Bill Darcy and Daryl Friedman spoke about the ways kitchen and bath designers can collaborate with technology integrators.
By Dianne M. Pogoda
The convergence of all aspects of residential design and construction has never been more vibrant. Designers and remodelers are increasingly adopting a whole-home approach to renovation, as well as new construction, including the integration of exciting new technologies that are rapidly coming to market and gaining wide acceptance.
All this means learning new tools and devising plans that include the infrastructure to accommodate these technologies. To facilitate this, NKBA and CEDIA, the leading home tech integration association, jointly commissioned extensive research, “Technology Integration in Kitchen, Bath, or Whole Home,” to gauge the current level of awareness and integration of tech products in kitchen and bath projects and identify opportunities for collaboration among the various disciplines. The survey polled NKBA and CEDIA members and KBIS attendees, including designers, specifiers, contractors/remodelers, tech integrators, and home builders.
Bill Darcy, NKBA Global President & CEO, and Daryl Friedman, CEDIA Global President & CEO, discussed these findings at CEDIA Expo in Denver this month to help K&B designers and technology integrators discover how to connect, collaborate, and capitalize on the growth in smart-home products and technology. The two leaders shared insights from this exclusive research and strategies for applying it to improve business.
Among the benefits of incorporating a tech plan into kitchen, bath, and whole-home renovation are that it prepares homes for the future and boosts project value by providing the smart-home technology homeowners crave. The research also identified preferences among designers and their clients, challenges hindering more tech integration, and strategies to overcome those barriers.
Building Awareness
The research revealed that K&B designers need to understand project workflows, various roles, and patterns of collaboration to fully integrate the technology into their projects. One key finding is that only 32 percent of NKBA respondents are familiar with the term “integrator.” Of that 32 percent, 44 percent have worked with an integrator on a project, and 49 percent acknowledge it’s “extremely” or “very” important to work with one. Overall, however, just 14 percent of NKBS/KBIS respondents have ever worked with an integrator.
Further, it’s most often (75 percent) the homeowner who suggests the need for technology integration, compared to 53 percent of designers and 36 percent of builders/remodelers/contractors. This indicates significant upside potential for the professionals to recommend tech integration. Additionally, compared to two years ago, 68 percent of respondents said there has been an increase in interest in home tech.
The solution, Darcy and Friedman concurred, is to increase familiarity among NKBA pros with the technologies, products, and installation processes, so that they may present a more informed plan to homeowners. Designers and builders also need to understand the role of the integrator and the importance of initiating the tech conversation early in the project.
Darcy said the co-location of KBIS and the National Association of Home Builders’ IBS show helped facilitate and accelerate collaboration between builders and designers. “We feel the same with CEDIA,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for us — designers, builders, integrators — to find a way to accelerate this relationship development and make the integrator a critical piece of the project planning on the front end, so it’s not so mysterious.”
The relationship between NKBA and CEDIA can help foster networking and connections and guide the NKBA audience on where to find integrators, he added. In fact, the research showed that 47 percent of NKBA respondents who had worked with an integrator said they found the connection through a trade association.
“The really interesting thing to me is that almost half of all designers who know the word ‘integrator’ are using an integrator,” said Friedman. “But that half is only half of one-third of designers. So, this is telling us that the awareness level is the biggest barrier because once they know what it is and what technology can do and once homeowners see what it can bring to their home, they want it. If we can increase that knowledge and awareness, that’s where our conversations are going to be fruitful.”
Product Familiarity
To capitalize on emerging technologies, designers must familiarize themselves not only with the products most likely to be adopted but also with the target audiences that are most likely to adopt them.
Not surprisingly, there are plenty of smart products for the kitchen, bath, and the entire home that have awareness levels above 80 percent among NKBA respondents. These include heated floors and towel bars, exhaust fans, smart toilets and steam showers in the bath; motion-sensor faucets, lighting control, smart refrigerators, and motorized window treatments in the kitchen, and video doorbells, smart lighting, motion detectors, and security systems for the whole home. The research reveals that focusing on high-conversion products like these leads to higher-value projects, but still requires continuing marketing and education, especially for emerging tech like smart toilets and smart ovens.
Smart products with lower levels of awareness include leak detection, heated shower benches, and waterproof TVs in the bath; connected countertop appliances, voice-activated faucets, networking outlets in the kitchen, and occupancy sensors, smart windows, full video walls, and health monitors for the whole home. The survey indicates that niche products like these require additional support and education to become mainstream.
Benefits and Barriers
Many emerging home technologies will soon become must-have elements in design and remodeling. However, two significant barriers to adoption are cost, cited by 86 percent of respondents, and a lack of understanding of the technology’s benefits, mentioned by 70 percent.
Strategies to overcome the cost factor include building infrastructure that allows tech to be added later and integrating technology on a smaller scale. Since NKBA respondents cite convenience (83 percent) and security (74 percent) as the biggest benefits of smart-home technology, it is essential to educate homeowners about these benefits and demystify the complexities of the technology. This means educating themselves to gain a deeper understanding so they may better explain it to their clients.
The Bottom Line
The market for smart-home tech is expanding rapidly, and like most emerging technologies, it’s catching on with higher-end consumers first. Insights from this effort will enable NKBA and CEDIA to more effectively support their members, help them make connections, raise awareness, and accelerate home-tech integration.The full report is available at nkba.org/research and is included with NKBA membership or can be purchased by non-members.
