Smart houses - Digital dwellings

What will the home of the future be like? Will it be totally autonomous, deriving its power from renewable sources and recycling its waste? Or will it be a haven for gadgetry, pandering to its occupants' desire for remote control of everything from the shower to the security cameras?

It will likely have both. It must do: purveyors of advanced communications technologies seeking new markets will see to that, and the environmental imperative will also force gradual improvements in energy efficiency.

To identify the impact of these issues the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Scottish Homes commissioned a research project to study the application of smart technologies on house design. The research, managed by the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at Sussex University, pivoted around two public demonstration projects, which sought to apply advanced controls and communications technologies with a view to developing a functional generic specification for houses at the affordable (or volume) end of the market.

The Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust fitted communications and automation technologies in a bungalow in York, while Edinvar Housing Association has used smart home technology in 117 flats in Edinburgh. Trial systems have been installed at both sites for assessment by users and others associated with housing management and the provision of services.

Joseph Rowntree House

The Joseph Rowntree House has used smart communications in a variety of different ways. A communications highway – Echelon's Lonworks system – has been used to integrate the control and functions of lighting, heating, door opening, taps and power.

Lighting can be operated in a number of ways, from automatic on when people enter a room, to programmed settings and timings. The lights are also linked to the security and fire alarm systems. The roomstat and heat detector are combined with the smoke alarm in a single fitting.

Security will be an increasing problem with an ageing population, and the Joseph Rowntree Smart Home tested a system which linked the television set with the door entry system. When a caller rings the bell, not only can the house lights be set to flash on and off, the telephone will respond to the doorbell by overriding the television programme (or turning the television on if it is not already) to display a picture of the caller. The householder can then talk to the caller using the tv remote control.

Home central locking has also been road-tested at the Joseph Rowntree House. The house key is replaced by a fob which, when placed against the alarm panel, will lock all doors and windows.

The home security system has also been designed to confirm whether the doors and windows are locked or unlocked. Passive infrared sensors can monitor for intruders and link to flashing lights as well as giving an audible alarm.

Other safety systems include gas shut-off valves. If there is a gas leak, or a flame on the cooker blows out by accident, a gas detection system will shut off the gas at the mains.

Taps can be controlled in a variety of ways, including hot and cold buttons or touch pads.

Edinvar Housing Association

Edinvar Housing Association has tested smart technologies in the context of a home for those disadvantaged through age, infirmity or disability.

Edinvar's AID project (Assisted Interactive Dwelling) has also relied on communications technology to support and monitor the residents in 117 flats in Edinburgh. The Siemens-communications system Instabus EIB has integrated lighting, heating, security, sound systems and access. Other fittings such as windows and curtains are also automated.

The services have been linked by audio-visual equipment to a nearby resource centre which monitors the residents. Rather than relying heavily on cameras less intrusive measures are used, such as pressure pads and infrared sensors on toilets. If a toilet has not been flushed for some time, carers can visit to check that everything is ok.

Design lessons

So what have the test houses revealed about integrating smart technologies into the home? By and large the various systems demonstrated that major benefits can accrue from the application of smart technologies. Sinks that can change height at the touch of a button are extremely useful for those in wheelchairs, and databus communications can be used to integrate life safety and security systems.

'Security will be an increased problem with an aging population'

However, the report has identified a large gulf between what householders require, and what the supply side – housebuilders and component manufacturers – is able and willing to provide.

The SPRU Smart Homes report lists five major reasons why the market in smart technology has been slow to develop:

poor understanding of user needs on the part of suppliers and designers;

lack of information about potential benefits and fears about systems operation, failure, loss of privacy and other ethical issues on the part of users;

difficulties in integrating and installing systems;

the cost of equipment and systems: they are too expensive to be affordable in low-cost and social housing;

immature technology, concerns about system defects, rapid obsolescence, and limited potential for upgrading and adaptability.

While both demonstration projects showed that smart home technology can improve quality of life, it was not possible to purchase off-the-shelf components that could easily be assembled in customisable, plug-and-play systems. Systems had to be integrated, and in many cases components were modified to achieve satisfactory solutions.

The research team also discovered that many so-called smart home technologies, often derived from the commercial market, are inappropriately engineered for the domestic market. The lack of information about potential benefits is compounded by fears about system operation, failure, loss of privacy and other ethical issues. The supply side is also not geared up to the wholesale installation of smart technologies, let alone the maintenance of them.

"Equipment is usually designed for particular standards which hinder interoperability," said SPRU's research team leader Professor David Gann. "Components are still at the industrial/commercial scale. Actuators for windows are still too chunky, they need to be smaller and quieter and integrated within of the element they are attempting to motorise. It will take two or three product iterations before that happens," he predicted.

Clearly the key to a generic smart home lies not in the enabling technology, but in the way the infrastructure of the dwelling is designed to accommodate new and generic information and communication technologies. In some cases, cableways can be provided at no, or little additional cost. However, the routing of these must be carefully planned by someone competent to design a system that will meet a wide range of potential user needs.

The future

In order to sell smart homes systems, says SPRU's report, the emphasis should be on functionality. "People are more interested in what new technologies offer in terms of improvements to their daily lives rather than detailed specifications," said Professor Gann.

Standards will become more important as the need for interoperability between subsystems in the home increases. Currently technologies are limited to those who can afford to pay for expensive one-off solutions, which are often based on entertainment or security.

The report's authors believe that the Government will play a key role in levering up smart home technologies, particularly in healthcare provision. This could range from a refrigerator that automatically sensed Salmonella, to interactive "telecare" designed to supplant routine but costly surgery visits.

Clearly, homes of the future should be designed to a single agenda, one in which technologies and techniques – high-tech, low-tech, glitzy and green – should be mutually reinforcing rather than in mutual conflict. Achieving this single agenda will not be easy, if only because the development path of the green and high-tech movements seem at best to be in parallel and at worst in divergence.

These differences are amplified in affluent post-industrial societies like the UK, where lifestyle ambitions can militate against holistic house design. Designers need to be able to select from a palette of value-free, lifestyle-enhancing and sustainable options, all of which dovetail to produce an inherently robust, adaptable and energy efficient building.

Further information

Joseph Rowntree Foundation (Julie Cowans), telephone: 01904 615916.

Scottish Homes (Jane Scott), telephone: 0131-313 0044.

Edinvar (Steve Bonner), telephone: 0131-243 2051.