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Smart House
Scope of work
«ASHLEY» offers a whole spectrum of work in building automation, we use the equipment of leading automation suppliers, such as Gira, ABB, Merten, Jung, Bticino, Merten, Berker, Siemens, etc… Our specialists have a great experience of project development, installation and commissioning at various sites. The qualifications of our personnel allow them to work with all existent protocols and interfaces of data transmission (LON, EIB, MOD-Bus, BAC-Net, etc.).
Lighting, climate, curtain, gate, etc. control
Development of automation projects, control and low current systems
Automation of engineering systems
Dispatching
Comprehensive Control Systems
Smart Building – building automation, automation of engineering equipment in a building, automation of heating systems, automation of engineering systems in a building
Open architecture of a “Smart House”
“Smart house” is a popular notion nowadays, and the demand for correspondent services is great in various engineering segments: elite flats, offices and malls. However, there are still a lot of unresolved issues here. The article below throws some light on various aspects of complex automation systems. There are, as a rule, three parties involved – an architect, an installer company, and a client. This is a complex expensive project which will be successful only if the parties interact actively.
What is a “smart house”? Today it is a rather trivial system of lighting control, consisting of several dimmers. A home theater with components controlled by a smart remote or a sensor panel is also part of this system. One can also add a climate control system, a fire alert, curtain control, remote controls on the Internet, etc., etc…
It is now hard to imagine a modern heating system without computer “stuffing”, and practically the same about any other component. “Smart houses” are united by an important feature: these are all unique tailored solutions, always using a systematic approach.
Therefore, demand is growing for teams of various technical specialists in order to accomplish projects in the segment. Ideally, an installer company should be able to provide a maximal spectrum of services (lighting, climate, alerts, life support and guarding systems, information and audio/video systems), as the inescapable interaction problems are much better resolved within one team.
Automated systems are no longer luxury: they have become a must-have. Today it is not enough to develop house layout, install the basic services and carry out “turnkey” interior design. The market price for lodging equipped with technical devices according to the latest trends, will be considerably higher, although it doesn’t require huge investments. A house or an office equipped with cutting-edge technologies may be viewed as successful investments.
The common argument that any technologies will be out of date sooner or later – today the process may be delayed or even stopped, as modern systems are made using the “open architecture” principle, which presupposes further modernization and updates. However, systems of this type are not wide-spread yet.
One should also keep in mind the problem of client’s “communication” with devices, which is relevant for older clients. There is a vast distance between an ordinary TV-set and a smart house, and people who have paid a round sum for a complex system often do not use it simply because they don’t know how. Sensor panels and rack cases are covered with dust and only serve to demonstrate the owner’s social status, and ten lighting scenarios in the system are only used occasionally…
Frankly speaking, the fact that people are afraid to press “the wrong button”, shows the lack of installer’s professional skills, as he could not due to some reasons, provide a user-friendly system interface… Besides, only a few clients are able to formulate exactly their own requirements, that’s why the final result is almost always some kind of compromise.
One should note however that the clients and architects have lately demonstrated increased technical literacy in their requirements. Clients no longer limit themselves with a short formula to make everything “better than the neighbor’s” – requirements to individual systems components and its overall functionality have increased. Moreover, when we speak of large expenses, clients sometimes get to know more about formats and interfaces than an experienced IT professional… And here it is important to find a border between unnecessary splendor and saving money on trifles.
A serious installer company will start the project with site evaluation and finding out the client’s requirements. The principle “the client is always right” is not universal here. A well –established company will never work on a project developed solely according to the client’s requirements, as the latter cannot be aware of important professional details – nobody knows them all when the project is developed.
First a site investigation is carried out either according to the papers submitted by architect (floor plan, service layouts), or by on-site visit of installer representatives for visual inspection and planning. Of course at this stage there are practically no problems. It is obvious, that a serious complex should not start from scratch, and the postulate “first there were the walls” is impressive, but impractical.
A serious problem one has to face when building a smart house is the disagreement between designers and engineers. An actual example – a bold architectural solution for a home theater as a closed cylinder with stained glass around the perimeter. The room is located in the middle of a replanned flat, and according to the architect, should serve as its central axis.From the engineer’s point of view a cylinder room is unacceptable because of its acoustic properties - evident resonance plus noises from the stained glass.
The problem is partly solved by selecting special sound-absorbing materials, throrough calibration of sound from surroundings and also installing special automatic curtains to close the stained glass during the performance – we have “extra” expensive work. The stress made on acoustic aspects of the installation (hoe cinemas are rather popular now) may also be found in other components of the automation system.
For instance the quality of a climate control system depends on competent layout, as sometimes it is technically impossible to provide acceptable ventilation for some remote places in the house. Large amounts of glass in a house not only makes the sound installation harder but also makes the security issues much more complicated. Other aspects may contradict the fire safety requirements… Another example – an architect refuses to use false ceilings, and a client wants to have cables and ventilation there. There are many examples like this one. Only close interaction between architects and installer at all stages of site work will lead to a decent result.
It is also important to establish a balance between the price of devices installed on the site and their working conditions. In this respect a lot of questions can be posed in some cases. For instance, the client wants to install 10 fixed sensor panels, though he could do with three portable ones. It is important to use the potential of devices to their full. Of course, this will affect the end cost of work, that’s why all proposals on equipment should be agreed with the client when requirements are formulated.
Any “smart house” starts with a project. Project solution is the description of the future site, which is enough to make the decision that the “theoretical part” is over. A project, just like any other scientific task, may be divided into two stages – analysis and synthesis. When requirement specifications are developed for a project, one should take into account the general data about the site, working conditions of the systems, and client’s requirements. The more detailed the requirements are the less mistakes will be made in the budget and time schedule of the project. After the requirement specifications for the project have been developed, the stage of paperwork for particular systems begins. At the end of theoretical stage, when all the papers have been prepared and agreed, “hardware” work begins.
The installation stage includes cable network laying on the site (installation of cable trays, boxes, PVC-pipes, preparation of ceilings, floors, walls and bridgings, mounting electrical control units and cross-panels). Cable laying includes a wide spectrum of wiring services – power cables of 220 V, phone and computer networks (including Wi-Fi networks for wireless Internet), control system cables, multiroom cables, air and satellite TV, intrusion alert, and video monitoring.
All types of networks are tested for capacity at this stage. A well-established installer company is able to do the whole scope of work alone, in other cases subcontractors are attracted? in which case the installer company supervises their work according to the project documents. At this stage corrections may be introduced in the project documents, according to the circumstances: for example, an extra air-conditioner may be required, and consequently, additional sockets will be needed.
After the cable works are finished, the installation and programming stage begins. Technical devices are usually installed in comparatively short terms (of course, this depends on the site size and complexity). However, one may need one and a half or even two years since the project was developed to proceed to this stage. The product lines of technical devices may change drastically over this period, just like the client’s requirements. Let’s take a home cinema as an example: nowadays everyone is keen on DVD, but in the nearest future one should expect the introduction of new AV storage media, with better quality and capacity (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray), which will be immediately demanded for elite installations. New data transmission protocols are emerging: e.g. the speed of data transmission in wireless Wi-Fi networks will soon be sufficient to transmit high-quality video signal.
Due to the reasons cited above one should discuss the final cost of equipment in the process of installation. The installation stage includes: mounting rack cases for AV-devices, in-built panels for electrical and control systems, mounting the components of control and power supply systems, telecommunications system, audio and video systems, multiroom, etc.
At the end of the stage capacity of the components is tested. It is important to understand that it will be difficult to introduce changes in equipment configuration later. After the equipment has been installed, it is programmed and prepared for commissioning. Changes may be introduced in the user interface, e.g. the basic sets of control buttons on sensor panels may be replaced by unique ones, tailored for a particular client, or the button functions may be changed.
At the final stage system functions undergo final testing, commissioning works are carried out, the client and his personnel are taught to use the system opportunities. In some cases the client may wish to introduce relevant changes in the control system programming. But this is rather an exclusion, as the result is usually much better than expected.
The installers’ work is completed when the acceptance act is signed. Most of companies in the segment have the practice to attend the site regularly for system “perfection”. Most often it is associated with reprogramming the control units, introducing additional audio parameters, lighting scenarios, etc. It is a normal working process, as the client needs some time to “settle down” in his “smart house”, and identify his individual requirements, likes and dislikes. Of course, there is a guarantee period for all system components and the system as a whole, and the installer company has to carry out regular tests and prevention service throughout the period.
A “Smart House” emerged as a result of accumulation of achievements in different home technology segments.
The notion «smart house» in the West started to be used much later than its components. The milestone in this process is, obviously, attempts to unite devices from different suppliers into one system. Today there are huge amounts of devices for “smart houses” sold in America, Europe and Asia, and the number of Russian companies, offering “complex automation services” is constantly growing…
The market for correspondent services has already been formed successfully. This was possible due to rapid software development, as well as the fact that technical components became cheaper and more unified. Even 10 years ago “smart house” technologies from different suppliers were totally incompatible, the systems were “closed”, and maintenance expenses equaled the cost of installation. One would take great risks using the services of installer companies, as they didn’t have enough experience and there was not enough competition in the market… Today everything is cheaper, easier, and in a sense more reliable.
Smart offices occupy a significant segment in the market of automated systems. The problem of providing comfortable working conditions and at the same time optimization of office maintenance costs is rather acute, that’s why SH systems are introduced here more and more actively in this area.
It is now hard to imagine a modern office without an automatic personnel accounting system (arrival-departure) and access control. electronic devices allow to eliminate mistakes, associated with human factor leaving the supervisory role to the staff. At the same time the price for the simplest, but efficient control systems may be quite modest, comparable, for example, with office equipment expenses.
Another reason for “smart offices” being so popular is the opportunity they offer for power saving (up to 40%!), which is especially relevant for large offices. A computer itself (using motion detectors) or with the guards’ assistance (a network of video cameras) identifies the empty rooms, turns off the lighting, ventilation and heating, switches the lifts to night mode – careful disposal of resources allows the system pay for itself very fast.
Do we need to make everything so complicated: isn’t it enough to just turn off the central power switch in the office for power saving? This works for local power loads (light, computers, conditioners), but not for the central heating and ventilation. No need to mention that a square meter in a smart office is more expensive than an ordinary one…
Intellectual house, in other words – smart house – intellectual house system, in other words – smart house system.
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