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RemOTe-CONTROL
iNTerVieW Sebastian Arnstorf FOTO Volker Krieger
The house of the future will be more than just a roof over your head.
Thanks to advanced technology, in the future we’ll probably never have to
get up during a commercial break. Stephan Reifenrath provides discerning
customers with household technology including hi-fi and security systems
that fulfil almost all your needs without travelling to the future.
How will the house of the future look in terms of control technology
and computer-controlled services? I don’t think advances
in control technology mean that in the future your refrigerator
will order the food for you. People’s control needs
will be the guiding principle in control technology. modern
building control systems will concentrate more and more on
environmental issues and saving energy costs. Another aspect
will be increasing security needs. The house of the future will
be protected by camera and access control systems much more
than before. Protecting property is also a priority.
What are the benefits for us of the extensive technical achievements
in your area? First of all, there are the significant com-
fort benefits that control systems can bring. A central control
system that can provide all the technical information about
a building means no longer having to go and get it yourself.
Where are there windows open, where is a light on, what’s
the temperature in various rooms? Your control system will
answer all of these questions for you while you sit comfortably
on the sofa or lie in bed and allow you to make changes at the
same time.
Besides the practical benefits, what are the applications for
the environment? By evaluating weather data, we’re able to
achieve an optimal balance between heating and climate control.
And a round-the-clock control feature can advise the
user where there are unused appliances eating up electricity.
A »departure« function ensures that all electrical appliances are
disconnected from the power source and all the windows are
closed. So the system makes the building secure at the same
time as it optimises heating efficiency and power usage. We’re
protecting the environment by lowering energy costs using a
shrewd combination of sensor and control technology.
What happens if a system like this fails? Imagine that it all stops
working. Well, if there’s a power failure, normally there’s no
other option in the home. But we supply uninterrupted power
for the really essential functions in the house. The control systems
themselves are very reliable because there’s no central system
controlling everything. If one part of the system fails, that
doesn’t necessarily mean that the other parts and functions will
be affected. You can think of it like when a light bulb goes out.
That room is dark, but the rest of house still has light.
You once said that in five years, these systems will be standard.
In terms of functionality and new features, what will the future
bring? In high-quality buildings a screen in each room will
control everything, replacing light switches and all the other
various control switches. System control will be significantly
easier thanks to better displays and voice control technology.
House keys will be gradually replaced by access control systems.
electric locks will be opened using fingerprint scanners
or transponder systems.
Besides control systems, you also work with high-quality audio
and video equipment. What role does a music system play as
a home asset? Above all, it should be a source of enjoyment.
music is still today one of the most important human activities.
Surveys show again and again that around 70% of people
say that music is enormously important in their lives. Now of
course you can hear music with an average sound system. But
with a first-class system you can discover an entirely new dimension
of music. It’s an amazing experience to hear a concert
CD and feel as if you’re sitting there hearing it live without
leaving your own living room. Also, a system’s workmanship
and special design make it an important element of style in
modern living environments.
What features does the average system your customers are currently
installing have? The most important features are dimming
and turning on or off of light sources, regulation of room
temperatures, an intercom system with video feed at the house
entrance and availability of various media such as radio, DVD,
CD or iPod in any room of the house.
What’s your most interesting recent project? A 500-square-metre
penthouse in the HafenCity in Hamburg. It was a very challenging
project because all aspects of the house are controlled.
Lighting, heating, temperature, a central DVD database with
around 1000 films, music available in 16 different areas of the
house. And a very high quality, 80m 2 home cinema.
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