High Tech Makes the Home of Tomorrow Available Today

By Will Eastburn

Arriving home from a night at the theatre, one simple click of a visor-mounted remote control opens the garage door, unlocks the entryway door into the home, disarms the security system, and bathes the home with decorative lighting, all while the evening news flashes on the plasma TV screen in the family room. Soft music welcomes the homeowner into the kitchen where a wall-mounted touchpad panel displays a current listing of community events, tomorrow's weather and an e-mail message from the grandchildren.

Before leaving the following morning for an early game of golf, the homeowner scans the touch panel monitor for current weather conditions, views the community’s golf course with a live camera feed and confirms the tee time. After backing out of the driveway, a single button on the remote control in the homeowner’s golf cart lowers the garage door, shuts off the interior lights, arms the security system, turns off the music inside the home and adjusts the heat or cooling setting to save energy.

Sound like a home of the future? The future is happening now. A few miles south of St. George. SunRiver, an active adult lifestyle community, has become one of the most wired active adult communities in the nation. SunRiver was recently awarded "2006 Connected Community of the Year" by Tech Home Builder and CEPro at the 2006 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas.

Darcy Stewart, the founder of SunRiver, envisioned a technically advanced, progressive community for people aged fifty-five or better. Key to his goal of a truly connected community, Darcy ensured that the residents had access to the latest in home automation technology. The end result is the high-tech home of the future now.

Nationwide, approximately sixty percent of new homes under construction have some degree of advanced electronics. Once considered revolutionary, automated watering systems, wireless computer networks and programmable thermostats are now commonplace.

High-tech home is an ambiguous phrase which can be interchanged with automated home, smart home or the wired home. Whatever the term, this type of home has much more to offer than having lawn sprinklers come to life at five in the morning.

From the street, the Sunsations model home at SunRiver appears similar to other fashionable homes. Similarity ends, however, at the entrance to the home. The front door lock, when programmed, can only be accessed by an authorized fingerprint. According to Joseph Camp at Biotech Security, the locking device can record hundreds of individual fingerprints to allow entry for guests, health care workers, maid service or others needing limited access.

Inside the home, sensors activate low level lights to guide a path while walking to the kitchen for a late night snack. The patio sliding glass door is programmed to open when approached, ideal while carrying a plate full of sizzling steaks from the outdoor barbeque grill. A relaxing evening in the home theatre room begins with a simple click of the remote control. Once the button is depressed, the viewing screen lowers, drapes close automatically and, as the movie starts, lighting is automatically lowered by 90 percent.

Home automation and high technology might seem out of place in an over 55 community but, in actuality, the SunRiver computer club has 278 members, and is one of the most popular groups in SunRiver. Delores Bibby, club president, describes the club’s activities. "We teach a variety of classes with the latest software and the most up to date equipment including our new G5 Macintosh computers," she said. "Our members are at different skill levels including a group of community volunteers who are Microsoft certified instructors. We have members in their eighties who e-mail their families every day."

Cameras and video equipment record each class from which the students edit the material before converting it to DVD for students not in attendance. Residents will soon be able to view a live feed of the computer classes in their homes through a community broadcast.

To accomplish this and other tasks, Stewart partnered with Triaxis, a Utah company, to install a metropolitan fiber optic network throughout the community to provide high speed internet access, VoIP phone connectivity and an assortment of entertainment packages. This triple play service means that homeowners receive a single bill for phone, internet, and a choice of entertainment packages. By combining services, residents can save up to twenty percent each month in charges.

Typical telephone and cable TV wiring cannot meet the demands of this new technology, so all SunRiver homes under construction now include high quality structured wiring.

Structured wiring is essentially a communications cable bundled with a shielded television/internet cable that is fed into the home and connected to a central distribution device (CDD). From this device, the service wires branch out in a star pattern connecting individual rooms with internet access, phone, audio and high definition (HD) video. The CDD can also be used to connect a security system or a lighting control unit. By using structured wiring technology and the proper configuration, it is possible to control every light in the home with a single remote control device. Music can be piped to an individual room or throughout the home via a CD player, IPod or any source of audio. Each room can be programmed to individual tastes—NPR radio in the study and jazz in the kitchen.

Visual Imagery, a systems integrator headquartered in South Jordan, Utah, patterned a home automation system to envelop the community’s goal of a trouble-free lifestyle. Brooks Gibbs, president of Visual Imagery, selected a reliable Honeywell interface with an easy to use internet browser platform. Brooks demonstrated the technology by activating the touch pad panel in the kitchen area of the Sunsations model home at SunRiver. "It's no different from pulling up a webpage on your computer," Brooks explained. "Using Connect and Control technology, the system components are connected to an internet control module. Home appliances, security cameras, virtually any compatible device can be controlled from the touch panel screen, hand held or wall-mounted remote."

Although the home network is based on an internet HTML code, the system operates independently from the internet and does not require access to function. SunRiver homes have an extra bonus because the touch panel control is also connected to the community intranet. From the touch screen at home, the homeowner could scroll through the busy community calendar, enroll in an activity such as a day hike in Zion Park, sign up for a class in the woodworking shop or place a vote on an electronic HOA ballot.

"Many of the residences in SunRiver are second homes," Brooks said, "so these absentee homeowners welcome the idea of staying connected. By using a web browser platform, they can control their home system from a remote location such as an office or hotel room. Any source with internet access will work, including a hand held PDA device or a cell phone."

After logging in with a password on the SunRiver website, homeowners with the right equipment could program system devices such as a thermostat or home appliance, monitor their homes via surveillance cameras, or check current water pressure to test for leaks.

Although home automation can be as simple and trouble-free as using a microwave oven, volunteers from SunRiver's computer club often lend their neighbors a hand to help them understand some element of it. Training is also included with the purchase of any new automated home. Lights and other connected components can be used manually without having internet access but, as with all electronics, the system will not work in case of a power failure. However, by using flash memory, none of the programming is lost after an outage or during an extended shutdown.

Obviously, new technology comes at a price. Adding technology can increase construction costs by about two percent. Because residents have varied interests and lifestyles, most technology packages are offered á la carte. Prospective homeowners can pick and choose from lighting controls, security systems, entertainment systems and other technology to fit within their budgets. Upgrading the home automated system is easy with Connect and Control technology. All structured wiring is installed through conduit (plastic tubing) to accommodate future upgrades or advances in technology.

In addition to the already mentioned savings on bundled services, energy savings can be achieved by using advanced technology. According to a press release from Lutron Electronics, dimming a light to 50 percent of its full capacity—typically evening relaxation lighting—saves as much as 40 percent of electricity and increases the life of the bulb by twenty times. Controlled heating and cooling is an effective method to reduce energy costs during evening hours or when the homeowner is away.

Although it is hard to put a value on home safety, Brooks shared his perspective: "SunRiver is a low crime area and security systems are typically used as monitoring devices. Being able to monitor the interior or exterior of the home from within the residence or by a remote device gives the homeowner a higher level of comfort. In case of a fire, security systems can be designed to activate interior lights to flash at exit points, shut down HVAC systems and trigger exterior lights to flash, helping guide first responders."

Michael Green, marketing director for SunRiver, believes that technology has played a role in the rapid growth of the community. "Receiving national exposure through articles in the New York Times, USA Today, and other publications has expanded our scope of prospective homeowners. Secondly, there is a growing technical contingent interested in home technology that has made an impact on sales."

One such resident is Carl Berger, the retired Director of Academic Technology at the University of Michigan. Professor Berger moved to SunRiver less than two years ago, and has incorporated some of the latest technology in his home. The professor continues to work part time at U of M as a Professor and Dean Emeritus, travels as a consultant for Apple Computer, walks an hour each day, teaches classes for the center’s computer club, and enjoys digital photography in his spare time.

Professor Berger expressed his thoughts on the high tech home of the future: "Senior citizens will take advantage of home automation, but want their systems to be transparent. The younger generation, including many baby boomers, will demand the latest in technology as it becomes available. We have a fiber optic network at the university and can download a live feed of high definition video in real time. Web pages come up almost instantaneously. That's something people want."

Honeywell helped to develop a simple home automation system that serves the needs of the tech enthusiast, and can perform effortlessly in the background.

Darcy Stewart drove the concept of home automation to develop not only a high tech home, but a complete wired community that will undoubtedly pioneer a new generation of residential developments.