May column for Builder & Developer magazine now online

My column for the May 2015 issue of Builder and Developer magazine is now posted online.

For this issue, entitled "The Connected Home Evolution," I covered the evolution of the connected/smart home over the last 15 years and the state of the market today.  An excerpt:

About 15 years ago, when I formed the Technology Task Force with the BIA of Southern California, at the time our builder members told us that the adoption of technology in their homes would be postponed for two reasons: (a) Most consumers weren’t yet asking for it; and (b) It would risk upsetting production schedules that were already tight due to meeting unmet supply after the California real estate recession of the 1990s.

Fast-forward to 2015, however, and it’s a completely different world for the connected home. Most importantly, consumers are now asking for it: according to a consumer survey by smart-home vendor Savant, about half of the respondents believe home automation will become a common feature in their home in less than a decade, with a quarter thinking it will take just five years for widespread adoption...

To read the entire column, click here.

To read the entire May 2015 issue in digital format, click here.