Jordan O'BrienUS home developer, Brookfield Residential, has made HomeKit technology a part of its development standard. This follows on from trials the company ran utilising both HomeKit and Alexa.
Housebuilders have been waking up to the potential of smart home technology, with UK developers now offering home automation solutions as part of their optional extras. Brookfield Residential is going a step further, however. That’s because anyone buying a home from the US-based developer will automatically have homes kitted out with everything from HomeKit-enabled appliances to smart lighting systems and thermostats.
Brookfield Residential has noted that its customers will get Lutron Caseta lights, the Honeywell Lyric T6 thermostat, the Schlage Sense smart deadbolt, and the Ubiquiti Wireless Access Point.
The new standard specification will apply to the company’s new southern California communities and will begin with the Delano neighborhood in Irvine’s Eastwood Village. The spec will then roll out to Playa Vista, Chula Vista, San Marcos, Azusa and Ontario Ridge.
Brookfield Residential isn’t the only US house builder jumping on the HomeKit bandwagon. KB Home and Lennar are also offering the technology, although it’s only available through an optional upgrade.
Unfortunately for some future home owners, HomeKit is only available to those with iOS devices – meaning it’s unlikely to be of use to many prospective buyers. Fortunately, all of these systems work with more than just HomeKit – such as Amazon Echo and Google Home.