One of the smartest residential communities in the world near Stockholm will generate, share and optimize energy to reduce bills, and offer sustainable, modern living, say its creators.
The development of new family homes in Brobyholm, Sweden is set to become one of the smartest residential communities in the world due to the connectivity of the technology installed, claim the partner companies who have created the development. Able to generate, share and optimise energy, residents can expect lower energy bills, as well as improved sustainability credentials. Possible thanks to open technology, the application of industry standards, and vendors working together to innovate, never has so much technology been integrated and become fully interoperable in a smart home development, say the development’s creators.
The development is said to feature the first homes to integrate a fully holistic range of smart domestic appliances, devices such as blinds and HVAC, as well as solar systems and electric vehicle (EV) charging all in a single app. The energy-smart community will use smart home and energy management and sharing technologies to become self-sufficient, energy cost and carbon neutral.
The homes at Brobyholm will be the first buildings to access one holistic smart home solution through a joint ABB-free@home and Samsung SmartThings system to ensure they can manage their households smoothly. All smart home products and devices will be connected via the Samsung SmartThings app or device.
Energy sharing technology and systems will be a major element at Brobyholm. Energy sharing will see main electrical assets such as EV chargers and solar inverters in the community synchronised to optimise energy use through load management. Samsung’s smart appliances such as heat pumps, washing machines and dishwashers, can be programmed to operate when electricity tariffs are most affordable and when solar energy storage levels are sufficient. Solar panels on each house will charge storage batteries for the whole community’s use.
With energy prices one of the leading concerns amongst leaders and populations across Europe1, the development also provides an efficient energy management system that details energy consumption measurement, automatic adjustments to interior lighting based on outdoor darkness and optimises cooling and heating systems in response to external temperatures or solar radiation.
The vision of Swedish investment, innovation, and real estate company, S Property Group, the Brobyholm community is approximately 35 minutes from Stockholm. It’s a partnership not just with technology specialists ABB and Samsung, but also Scandinavian housing developers OBOS, Portuguese clean energy firm, CleanWatts, SMA, a global market leader in solar and storage system technology and provider of intelligent energy management and e-charging solutions, and Three Sweden, the global mobile network operator is delivering 5G to the site.
Douglas Lundholm, COO at S Property says, “The new smart community in Brobyholm will be the first of its kind. The energy smart community will meet the highest standards in sustainability by drawing on the latest advances in technology and connectivity, in the home and across the development. A smart community that is high-tech and low carbon, one built for our future, with services from security to convenience seamlessly managed with comfort in mind.”
The Brobyholm community will have 500 predominantly single-family homes with some designated for rental purposes, with a potential future expansion of the site to 2000 expected. Visitors can see the technology in a live OBOS show home environment, in nearby Åkersberga. The next generation community blueprint it establishes is expected to expand into other projects from next year.
