Aurora – Luxury-home builders are beginning to concede that today’s custom houses are more intelligent than they are.
The “smart technology” showing up in model homes like those on view at the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver’s 2007 Parade of Homes, which ends Monday, allows residents to control major systems with the touch of a button.
Homeowners can now use the Internet to remotely operate thermostats. They can make an empty house look occupied with “smart” lighting, stereos or televisions programmed to turn on and off at specific times. And they can use security cameras to keep tabs on the house 24/7.
Welcome to the world of “centralized home management,” where the information superhighway meets the luxury-home market.
“The affluent buyer … wants the convenience of using a touch panel or Web browser to turn on all their music, pick a movie to watch and control lighting,” says NexGen president Jaime Franklin. His company helped Rocky Mountain Custom Homes install a NetStream home electronics system in its Parade of Homes model. The system features an Internet-based digital audio system that sends signals from a central location or control room to various “zones” or rooms in the house.
Music components such as CD players, MP3 players and tuners are integrated into one data stream and can be easily accessed from a computer. Users also can operate surveillance and security systems, as well as control lighting, with the same system.
The NetStream technology costs about $2,000 per room, which includes speakers. Further customization can run as much as $4,000 per room.
All of the homes in the 2007 Parade showcase similar technology – proof that this high-tech home management has tremendous possibilities.
The HomeWorks smart technology installed in the Village Homes’ model can control virtually any equipment including pools, spas and sprinklers. Similar technology in the Hollyberry Homes’ model will buzz an owner’s cellphone when someone rings the doorbell. And the Crestron system inside the John Laing Homes model will electronically raise and lower the shades.
Smart technology is also tied to the building industry’s move toward “green” practices. The future owner of the Village Homes model, for instance, will be able to control the amount of voltage traveling to a light bulb, which extends the life of the bulb and reduces energy bills.
A light bulb typically uses 100 percent of the available voltage but “smart” companies produce technology that can be programmed to supply only 60 percent of the available voltage.
The success of new products like these during model-home tours is often the first step before builders make them standard in all new homes, not just luxury properties.
“Manufacturers have truly stepped up” with high-tech and green building materials, says Debbie Cramer with Remarc Homes. “These products aren’t just functional, they are good looking too.”
Staff Writer Sheba R. Wheeler can be reached at 303-954-1283 or swheeler@denverpost.com.
Better building
Look for these and other high-tech products and building materials at the 2007 Parade of Homes, which ends Monday.
Rheem furnace. State of the art, energy-efficient Rheem furnaces that modulate heating and cooling are new to the market.
Pex pipes. Pex polyethylene pipes in the Village Homes model don’t corrode and provide freeze protection during the winter.
Elevator. Tired of climbing stairs? Check out the elevator inside the Remarc Homes model, a house designed so that someone could live out their life there instead of moving into senior-specific housing.
Rinnai tankless water heater. The Remarc Homes model also features a Rinnai tankless water heater, which provides a constant supply of hot water. That means no cold showers – ever.
BluWood lumber. Hollyberry Homes used mold- and bug-resistant BluWood to frame its Parade of Homes model. The BluWood treatment process also means this building material doesn’t bend or warp from moisture. It’s also fire resistant.
CICS PowerBoard. Hollyberry Homes used a new drywall product called PowerBoard that is so toxin-free it can be eaten without hazard. Installers didn’t even need to wear masks to work with the product.
James Hardie fiber cement siding. Recycled building materials make exteriors virtually maintenance-free, which is why Remarc Homes used James Hardie siding made from a composite of sand, clay and wood. Makers say it’s more durable than other siding, which is why it comes with a 50-year warranty.
Parade of Homes
The 2007 Parade of Homes ends Monday. The Home Builders Association of Metro Denver touts this event as the largest custom-home showcase of its kind in the country.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. One hour later on Friday night.
Where: Southshore – a new development near E-470 and Smoky Hill Road overlooking Aurora Reservoir.
Tickets: $8-$12. Kids 5 and under are free.
Information: ParadeOfHomesDenver.com or 303-778-1400.
