In every dreamhome

Building Management Systems until very recently were only found in office buildings, but are now gradually entering the residences of those who give pride of place to personal safety and comfort. Western European investors became familiar with the EIB (European Installation Bus) residence management system around a dozen years ago. However, this has only lately come to the Polish market.

A comfortable, 21st-century standard apartment block is currently under construction in Włochy, a Warsaw suburb, but Silesia was the location for the first ‘intelligent residences’ in Poland.

All Millenium IQ apartments were sold on the day the offer was published. A similar case is that of Park Włochy in Warsaw, developed by N.I.A. Nawrath Consulting – a company previously occupied with importing and distributing electronic devices and which was not involved in development, until now. Henryk Narwath, N.I.A. Consulting’s president, makes no secret of the fact that: “Our apartments are attracting huge interest. We are not accepting reservations at the moment, but shall start selling from February 2007 when the building is roofed over. Having said that, I must add that we are being flooded with enquiries concerning our investment.”

The EIB system installed in both of these residential buildings provides illumination, heating, window blinds, gas, electricity, air conditioning, alarm devices and a multitude of other items and is tailored for individual customers. System control is through a special panel which combines the functions of switches and connectors. Pressing a single button on the pleasantly designed panel allows lights and alarm devices to be switched on and off and music and home cinema to be tuned in, even making remote control of the apartment possible.

In this way, substantial savings in home management costs can be made. Heating can be reduced without leaving the office and the light you left on when you went out in the morning can be switched off. It has been possible for some time to pre-program many home systems, but this did not always give the desired effect since, for instance, a resident might be forced to change the time of their return. But now when you return from work later than planned, a freshly aired home will be waiting for you with Tasteful environments

The general appearance of home interiors is improved by the use of an EIB system. One tastefully designed management panel takes the place of dozens of control buttons. The design can be chosen by each according to taste and enlarged according to their needs. No longer are there any headaches with central heating radiators in such a building, since floor heating is installed, with all the necessary wiring for audio equipment and the internet also hidden under the floor.

 Everlasting

The great advantage of the EIB system is not that it is very simple to service, in practice a single button is all that is needed to control it, but that it is also almost entirely failure-free – at least so claim its producers. A well designed system can be used for many years and is universal to the extent that when once installed it will prove to be durable. The only modules which may be added are those responsible for separate functions whose purposes are yet unknown and which might well be developed in the near future. And this will happen, since, in the words of Bill Gates, who owns one of the world’s first intelligent homes: “Today’s intelligent buildings are tomorrow’s electronic corpses.”

 You have to pay between PLN 4,500 and 5,000 per sqm for a Millenium IQ apartment. Prices in Park Włochy will be higher, but this is also a reflection of the location, with apartments in Silesia being in general less expensive. Mr Narwath remarks that: “Our apartments will cost between PLN 7,000 and 10,000 per sqm, with higher prices having to be paid for apartments with large terraces.”

Boryczka adds that: “We have designed 6 deluxe apartments of between 70 and 200 sqm space in Millenium IQ.”

      z Zuzanna Wiak