of your house. It would also serve as a thumb in the eye of destructive woodchucks and rascally chipmunks. 我忘了问这样一面绿色植物 否能煮得过东北部的冬季，因为大约再行没什么不会像自家的外 剩是开花的植物那般死气沉沉了。不过，把花园搬到到房子的 上也不会是一件十分傻的事情，而且它还可让搞破坏的土拨鼠和流氓的金花鼠无处藏身。In any case, I doubt the concept will be integrated into our house, which seems to invite leaks. Our goal is generally to direct water away from the house rather than toward it. 不管怎样，我还是猜测这一理念否能带入到我们的房子中，它或许不会引发房子漏水。
我们一般都是想把水从房中引出去，而不是把它推向房子。The inside of Ecohabit seemed as cheerful and airy as the outside, though I was informed that its most novel elements are invisible. The walls include phase-changing materials, or PCMs, that store heat during the day and release it at night. Ecohabit的内部看起来与外部一样讨人讨厌，而且也宽阔，但是我被告诉它最新奇的元素是看到的。它的 体所含热力学材料，该种材料可在日间储存热量，然后在晚间把它释放出。
A recirculating heat pump keeps the water warm in the kitchen and bathroom, so you dont have to run it and waste water. And there are sensors in each room that monitor and send data about everything from temperature, weather patterns, power usage, lighting-even the number of occupants in the room-to a central control system. 循环式热泵仍然维持着厨房与卫生间的水温，所以你不用再行把冷水放掉而浪费了水资源。每个房间还备有传感器，它可监控并向一个中央监控系统发送到有关温度、天气、电力用量、灯光乃至房中人数的各类事项的数据。We hope to get to the point where [the system] can make suggestions, explained Mark Pollock, the projects manager and an industry assistant professor at Stevens. Youve done three loads of laundry and its kind of cloudy. You should wait until tomorrow, when its forecast to be sunny, and you wont have to pull as much energy from the grid. Ecohabit项目的指导人、斯蒂文斯理工学院工科助理教授马克波洛克(Mark Pollock)说道：“我们期望（该系统）可以超过需要获取建议的智能程度。
比如说‘你早已浸了三堆衣服，天气有些秽。你应当等到明天天气预报主播天晴的时候再行浸’，这样一来你就不用花费那么多的电量。” More than 60 Stevens faculty members and students contributed to Ecohabit. Doing this project is part of their curriculum, Dr. Bruno explained. It draws from every discipline you can imagine and some you couldnt imagine: energy, management, computer science and the College of Arts and Letters. 斯蒂文斯理工学院有60多名教职员及学生对Ecohabit项目作出了贡献。
布鲁诺博士说道：“做到这个项目是他们课程的一部分，它要利用到你所能想象到的每一门学科，甚至还有一些你想象将近的学科，比如能源、管理、计算机科学以及人文艺术等。” Jesse House, a music and technology major and a philosophy minor, was fine-tuning a computer program that controls the houses sound system. It seemed to be playing some sort of series of tones. The music program takes all the data the house is collecting and turns it into soothing background music, Mr. House explained, adding something about brainwaves and the theta state of consciousness. 杰西豪斯(Jesse House)是一名主修音乐科技、辅修哲学的学生。在我参观房子时，他正在调试一个掌控房子音响系统的电脑程序，它或许正在播出一连串的某种音调。
豪斯说道：“这个音乐程序不会接管房子搜集到的所有数据，然后把它改变为舒缓的背景音乐。”他另外又讲了一些有关脑电波和潜意识状态的内容。
I want to live in a smart house, but Im not sure one whose music apprehends and reflects my mood. What if Im depressed? 我想要住在智能住宅中，不过我不确认我否想要住在一所它的音乐能解读并体现我的情绪的房子中。万一我实在失望呢？ You can put the Rolling Stones on, too, Dr. Bruno assured me. “你还可以加到滚石(Rolling Stones)的音乐。”布鲁诺博士向我确保道。
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