Comfortable, safe and economical side of smart housing

Relying on the decades-long tradition of the KNX standard, the ABB company developed the ABB free@home system which for more than 5 years has been contributing to the quality of the everyday life of its users in Serbia. Considering the global presence of this company in over 100 countries and continuous commitment to the development and improvement of its own systems and equipment, in cooperation with reliable system integrators from the company Pametan stan, security is provided to users that they will enjoy the performance of the system without worry in the coming decades.

On the other hand, in a wide range of newly built buildings investors need to differentiate themselves in the market, and it is precisely the choice of a smart home system that provides a significant advantage. Let's say, the experience of ABB experts worldwide shows that the implementation of this system has a great impact on the speed of sale of buildings who get the epithet "smart" because of that.

The first smart building in Serbia called B2 was built in Terazije, in the heart of Belgrade, where a complete ABB home automation system was delivered, installed and commissioned, as well as an intercom system and a weather station for every single apartment. In addition, preparations were made for electric car chargers for every parking space in the facility.

After that, business facilities such as the building of the Regional Air Traffic Control in Surčin and luxury villas. A particularly exclusive building at Kosančićevo venac 21, Royal Art Residence&SPA, brings Parisian charm to the very center of Belgrade, and the apartments are equipped with an ABB home automation system (smart home systems).

In recent times, smart home systems are becoming a common phenomenon in mass residential construction, in complexes with several hundred apartments. ABB's solutions are ready for any challenge that may arise, which was also recognized by investors from Novi Dorćol. In the harmony of the intersection of authentic, traditional and modern architecture, what the facility in Novi Dorćol is like, on an area of ​​16,800 m2, 4,300 smart home devices have been installed for 225 apartments, 950 scenarios were created, and six weather stations were placed on the building itself that inform users about the weather and warn of dangerous situations. In the same urban architectural spirit, the ABB free@home system is integrated within the residential and business complex ZepTerra in New Belgrade, built in accordance with the most modern standards and energy efficiency requirements.

The epithet "smart" was given to these home automation systems to describe their ability to operate based on pre-defined parameters and rules entered by the installer or the user himself, according to his personal affinities and needs. These systems do not rely on artificial intelligence for autonomous decision-making, so users can be assured that smart homes cannot take control of their lives.

The ABB home automation system provides the user with full control in managing the home in four ways. The classic way of management entails that we have switches and sockets in our smart home that perform pre-defined functions. Electrical installations are managed remotely, via a mobile phone, tablet or computer, such as lighting, roller blinds, motorized awnings, heating and cooling, as well as household appliances. Motion sensors and presence sensors make it possible that, for example, the light is on as long as someone is in the room, and as he moves away from it, the light goes out. The timer feature allows users to define functions which will be activated or completed at a specified time or last for a certain period of time. For example, they can set certain features to be turned off during weekdays while they are at work, to reduce energy consumption and ensure home security. With the smart home system, we no longer have to worry about whether we left the stove or iron on.

Whether we are at work or at home, the day often consists of performing routine actions that do not vary much from day to day. For example, when we leave for work at a certain time, we usually adjust the heating or cooling temperature, as well as locking the house and activating the alarm system. All these actions can be automated in order to save time and be sure that we have actually completed them. In addition, smart houses or apartments often have integrated security systems which include video surveillance, motion sensors, alarms and remote door locking, and allow users to monitor their home and respond to potential hazards or unwanted events. Through this system, we can not only control lighting, blinds or curtains, heating and cooling of the building, but all of these actions can be turned on or off depending on our location. Since the smart home system actually "tracks" our behavior as a user for seven days back, it can simulate activities in the facility as if we were in it, but actually we are on a trip or on vacation, which is an effective preventive measure against unauthorized intrusions and burglaries.

We can create a "scenario" for every situation which will initiate a series of actions on the electrical installations and appliances in the home, thus the environment is quickly adapted to our needs. For example, if we want to watch a movie, we can activate the scenario "watching a movie" that will automatically darken the room, turn on the television, offer us a movie list and perform other actions in order to create an ideal environment to enjoy the film. The same principle applies to other scenarios like "going to bed" or "going on a trip". The aim of the smart home system is to unify different actions in order to avoid unnecessary movement from switch to switch or managing dozens of remote controls, which is not a practical solution. The ABB system also enables the geo fencing function, which determines the distance from our apartment/house for all system users that we define in advance and if they approach the object e.g. 5, 80 or 1000 km, the system notifies us of this.

The growth of energy and electricity prices in the last few months prompted us to check more often whether all lights and household appliances that are not actively used are turned off in our home. Fortunately, with smart homes we don't have to worry about that, because technology is used which optimizes energy consumption, like thermostats with programmable heating and cooling schedules, smart devices that automatically reduce electricity consumption when not in use, and energy consumption monitoring and analysis systems. In other words, we can be sure that the devices were only turned on when the power consumption was the lowest. For example, the heating can be programmed to switch on at four in the morning during the heating season, when electricity is cheapest, without having to get out of a warm bed early. Energy savings are greatest in heating and cooling the building, while the smallest is in lighting due to the prevalence of LED lamps on the market which by themselves do not consume a lot of energy. However, when it comes to outdoor lighting, we don't have to worry about the time when the lights should be turned on, because the smart house is equipped with a timer which "knows" exactly when the sun sets and when additional lighting is needed. All in all, it is important to keep in mind that smart buildings can save up to 40% of heat and electricity.

Simplicity of installation and management

The ABB-free@home system is completely open to all manufacturers, which means that we can have numerous devices from different manufacturers in the house which will communicate successfully with each other. Smart homes can integrate a wide range of smart devices, including smart TVs, speakers, home entertainment, kitchen appliances and more. This allows users to manage all their smart devices and systems centrally via one interface. ABB practically has its own cloud where information about the user's system is located, and devices like the washing machine in the user's home have their own cloud on which the corresponding information is located. Therefore, communication between the ABB free@home smart system and other devices takes place according to the 'cloud to cloud' system, where the safety of communication from external intrusions and its continuous improvement are in the first place.

ABB free@home can be set up in new buildings and in that case the installation is carried out with hardwired devices. It is set up like a classic installation with the addition of one more BUS conductor at a minimal cost while saving on the cabling in the apartment. In ABB's offer, in addition to the devices that can be wired, there are also WiFi devices that can be installed afterwards. A big advantage is that you can combine WiFi devices in one system with wired devices. As an example, if the user is renovating an apartment in which an ABB system already exists, and wants to add a new heating element - it is enough to place the WiFi valve on the heater, the central unit is detecting a new device and within minutes it will be available on the user's mobile phone to define new functions.

The advantage of the ABB free@home system itself is that it does not require users to be educated to use and program the smart home system in order to adjust the "behavior" of their apartment or house. Now it is the users who can perform this task through the application whenever they want and adapt it to their lifestyle. The system has its own auto-update, and to put it simply, nothing can be disturbed. Also, there is always the back-up option, to which the system can revert, if the user wants it. And what is very important, all users of the ABB smart home system have available technical support 24 hours, 7 days a week.

Smart homes can therefore have different levels of complexity and adapt to each user's needs and preferences thanks to the smart home systems, which makes them the most comfortable. On the other hand, their features make them more practical, safer and more energy efficient living spaces, which is especially important in the era of energy transition.

About the company:

ABB is a global technology leader in the fields of electrification and automation, dedicated to creating a more sustainable future and using resources more efficiently. By linking engineering knowledge and digital solutions, ABB provides industries with high-performance manufacturing, increasing their efficiency, productivity and sustainability, so they always surpass expectations. At ABB they call this "Engineered to Outrun". The company has over 140 years of tradition and more than 105,000 employees worldwide. The company's shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ABBN) and Nasdaq Stockholm (ABB).

ABB d.o.o., with its headquarters in Belgrade, is responsible for the entire assortment of ABB products and systems on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. Due to its structural organization made up of business sectors organized in relation to the industries they serve, ABB d.o.o. has a developed collaboration with local partners and customers, is responsible for commissioning, service and maintenance of ABB equipment and systems, as well as adequate user training.

ABB d.o.o. Beograd

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Regional air traffic control in Surčin

Royal Art Residence SPA

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