Manufacturers, Builders Target Changing Homeowner Habits.

By all accounts this year's International Builder's Show (IBS) broke all records. In fact, the waiting list of exhibitors for the annual event was so long that the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) added 50,000 square feet of exhibit space to accommodate them. The result was a 12 percent increase in exhibit space from last year's show. To put that into perspective, the combined exhibitors occupied a space the size of 40 football fields.

While there was no central theme for this year's show, a common theme that emerged from several exhibitors, educational sessions and panels was that of lifestyle. With the growing demand for home-technology products and features, and the growing competition in the marketplace, the key to luring and keeping customers is to match home-tech products to their lifestyle needs.

In that quest, there were plenty of home-tech products and services to view at this year's show, as suppliers spanned more than 200 categories of products, encompassing all aspects of the residential building industry. What attendees of the event saw were a variety of new home-tech products aimed at making the audio, video, security or controlled services experience easier and more enjoyable.

Examples of home-technology offerings included the new General Electric Co. Profile clothes washer and dryer, which are able to communicate with each other regarding the size and type of load being washed, and how the dryer should automatically set itself for that load.

Meanwhile, AVAD LLC introduced its new Dealer to Builder (D2B) Program, which links dealers and builders in the effort to provide home-technology products and services to consumers. And CentraLite Systems, Inc. introduced the Centralite CL-24, a whole-house hard-wired lighting control system that offers the homeowner dimming features at every keypad, scenes, remote-access and engrave buttons.

Dozens of other new-home tech products were also unveiled at the show. For information on specific products and their manufacturers, see the January issue of TecHome Builder (see www.techomebuilder.com).

Top Technology Innovators Honored

Seven companies that are clearly leaders at offering innovative home-technology products and technology products to help the homebuilder were honored in annual ceremonies at the IBS.

The Innovative Housing Technology Awards were bestowed on representatives of the seven companies, at a special awards presentation cosponsored by the NAHB, the NAHB Research Center, and TecHome Builder magazine. Presenting the awards was TecHome Builder editor David Weldon.

The awards honored the following companies for their exceptional products in the seven category areas:

• Options Online won the B2C Solutions award for its OMS 3.0 Community Options Catalog product.
• Robert Bosch Tool Company won the Back Office & Field Productivity award for its Punch List product.
• Leviton Integrated Networks won the Distributed Audio Product award for its Spec-Grade Sound System.
• CertainTeed Corporation won the Energy Efficiency Product award for its MemBrain product.
• HAI (Home Automation, Inc.) won the Home Automation & Lighting Control Product award for its HAI OmniTouch product.
• Leviton Integrated Networks won the Home Networking Product award for its Compact Structured Media Center product.
• Salton, Inc. won the Home Theater Product award for its Icebox product.

Immelt Tells Companies to Embrace Change

General Electric Company's chairman and CEO, Jeffrey R. Immelt, expects most segments of the economy to improve in 2004, with the homebuilding market being the best indicator of business growth and consumer confidence.

Immelt told homebuilders, designers, architects and home product manufacturers at the IBS that the worst of times should be over, and 2004 promises to be a year of reduced risks for investors and manufacturers.

He cautioned homebuilders that as economic conditions improve, that is the time to change the way they do business. "Focus on simplification. Reevaluate every cost structure. If it doesn't fund growth or serve customers, it's waste."

Immelt's focus on customer satisfaction is a critical one for homebuilders. A recent national study found that complaints about work on their homes were consumers' second most common complaint. Homebuilders and homeowners often have a love-hate relationship, and that bodes poorly for homebuilders who want to distinguish themselves in their markets and grow their business through word of mouth.

Immelt calls this builder's staying power—the ability to be consistent in quality and to have a stable approach to their projects through every cycle. That staying power will be an important factor in determining which homebuilders see their companies grow and flourish in an increasingly competitive industry.

Press Not Enthralled with New American Home

"Change is good" is a catch-phrase that caught on in the late 1990s. But if you want to convince people of the benefits of change, the press may not be your best messenger. That seemed to be one of the lessons from many of the press members who toured the New American Home at the IBS in Las Vegas. The New American Home was one of four show homes on display at the event, and was a three-story luxury waterfront loft-style home.

Following the formal press tour of the house, the architect, builder and design team involved with the project held a press conference to discuss the features of the house and where they see home design heading in the next few years. But instead of answering excited questions about the home's technology offerings and open design, they faced skepticism by many on whether the loft design was appropriate in its residential desert locale, whether homeowners would warm up to the industrial feel of some isolated design aspects, and what homebuilders would take away as genuinely new advice.

Perhaps the most pointed note of skepticism was raised in the question of why a Dutch architect was hired to design the concept of the new American home. The architect was Lex Van Straten, founder of the Dutch firm Food for Buildings. Van Straten designed a home that is ultra-modern in its look and feel, features stone and concrete as the primary building materials, and has lots of lighting and open spaces. Van Straten said the house was designed to provide a sense of "urban vitality" in a residential setting.

"Housing will get more industrialized, and homeowners will want more durable housing," van Straten said of his design. Trends that will drive new home designs will include the increased scarcity of desirable land, the increase in people working from home, and major lifestyle changes in the American family.

Lifestyle changes were evident in the design of the home, as living space was designed both for open entertainment value and for private activities.

From a technology perspective, the house featured recessed lighting throughout—lots of it—with lighting control systems. Main living spaces featured distributed audio, and the house had a home-theater "media room." Control features were designed for simplicity as much as efficiency.

Beyond the kitchen, master suite and baths, all other rooms in the house were designed to have flexibility in terms of how they were used, and to be easily converted in the future for different purposes, as the lifestyles of homeowners change within the home. Home-tech wiring and features were carried throughout the home to allow for those changes.

CEDIA Dome Excites Builders

The Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) unveiled a traveling display, named CEDIA Dome, at the International Builders' Show.

The CEDIA Dome comprises several stations lining the perimeter and outfitted with 50-inch plasma screens, with a different message broadcasting from each. Intended to give an overview of each aspect of the electronic lifestyle, the message is simple and clear. Covering such topics as whole-house audio, home theater, home control, networking, security and lighting control, the message directs the viewer to hire a professional CEDIA installer to realize this lifestyle.

"This is one of the first exhibits that I have seen that didn't focus on the wires and the technology," said Cindy Davis, editor-in-chief of the consumer magazine, Electronic House (a sister publication to TecHome Builder). "It's all about the lifestyle that technology delivers. It is exciting to finally see that the industry is embracing the benefits rather than talking about the means. In addition, it is important that if a consumer wants this lifestyle, they should understand that they really need to hire a professional, and CEDIA should be their first stop," concludes Davis.

As the electronic lifestyle is demanded by more consumers, builders are finding they need to learn quickly in order to offer the technology in their homes.

"Because CEDIA has so much to offer consumers as well as interior designer, builders and architects, we felt a need to encapsulate all of that into one exciting presentation," said Andy Willcox, chairman of CEDIA's Industry Related Events Council. "Our hope is that anyone who travels through the CEDIA Dome will emerge with a complete understanding of CEDIA and be invigorated by the possibilities of the custom-electronics industry."

The CEDIA Dome will also appear at the following trade shows in 2004: American Institute of Architects, June 10–12, Chicago, Ill.; CEDIA EXPO 2004, September 8–12, Indianapolis, Ind.