Welcome to NBS |

Smart homes

A smart home is defined as a one that has an internal communications network with access to external broadband connectivity. This article takes a brief overview of smart homes, looking at what they are and how they are envisaged to work.

The introduction of internet protocol (IP) technologies has sparked a revolution in communications and how we carry out our day-to-day business; on the domestic front its potential for purchasing goods and online banking services has been fully exploited. However, there is still further potential for IP communications to bring about further change in the way we monitor and manage our homes and deliver community services.

Around 90% of UK housing has access to broadband services but only a small proportion has an internal network for distributing voice, data and video signals throughout the home. At the present time only about 2000 new homes per year can really be called smart homes, accounting for just 1% of new stock, although smart homes offer huge benefits. They provide the potential for interactive monitoring and management of energy and water use; the same systems can also be used for remote monitoring and management. The widespread availability of communications systems also provides a means to radically change the way healthcare is delivered, for example, to facilitate the delivery of telecare and to monitor homes susceptible to fuel poverty during the winter.

Linking the internal communications systems of a house with the external internet and a local area network creates the opportunity for a wired-up community and a method for broadcasting important local information. There could also be local news services, jobs advertising and information on local events.

Installation

In terms of the physical installation, it uses a familiar medium in cable. Typically the communications cable used is Cat5e (with an analogue bandwidth of 100 MHz, supporting data transfer at up to 1000 Mbits/s). The more expensive and more capable Cat6 cable is also used (analogue bandwidth of 250MHz), and is expected to be adequate for 10,000 baseT (10 Gbits/s) ethernet) - both twisted pair cable types. Those advocating the use of Cat6 or better often do so because of its superior ability to carry analogue video; however this is expected to become less important in the future.

While the cable medium is familiar, these communications cables require careful handling, and have more precise termination requirements than electrical light and power cables.

Plug and play

A new concept from modular systems producers, pre-fabricated wiring can also be utilised retrospectively; in some cases power systems, as well as communications, can be plug-and-play units. These flexible, modular wiring systems enable the guesswork to be removed from wiring interpretation so that installations are of consistently high quality. These modular wiring systems lend themselves very well to smart home use and the convergence of various wired technologies such as lighting, security, telecommunication, data communications and audio/visual entertainment is beginning to drive smart home technology into the UK marketplace. These aspects can be packaged into a single network wiring system, providing plug and play access to data/communications and the internet from satellites, cable TV, fax/modem, video/multimedia, HiFi, lighting control, domestic security and other control systems. All can benefit from such an approach, which will allow homeowners the option of adding new technologies at a later date, without costly rewiring.

Benefits and barriers

These potential developments are all well and good, but setting up and operating a wired community takes financing. One solution suggested is to establish a local investment company: a mixture of local public service organisations and private companies with an interest in the commercial supply of community services.

Despite the benefits on offer, there are barriers to the uptake of smart home technologies. They are a recent phenomenon and are regarded by house developers and builders as being innovative and therefore inherently risky. The risks include uncertainty about the technology, its cost, installation, commissioning requirements and ongoing liabilities.

The capital and installation costs of a basic communications infrastructure with one master point and six additional connection points (one computer; two phone; two satellite TV; one terrestrial TV; one radio) in a typical three-to-four bedroom property was of the order £800 in 2006, with costs falling as technology advances and demand volumes increase.

Financing models are one of the other fundamental considerations in the development and implementation of wired-up communities. Consumer packages offered by companies such as Sky and Virgin are based on well-developed cost models, with clear identification of profits. Individual consumers are incentivised because of their perceived entertainment and amenity value; the perceived value of public services is much lower. Complicating the issue of financing local community services through the internet may be an expectation of free delivery of service.

Another barrier at the present time is the absence of regulatory requirements or guidance documents for the installation of connectivity technology in the home. A consultation draft of the proposed Building Regulations Part Q was instigated by the requirements for installation of ducting to carry the cable infrastructure for the internal transmission of data in the home setting. But ratification of Part Q has proved difficult, not least because communications technologies develop at a timescale many times faster than the timescale regulatory processes operate to. Instead of this the Government-produced guidance document, Data services – connecting to homes, is expected to better keep pace with technological developments than a regulatory document that needs to be ratified.

Local investment companies

Identifying financial models to support delivery of local community services is a significant challenge, and may rely on the setting up of local investment companies. These will bring together local public service organisations, e.g. local authorities, with companies with an interest in the commercial delivery of public services. The prospective environmental, social and economic benefits of providing connectivity in the home setting are substantial; however, there are a number of significant barriers to be addressed in establishing widespread uptake of the integrated, connected home. Possibly the most significant of these issues to be addressed in the future is in the development of integrated connectivity for existing housing stock.

It is expected that secure, reliable broadband connectivity and internal communications networks supporting the remote delivery of health and social services in the community will help offset the rising costs of providing these services. The same communications infrastructure could also be used for distance learning and education in the local community.

Further information

Introduction to Smart homes
http://www.jrf.org.uk/housingandcare/smarthomes/

Online energy services for Smart homes
Reporting the results of an EC funded Smart homes project to establish internet-based energy services and test these within field trials in Sweden, Greece, the Czech Republic and the UK.
http://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/Documents/02_EPIC_SH.pdf.

Related NBS information:

Articles:

• Specifying controls

Selected links:

• Communications systems

Written November 2007

 

ViewAllArticles

BackToTop