With the widespread arrival of broadband networking moving into the U.S. residential market, coupled with the dramatic increase in consumer use and distribution of digital content, home automation is moving from fringe to forefront in today's mainstream home.
This trend was recently corroborated by some research conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in its “2005 State of the Home Builder” survey. A few significant stats from the survey include:
83% of all new homes includes structured wiring
65% of new homes (over 899,000 houses) features distributed audio as a standard or optional feature
58% of new homes (nearly 725,000) offers a home theater upgrade package
Nearly half of all new homes were sold with automated lighting, home automation, and/or energy management systems.
As home networks become the norm, software-focused solutions that can control a wide variety of home automation devices will inevitably increase in popularity, delivering enhanced value and flexibility to homeowners.