Kitchen & Bath Business - February/March 2018 - 24

Tech Savvy

How do professionals go about "selling" this kind of
addition into a kitchen or bath project?
Pedigo: I think this is a two-pronged approach.

Making Connections
Learning about the latest residential technology
is imperative to including it in your projects
YOU'VE BEEN HEARING IT A LOT LATELY, but the connected home is here.
Some consumers jumped on the bandwagon immediately, and some are still
learning its benefits, but 2018 will be a year of incorporating technology into
our homes. Will you be ready to guide your clients?
KBB spoke to Dave Pedigo, who hosted a session at the Remodeling Show
last October titled "Residential Technology Trends You Can't Miss." As the
vice president of emerging technologies for the Custom Electronic Design
& Installation Assoc. (CEDIA), he spoke to how to learn more about this
industry and adding this element to your residential projects.

Photo credit: Copyright CEDIA
2017. Used with permission.

What are the latest residential technology trends for
which consumers are asking?
Pedigo: Easily, the biggest trend these days is in the

What are your tips for learning about emerging residential technology trends?
Pedigo: I think it is a bit of a challenge to stay up on everything because the

pace of change is so fast. My advice is to start by looking at categories of
products and the reasons people are buying them. Trying to keep up with
all the products is difficult to do even with it being a full-time job. Finding a
few trusted sources of information is a good way to go as well - the CEDIA
Technology Council Podcast is a good place to start.The other way is to look
up market research; there is a lot out there that is free and gives good insight
into what's going on. In the last year, CEDIA has worked with HomeAdvisor
and Houzz, both of which published the results free of charge and give good
insight into consumer trends, particularly around the smart home.

What level of knowledge do you need if you are not the installer, but you are the
contractor or designer?
Pedigo: Personally, I think the most important bits of knowledge are the

use cases. What are the benefits of technology, and how it can benefit the
homeowners? There are a lot of benefits to technology beyond just being cool
or fun - whether the technology is providing energy conservation, safety of
the occupants for various medical conditions, improving convenience or
protecting what is likely that person's largest asset.

First of all, I think understanding the use cases and
value that technology brings to the homeowner is
really important.Technology shouldn't be sold for
the sake of the sale, it should be purpose driven. For
a bathroom as an example, putting in leak detectors to ensure that a potential catastrophic event,
such as a pipe bursting triggering the main water
to shut off immediately, should make it easy to
explain the value.The other part of it is partnering
with a CEDIA member company that specializes
in technology installation to help figure out what
is the best approach and value for the homeowner.

By CHELSIE BUTLER

voice-controlled speakers (Amazon Echo, Google
Home, Josh.ai and Apple HomePod). These devices are reducing the friction required to interact
with technology. Installed properly, it is easy to
control the lights, adjust the thermostat, set a timer
or just listen to music. Some of the most common
products being requested right now are smart (connected) thermostats, cameras, doorbell cameras,
wireless multi-room speakers and lighting control.
On the entertainment front, there are many
advances in the quality of both video and audio.
Televisions are getting way better than ever
before (through high dynamic range and wide
color gamut), and home theater audio is also
improving through immersive audio (Dolby
Atmos, DTS Neo:X, Auro3D), which makes
sound more lifelike than ever.
Finally, there is more demand on the home network than ever. A new breed of wireless routers is
now out. Referred to as WiFi Mesh Network, it
allows for multiple wireless access points in the
home to act as one that provides more consistent,
unified coverage throughout the home.


Kitchen & Bath Business / FEB.-MARCH 2018 / KBBONLINE.COM / The official publication of KBIS (KBIS.com)

http://www.KBBONLINE.COM http://www.KBIS.com

Kitchen & Bath Business - February/March 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Kitchen & Bath Business - February/March 2018