FREE Webcast: Enabling the Home Area Network

Join Parks Associates and the Z-Wave Alliance on Thursday, February 17th at 2 pm CENTRAL for the webcast, Enabling the Home Area Network: Solutions that work for Consumers and Utilities, and learn about the market outlook for residential energy management (REM) products and services.

Parks Associates research finds:
-- By 2015, less than 5% of U.S. households will have a utility-based home area network (HAN).
-- By 2022, that number will grow to almost 40%.

Registration:
http://www.parksassociates.com/events/webcasts/2011/webcasts_sigma.htm

Presenters include:
-- Bill Ablondi, Director, Home Systems Research, Parks Associates
-- Dan Goodman, CTO, Radio Thermostat Company of America
-- Letha McLaren, Vice President of Product Management, iControl Networks
-- Steve Samolinski, Director of Solution Management, Connected Home Solutions, Ingersoll Rand

The interactive panel discussion includes industry executives from leading-edge companies and utilities as they examine the latest innovative solutions and share their perspectives on the key trends and opportunities in 2011. Attendees will learn what to watch in 2011 and what to expect from both consumers and business as this growing market continues to expand into the home.

What's Hot? Residential Energy Management

During difficult times, the true optimists find the silver lining and recall that great opportunities are borne out of change. There are great opportunities in technologies for residential energy management now rising from the ashes of the global economic meltdown.

Parks Associates has been tracking home automation including energy management solutions since the late 80’s. Many solutions have come and gone, lacking sufficient support for mass adoption. If your average monthly energy bills are north of $300, then a little quick math suggests you could justify spending several hundred or a thousand dollars on home technologies which provide measurable savings by managing when certain systems in your home operate and hibernate.

Parks Associates tracks the companies playing leading roles in residential energy management. Many of these companies facilitate utility companies’ development of a nationwide smart grid, but many products work today with existing meters and can be purchased at retail. Some solutions involve a wireless monitoring device or thermostat and some, such as Google’s PowerMeter, are Internet applications which allow a homeowner to monitor energy usage from any Internet connected location.

It is uncertain if residential energy management technology will be driven into the home by utility companies or pulled in by economizing consumers, but it is likely to be both. What is certain is that several network protocols are well entrenched in near term solutions. These include IP (Internet protocol and specifically IP for Smart Objects), ZigBee, Z-Wave and Wi-Fi. While there is certainly time for other protocols to enter the race, the majority of early products incorporate these standards. Consumers have grown comfortable with Wi-Fi on their laptops, home routers and iPod Touch devices, but are not familiar with other technologies, e.g. ZigBee. ZigBee is a network protocol optimized for low power devices, strongly endorsed by many utilities. The combination of these technologies provides an array of relatively low cost products that enable us to track our current energy usage, and, in some solutions, control how and when we run certain systems.

Parks Associates is bullish on the prospects of consumers deploying products now which will begin the transformation of our attitudes and usage of energy. As Google states, the first step in changing consumption is measuring what and when we consume. We hope that energy utilities will jump start the process by providing incentives or even selling and installing products which will heighten our awareness of how much energy we use.

The global crisis of rising energy costs will first transform our attitudes and eventually modify our energy consumption habits – strengthening our economy with the help of technology.

Sigma Designs buys Zensys

The Sigma Designs purchase of Zensys, the company that originated the Z-Wave wireless networking protocol, is an interesting move. There are definitely some entertainment and remote controller applications that are enabled using Z-Wave, and Sigma also has a strong reputation in customer premise equipment like set-top boxes. So, might we see some home control features integrated with traditional entertainment experiences?

Newmark Homes Sells 230 Units With Wayne-Dalton Controls

Company says it's an effort to differentiate itself in the tough housing market.

Oct. 13, 2008 — by Jason Knott

In an attempt to differentiate itself during this tough housing market, Newmark Homes is now offering the Wayne-Dalton Z-wave Home Controls package as a standard feature in all new builds.And it might be working. In the eight months since the adoption, the Austin, Texas-based Newmark has sold 230 homes.“I’m always looking for that one thing that will make us different and stand out," says Don Cox, VP of sales and marketing for Newmark Homes. Article Link

This article in CEPro struck a cord with us in the Home Systems Group at Parks Associates. We just finished a report that focused on the subject of wireless controls — Opportunities for Wireless & Powerline Controls. In the report we explained how our research shows that home builders are turning to technology amenities to differentiate their homes. A broad-based survey we conducted in partnership with Hanley Wood’s Digital Home revealed that 40% of single family home builders are looking for electronic products and services to differentiate their homes; another 32% are installing amenities, e.g. wiring for home theaters, multi-room audio and home offices to speed the sale/rental of homes. Clearly Newmark Homes fits this profile.

In addition, another point made in Opportunities for Wireless & Powerline Controls is that systems incorporating home controls into everyday applications such as opening the garage door and initiating a sequence of events – lights turn on, thermostat resets, etc. – help build awareness for the capabilities of control systems. Wayne Dalton’s system is an excellent example of this phenomenon at work.

Single family home builders are not alone in their inclination to seek out technology amenities to differentiate their products. We just completed a major study of the multifamily industry, Multifamily Residences: Opportunities for Digital Systems & Services, in partnership with Multifamily Executive and Developer magazines. More than half of multifamily executives are looking to technology services and products to differentiate their properties. This strategy makes perfect sense for several reasons: in a slow economy differentiators such as technology are more important than ever, Gen Y renters and buyers want technology, and, there’s more money to be made by feeding resident demand (all ages) for certain services and systems.