1) The house may not even be about efficient energy use, only how to best obtain as much energy as one wants at the lowest price possible, i.e., at off-peak rates. (He was not familiar with variously priced energy depending on time of day, either.)

2) The metal mesh might be especially helpful in deterring any NSA-ish looky-lews wanting to have a peek at the home owners wi-fi content. I believe similar mesh is used in such places as embassies, software companies, and spy agency buildings, though I don’t know if it’s the mesh alone or some sort of electronic signal running through it that provides jamming capabilities.

One feature of their homes is a system to pull in and store the home’s energy needs from the grid during off hours. This way, the owner can have as much power as they want from the batteries during peak hours but without paying peak hour rates. (Do all states/providers use varying costs depending on peak usage?) There’s also talk of computer coordinated sensing and control for power needs. I don’t know what sort of batteries they’re talking about, but perhaps the metal mesh (which likely resides behind finished walls) is part of it. Or it may be a sensory net that tells the computer when there are people around, how many, whether they’re active or sleeping, etc. Anyway, more efficient use does help reduce the side effects of current power plants, but it’s still hitching one’s wagon to a fading star.

Rather than call this a green building, I’d be more inclined to call it a smart house. Anyone who watched the late, lamented Syfy Channel show “Eureka” will fondly remember Sarah, Sheriff Carter’s smart house.