Integrated interiors

With technology making a beeline for the interior, CID looks at some of the latest automation products on the market.

“We are no longer gadget-phobic,” suggested Carol Prince, marketing director of Room With Net Trading. “Airplanes have remote controls and touch panels by each seat, and whether you are four or 94 you are comfortable with the concept. We all have mobile phones, Blackberrys and countless other forms of gadgetry which are becoming standard packages in our lives.”

Consequently, interior designers are left with little choice but to embrace technology in their design schemes, she continued. “Whether they like to or not, the design community is having to adapt its designs to incorporate technology. But having to use a software or high-tech system in a design definitely does not mean that the beauty and symmetry of the designer’s work has to be compromised at all,” she said.

The fear factor

So far, the residential and hospitality sectors have led the way when it comes to the uptake of automation technology. Most hotel guests have come to expect a remote in their room that will control the TV, the temperature, the lights and the blinds, all at the touch of a button.

“In the private and hotel sector, designers and decision makers are pushing to have automation technology, since it adds value to the project. It makes their home or hotel look more modern and stylish, and reduces energy costs,” explained Rabih El-Kassir, business unit manager – home automation, Al Mazroui – ICAS.

In other sectors, however, cost consciousness is acting as a barrier, he continued. “In a commercial context there is resistance, since contractors are looking to achieve a minimum cost by cutting out extra investment in latest technologies,” El-Kassir said.

Technology may have become ubiquitous, but there are still people who view automation systems as inaccessible and overly complicated, noted Brocas Burrows, director of Platinum Vision, a high-end developer and implementer of home automation systems. People that have had to deal with sub-standard systems in the past are particularly wary, Burrows pointed out.

“We’ve seen installations that are just embarrassing for our industry. The most important thing for me is to re-educate the industry. People’s perception of home automation is that it’s too complicated, too expensive, too unreliable. There’s a whole fear related to it and I think that’s linked to people’s past experiences,” he said.

The company’s offices in Dubai Investment Park feature a live demonstration area where people can experience the benefits of seamless automation first hand. A fully-equipped living room, bedroom and bathroom showcase the endless possibilities offered by a professionally crafted, intelligently integrated, high-end automation system.

“The actual solution for removing any ‘fear’ is to get people to come here and use the system and see how it works. After all, if they can’t use it, we haven’t done our job properly,” said Burrows.
Another way to allay people’s fears is to make sure that you are creating a system that specifically caters to the needs of the end user, Burrows explained.

“We are an integrator, so we will design a system that is totally relevant to the clients’ requirements, whether they be financial or design-related preferences. So, if a client prefers Sony to Panasonic, it’s their decision and we can make it work. There are various brands that we work with because they are very reliable, like Crestron. We’ve used them a long time. They are robust, and with the clients that we deal with, the most important thing is reliability. If they touch the screen, they want things to happen; they want things to work. Not three times out of ten, not five times out of ten, but ten times out of ten.”

The need for reliability and robustness is particular acute in a commercial setting, where systems need to be extremely hardy, and virtually fool-proof. “The systems that we use, Crestron, actually come from a commercial background – airports, shopping malls, big industrial control systems. They then moved into the residential market because people wanted integrated systems for their houses,” he said.

Sustained demand

One thing seems certain: the popularity of interior automation will only increase as systems become more advanced, users become more savvy, and developers and designers become more accepting.

Sustainability will be the other important driver. “The focus for Room With Net Trading in 2010 is to promote the advantages of more sustainable products, from lighting to energy solutions for air-conditioning, heating and security. As we know, governments worldwide are putting in place energy-saving standards to demand that individuals and organisations act more responsibly,” said Prince.

“The focus for RWN now is to show designers and architects the advantages of switching to energy-saving products like the Zity Zigbee range, which can achieve low operating costs through energy management, without jeopardising quality standards.”

The Zity energy management automation system focuses on efficient lighting, and is designed to significantly reduce energy usage. “Zity allows us to use lower electrical consumption without dropping quality of light. The new technology is designed to use 10% to 40% less energy,” said Prince.

“Naturally, when the figures are calculated, this means that the long-term operating costs are reduced. Whatever energy solution interior designers decide to pick for their clients, the ultimate goal should be working towards being more efficient.”

RWN also offers a complete range of controllable LED and low-voltage lighting, including emergency lighting which moves away from the traditional incandescent valve to more attractive casing. “An extremely popular product which we have seen an increase in sales for over the last quarter is dimmable fluorescent tubing and light bulbs, which takes us away from the glare and ugliness of standard fluorescent tubing which we are so bombarded with, particularly in commercial environments,” Prince maintained.

Moving forward, systems will continue to get smarter, and increasingly sophisticated, El-Kassir noted. “Interior automation is becoming smarter and can easily be integrated with many other systems. We are expecting more involvement of the PC in the home automation business, plus telecommunication will have a great interface for the same,” he commented.

IBM has been busy developing the next generation of ‘smart home’ technology, which is enabled by Cloud technology. In this case, the intelligence required to automate the home is not based on centralised control in the home, through a home server or home gateway, but rather in the network, or the Internet ‘Cloud’. According to IBM, this improves the user experience, and creates new efficiencies.

Fuelled by the widespread availability of broadband Internet access, as well as the proliferation of web-enabled appliances and devices within the average home, IBM has identified this as the logical next step in the evolution
of home automation.

In concrete terms, a ‘smarter’ home will include a refrigerator that can adjust its cooling temperature based on the volume of items that it contains; a thermostat that will change its target temperature based on current and coming weather conditions; a television that will recommend TV shows based on past selections; and a washer and dryer that will self-determine water temperature and cycle times based on load volume, dirt level and time of
day energy rates.

According to Americo Machado, leader, IBM Europe, Middle East & Africa, Electronics Industry, the current economic climate could be instrumental in promoting greater awareness of sustainability – even in parts of the world not known for their green credentials – which will invariably highlight the need for intelligently-integrated environments. But instigating widespread change will take time.

“It all depends on the stimulation generated by local governance to increase energy efficiency, particularly in an environment still consuming a lot of traditionally-sourced electricity such as oil and gas, and this quite often for a low-fixed price model or even zero-price for local people.

However, the advent of initiatives such as Masdar City bode well for the future, he continued. “There is no doubt, in my opinion, that projects like Masdar City, with a main objective of becoming the first carbon neutral city in this world, will need to take mandatory advantage of such smart solutions,” Machado said.

Communicating clearly

Ultimately, the key to successfully incorporating technology into any project is opening up very clear lines of communication, and making sure that all relevant parties are brought on board as early as possible. “We need to come in at the concept stage, because our designs affect MEP, the AC, security, the network infrastructure, everything,” Burrows explained.

Basically, in order to capitalise on the benefits of technology, and ensure that technology is enhancing rather than hindering design, it is essential that all parties are communicating clearly from the very outset.

“Lighting design and control is very important to the ambience of a room,” Burrows said. “Curtain control, drape control, black-out blinds – all of these things are part of the interior design. TVs have to be recessed into walls so you get nice, clear cut finishes. How heavy are the curtains? Can we actually move them with an electronic system? Is there underground heating, is the pool heated, will there be lights in the pool? What water features will there be? What finishes will there be on the wall? Do the touch panels have to match those finishes? You have to work together, because you definitely won’t get anywhere working apart.”

Loft living

The Loft by Neocasa showcases the very latest in home automation technology. Sound system technology was supplied by Loewe, which brought an entire media collection of CDs, MP3s, DVDs, iTunes and satellite radio together into one streamlined, flexible and open architecture system. The Loft also features the new Loewe multi-room system, a high performance home entertainment and multi-room audio distribution system that is user friendly and simple to install. Right out of the box, the Loewe media center turns any home into a state-of-the-art entertainment space. The Loewe assist media remote can control an entire multi-room entertainment system. Alternatively, all the products can be integrated into a Crestron control system and users can enjoy the on-the go convenience of using an iPod touch or iPhone to gain access and control the entire entertainment and home automation system.