The house has a mind of its own.
The phone rang at home — and the music on the radio immediately became quieter, so that it was more convenient to talk. A strong wind blew — and the windows closed themselves to prevent a draft.
Guests arrived — the light in the hallway turned on automatically. The sun warmed up — the air conditioner increased its power…
Similar “smart home” systems, which monitor the comfort and safety of residents themselves, began to be implemented all over the world in the mid-80s. Russia has only really joined this process in recent years. Experts estimate the capacity of today’s “smart home” system market in the country at approximately 200–250 million dollars a year. These indicators, which are not so significant compared to other developed countries, are compensated by the growth rate: sales of such systems in our country grow by at least 20–25% every year.
“Brains” for the office
When discussing the development of the «smart home» systems market, experts primarily identify two key concepts of the «thinking» real estate object itself. The first is the so-called intelligent buildings, the second is the «smart home» itself. The difference is that the term «intelligent buildings» in the language of professionals is more often used in relation to commercial real estate, while the phrase «smart home» refers to residential buildings.
«Smart home» and «intelligent building» systems, which are respectively used in residential or commercial buildings, are seriously different from each other,» says Andrey Golovin, executive director of the Building Automation Association. «It is clear that this is due to the specifics of the operation of these two types of real estate. What you need in an office or warehouse is not always appropriate in a home environment.»
According to experts, «intelligent building» systems in commercial real estate are primarily aimed at managing communications (ventilation, heating, etc.). After all, the introduction of «smart» electronic systems in the management of a large office complex or, say, a hotel building gives an impressive effect. According to ARMO-Engineering, «intelligent building» systems allow reducing energy costs by 20-30% per year, equipment repair and maintenance costs by 50-60%, and overall building operation costs can be reduced by 50-70%.
Indeed, the savings, for example, of electricity and heat in an «intelligent building» can be noticeable due to the implementation of even basic electronic systems. For example, simple motion sensors can be installed in the corridors, and the light here will not be on around the clock, but only when a person appears in the room. A lot of electricity can be saved by automating external lighting — on command from the electronics, the lamps can light up exactly when it gets dark outside, and at dawn the lighting itself will turn off. Or you can set up the heating system so that it reduces the intensity at the end of the working day, and, say, an hour or two before it starts, it turns on again at full power in order to warm up the premises by the time employees arrive.
Automatic systems can also lead to significant savings during the use of equipment. “Look what happens during normal operation of equipment in a large office building,” says Viktor Gutman, technical director of the company «InternetDom». — Let's say there is an air conditioner. Gradually, its filter gets clogged. After the filter gets clogged, the air conditioner turns off, and complaints begin that it does not work. They call a technician who opens the air conditioner, replaces the filter, and only then does the equipment start working again. That is, the maintenance scheme turns out to be cumbersome and inconvenient. If there is an «intelligent building» system, the electronics automatically monitor the operation of the same air conditioner and inform in advance about the contamination of the filter. In this case, the air conditioner will be repaired in advance, this will cause a minimum of inconvenience, and in addition, will lead to less wear and tear and breakdowns of the equipment.»
In addition to communications management, another important function of an “intelligent building,” which is also becoming increasingly popular, is security. Security equipment — surveillance cameras, motion sensors, access control systems — is increasingly integrated into a single network that protects the facility more effectively. This is especially true for office buildings of large financial organizations, warehouses, etc. Automated security systems also include popular fire alarms that prevent fires and man-made accidents.
In principle, installing intelligent systems in a commercial building is not an extremely complex process. However, there is a mandatory condition: all of them must be included in the facility at the design stage. Most systems are often extremely difficult or even impossible to implement in a building that has already been built. In general, according to experts, the implementation of “intelligent building” systems today costs an average of 10% of the cost of all engineering systems in a new facility. However, these costs may not pay off until two or three years have passed.
Artificial Dawn
The «smart home» system, unlike «intelligent buildings», has a different specificity. «If in the «intelligent building» of a large commercial facility the customer usually requires automation to control communications and security, then from the «smart home» systems in private housing the client first of all wants to get maximum comfort, and in addition, he plans to use them for entertainment purposes,» says Viktor Gutman from the company «InternetDom».
Experts consider «smart light» systems to be the most common «smart home» components on the market today. Even in inexpensive apartments, people are starting to install motion sensors — for example, in the hallway, kitchen or bathroom — that, in response to a person's presence, turn the light on or off automatically.
Another popular type of automation in residential buildings is automatic climate control systems. The owner sets the desired temperature in the house, and the electronics themselves adjust the operation of the heating or air conditioner to it. And the same electronics can track the appearance of people in the room in order to switch from the economy mode (which controls, for example, electricity consumption) to a comfortable one.
Along with this, automatic electric drives, which are also called the muscles of the «smart home», are becoming more and more widespread in homes. Modern electric drives, for example, open the curtains when it is light outside, or open the garage door when a car approaches. Often, «smart» curtains are integrated with a home theater system: when the video equipment is turned on, the curtains close automatically.
Multi-room systems have also been actively distributed recently. In this case, all entertainment information (music, films, photos) is stored on one large server, and each room has a small remote control, by pressing which you can display your favorite film or music track on the screen or on the speaker system. As a result, the house is not cluttered with unnecessary equipment, and choosing entertainment becomes much more convenient.
Demand for automated security systems is also growing. They monitor both the physical security of the home (protecting against burglars) and the technical security (to prevent pipes from leaking, the heating system from breaking down, etc.). Moreover, they can not only warn about the threat of an emergency, but also call a repairman in time.
Another noticeable trend is the automation of all telecommunications systems in the home. Multiservice networks are the latest craze here. “The advantage of multiservice networks is that they are built using not many wires, but only one cable,” says Dmitry Sinitsyn, Head of the Service Development Department at Komkor. — As a result, all information flows from any engineering and information systems are transmitted via a single fiber-optic cable and delivered to any recipients in any geographic location. For example, signals from the fire-fighting subsystem are sent to the 02 service control panel, hot water meter data is sent to the service information system, images from CCTV cameras are sent to monitors, Internet traffic is connected to the local provider’s node, and so on. Such networks are more reliable, durable, and their installation requires less expense and effort.”
As for country houses, there is an increasing demand for “smart garden” systems, which will water the lawn themselves if necessary, turn on the lighting in the evening, or even play romantic music.
In addition to the common requests to integrators of «smart home» systems, from time to time they receive orders for original systems. For example, at one of the recent Hi-Tech House exhibitions in Moscow, an «Expert» correspondent was told how one of the customers asked to make a bed that would automatically come out of the wall. Another client wanted to create an artificial sunset or sunrise in his home, which would appear on the wall with the help of «smart» lighting technology. Another company proudly reported that in the garden of one of the mansions on Nikolina Gora, it managed to create a section of an artificial river. In the same garden, a «smart music» system was installed: when the owner appears in certain parts of the garden, not only different lighting, but also different music is automatically turned on. And a customer of another company integrated a security system for an apartment with a car: when approaching the house, he sees on the display inside the car an image from surveillance cameras in the courtyard of the house, in the entrance and on the stairwell.
By the way, many experts note the demand for the installation of «smart home» systems in real estate properties abroad owned by Russian citizens. Foreign companies usually cannot cope with the Russification of such systems, and more and more often domestic integrators present examples of work on the automation of cozy apartments in the center of London or Paris at exhibitions.
Prices for «smart home» systems have become quite affordable in the last few years, even for people with average incomes. Of course, some artificial river will result in a sum with many zeros, but «smart light» or «smart curtains» in an apartment will cost several thousand dollars. In general, market participants say that installing a good «smart home» system today will cost an average of 200-400 dollars per square meter.
Offices are becoming «smarter» more often
Along with the growth of consumer demand, a noticeable trend in the Russian market of «smart home» systems is the formation of a clear structure of this business itself. Over the past couple of years, two main types of participants in this market have clearly emerged in Russia — manufacturers of «smart home» equipment and its integrators.
Experts say that now it is already possible to identify favorites among suppliers of «smart home» systems. These are mainly companies from the USA, as well as from Germany and a number of other European countries. Among the suppliers of equipment for «smart buildings» in commercial real estate, the following companies stand out: Honeywell, Siemens, Sauter, Elka, Gira, York, TAC, Johnsons Control, National Instruments. As for equipment for residential «smart home» systems, AMX, Gira, Merten, Berker, Clipsal, Beckhoff are active here.
It is noteworthy that today Russian manufacturers are also starting to produce equipment for building automation. One of the most successful examples is the MZTA (Moscow Plant of Thermal Automation), which sells systems for automating heating and ventilation not only in Russia, but also abroad.
Another part of the market players are equipment integrators, who, as a rule, work with several suppliers at once. Here, too, companies are divided into those that work with residential and those that work with commercial properties. “There are significantly fewer companies that work with commercial buildings,” says Andrey Golovin from the Building Automation Association. “The fact is that the volume of investment and the complexity of the work here are significantly higher, so there are only about 20-25 major players. As for residential properties, installing systems in one apartment does not require a large staff of specialists and significant initial investments. Therefore, there are many small companies operating here, and about forty large, major ones.”
The most famous Russian companies involved in the integration of «smart buildings» in commercial properties include ICS, Krok, ARMO-Engineering, and Optima. Famous companies working with «smart home» systems in the residential sector include InternetDom, Intellhouse, Solaris, and IntelKey.
Market participants note that the current serious problem with the development of «smart home» systems in Russia is the bias towards commercial real estate. According to some estimates, non-residential properties currently account for up to 80% of sales of all «smart» systems in Russia.
«The dominance of commercial properties in the integration of «smart home» systems in Russia is explained by the fact that the owner of commercial real estate is usually known at the design stage,» Andrey Golovin continues. — And in the case of residential real estate, the owner, as a rule, appears after the construction is completed, and it is not profitable for the developer to invest additional funds in “smart home” systems, which are preferably implemented at the design stage. However, I think that the situation will change in the near future. Competition in the residential real estate market is growing, and soon developers will become more active in implementing “smart” building management systems at the construction stage.”