Digital Lifestyles, LLC, and Home Planners, LLC, wholly owned by Hanley Wood, LLC, have partnered to provide consumers and home builders with an affordable home automation upgrade package. Home Planners is promoting the upgrade package through its plans magazines and books as well as two plans websites:
http://www.eplans.com and
http://www.dreamhomesource.com. The pre-construction exposure will help increase public awareness of the custom electronics industry and spur an estimated workload growth of 3% or more in 2005.
Digital Lifestyle’s universal plug-and-play wiring topology design—named “HA-Ready”—is the cornerstone of this innovative product. HA-Ready’s standard design offers 10 subsystems: lighting, security, telecommunications, climate control, home networking, home theater, whole-house audio/video distribution, video surveillance, electronic entry access, and motorized window treatments, and can be applied in single-family or multifamily dwellings. Designs for wiring a gaming substructure are currently in development for use with Sony, GameCube, Nintendo, Xbox, and other gaming platforms.
HA-Ready provides an affordable entry point for mid-market consumers and builders looking to create the home of the future. The topology installation and materials are priced at $12 per square foot, making it affordable for the mainstream, 2,500-square-foot market. This unique and affordable approach has one goal—to encourage adoption of advanced home technologies and increase growth opportunities across multiple businesses and business models.
HA-Ready offers installers more labor revenues and the opportunity to design and install additional electronics beyond the basic pre-wiring topology. The universal topology will support any currently available electronics system, account for furniture placement and rearrangement, and accommodate future growth and technological advances.
Digital Lifestyles has also formulated a partnership with ConnectHome that will allow installation of HA-Ready designs across North America. ConnectHome dealers can also provide design services, training, and technical support for their local HA-Ready projects. ConnectHome’s website is
http://www.connecthome.com.
The list of compatible systems includes, but is not limited to: AMX, Crestron, Xabler, Xperinet, Xplore, HAI, Applied Digital, JDS Technologies, LiteTouch, Lutron, Vantage, Centralite, Lightolier, Elan, Destiny Networks, Matrix Audio, B&K, Oxmoor, M&S Systems, ADA, Opus Technologies, Audio Access, Audio Control, Russound, Xantech, Niles, Sonance, Speakercraft, NuVo, ChannelPlus, ChannelVision, Makita, Sivoia, Somfy, BTX, Ademco, Napco, GE Interlogix, and Elk.
About Digital Lifestyles, LLC
Founded in 2001, Digital Lifestyles, LLC is a personal technologies design firm that specializes in project documentation, interface design, and producing operation and troubleshooting manuals for complete automation systems. Digital Lifestyles also offers a comprehensive training curriculum and has a unique vision for introducing advanced levels of home automation and personal technologies to the mass market.
About Hanley Wood
Hanley Wood, LLC, is the premier media company serving housing and construction. Through five operating divisions, the company produces award-winning magazines and Web sites, marquee trade shows and events, rich data, and custom marketing solutions. The company also is North America’s leading provider of home plans.
