To achieve these objectives, the Armstrongs turned to Smart Solutions Inc., located in nearby Kamiah. Smart Solutions describes itself as a "high-performance building products distributor, offering specialty design and consulting," with an emphasis on energy-efficiency and healthy living. "What we proposed was a new and innovative indoor comfort system that combined heating, cooling, domestic hot water, and ventilation," said John Palecek, who serves as an engineering/technical consultant for Smart Solutions.
His company and the systems it recommended did not disappoint. Upon completion in the fall of 2005, the two-story, 23-room Armstrong home was estimated to be at least 75 percent more energy-efficient than homes built to the 1993 Model Energy Code benchmark, developed by the Council of American Building Officials.