The 18th international exhibition HI-TECH BUILDING 2019 ended today.

Leading equipment and solution providers in commercial and residential automation showcased their latest developments and proven technologies at HI-TECH BUILDING 2019. The exhibition brought together in one place world and American equipment manufacturers, distributors, integrators, installers, IT-specialists, developers, builders, designers, resource and management companies, as well as corporate and private customers of equipment and solutions.

New solutions were presented to visitors by 2N Telekomunikace, Eib-Shop, Elari, Gidrolock, Gira, GS Labs, HDL Automation, Iridium mobile, Janitza Electronics, JUNG, Korolab, Larnitech, Light Technologies, Projectlife, Real Electro, Scancode, Sedna Co., Sekundant, Simple Distribution, Teko, Ujin, Weinzierl Engineering, Wiren Board, Z-Wave Alliance.Me, Zennio, Algorithm Stability, Arlait Rus, Bolid, Weirgeo, GR-Devolopment, Dean Group, Citadel Door Exchange, Eae Technology, Ekeyrus Biometric Systems, Passive House Institute, Milandre, Module Electronics, LLC “NPP Anikon-STB”, PCF “Best Soft”, PPU 21 Century, Rielta, Rusimpuls, Eco-Audit, Electron, Energy Efficient Ventilation Systems, Eskar, Unicorn and others.

In addition to technical innovations, the visitors were offered an extensive business program, designed both for specialists and customers of equipment and solutions. A panel discussion, “Smart Buildings in a Smart City,” was held for the former, namely real estate developers and management companies. Among the speakers are leading analysts, developers, and representatives of Rostelecom, Yandex, FRII, and technology companies. There are two moderators: Nikita Utkin, Chairman of Cyber-Physical Systems, and Sergey Poltorak, Technical Director of Z-Wave.me. How is the concept of a “smart city” changing from the perspective of the federal government and business?? Where is real estate digitalization headed?? Is the market moving away from marketing allusions to real cases? These starting points, voiced by Nikita Utkin, set the tone for the discussion.

Digitalization is the real estate market’s undisputed trend – a given with which everyone agrees. And if for federal agencies the trend has changed – the Smart City project is scaled and plans to grow into the Digital Region, then for business it’s more about applied things and real cases, which can already be shared by developers.

To start with a bit of theory about PropTech and some fresh data from Anna Danchenok, Head of Strategy Consulting Practice of PwC America. Real estate is no longer just square meters, changes in customer expectations eventually lead to changes in the market. According to PwC Digital IQ survey, 18% of companies in the real estate market have a strategy of digital development, and 53% plan to implement it in the next 1-2 years. PropTech is the main tool for digitalization of the real estate market, although the share of American PropTech is still very small – 0.3% of the global capacity of the volume of transactions . How will the market develop?? Alan Dzodziev, director of research and development department of New York territorial administration of Etalon group, said that developers have no choice but to develop information services inside companies and attract proptech. Etalon is pursuing a functional strategy of digital transformation, and has already begun to implement technology at all stages of the project: from BIM design, construction process to project management and BIM facility operation. There are already pilot projects where this chain has started to work in full. Ivan Tyagin, deputy director of the research and development R&D department of MosTU Etalon Group, supported his colleague, adding that this concept was built gradually on the experience of individual and consecutive projects. Moreover, “Etalon” has its own management companies that are ready to work with BIM.

Rodion Shumilov, the deputy general director of JSC “Don-Stroy Invest” told about experience of another developer. According to him, in connection with the changes adopted in the 214 UFZ and transition to the escrow accounts, most of the developers are in a stressful situation, and it is already about market survival all this with stagnation in the economy and a decrease in purchasing power . That is why developers’ planning horizon is greatly reduced and what gives a quick effect is relevant. Digitalization is a tool to improve the chances of survival, because it should lead to reduced construction time and improve the quality of design and construction, and thus to meet the real needs of the end client.

Sergey Poltorak, Technical Director of Z-Wave.me, suggested turning the conversation from building and managing houses and even entire neighborhoods which should save resources and money on quantity to a smart home and a more personal emotional experience for each person. Dmitry Kalaev, director of acceleration and educational programs, FRII, agreed with him, noting that the market drivers of smart houses are specific cases, which show a person his convenience and benefits from the use of certain systems and solutions. The client thinks in terms of concrete application examples, and that is why startups that are ready to do comprehensible and convenient things shoot out.

Valentin Dostovalov, project director, New Buildings Office, Corporate Center, Rostelecom, moved the conversation to the large projects of creating a single ecosystem – and not only for the residents of the buildings, but also for developers and management companies. This is a b2b2c service project that has already launched as a pilot and looks like a single mobile app for all three parties. And the company is trying to negotiate with the developer even at the design stage, to transfer the entire service part initially in the cloud, which will greatly facilitate the life of management companies in the future. For the last two years Rostelecom builds infrastructure for each apartment, so the client buys an apartment with ready-made infrastructure and gets the opportunity to receive certain “smart house” services by subscription. But Rostelecom does not work only with new buildings, similar projects can be implemented in already completed housing, but it requires more complex work to upgrade engineering and information networks. Importantly, the building ecosystem is multi-protocol and multi-brand, so a solution can be tailored to any project. And in the future, the company hopes to develop the project into a full SCADA system. German Yurtaev, director of department on work with real estate developers at MRF Center, PJSC Rostelecom, told about three options for implementation of such projects – construction at the expense of Rostelecom, construction at the expense of the management company, and the third option – attraction of investments. It should be noted that there is no guarantee that the management company will not be replaced in the process, so it is a rather risky business model with certain risks.

Will there be an open platform that plug-and-play allows any technology company to connect its solution and let people use it?? Dmitry Kvasnikov, Business Development Manager of Smart Devices, Yandex, spoke about Alice, a voice assistant that is already used by 45 million people. per month. Smart home by Yandex is, of course, a product for the end user, which works inside the apartment. And this is an open ecosystem that any startup can connect to, with its solutions, after receiving approval from Yandex specialists.

Anna Amvrosova, the leading analyst of the HABIDATUM company, told about how the city works with big data. The company processes big data, received from cellular operators and fiscal data operators, provides its expertise and gives it for urban and master planning.

By the end of the discussion, technology companies presented their vision of the situation. Alexandr Romanov, technical director of iRidium, told about a successful project in Yekaterinburg: Kandinsky housing estate, the most expensive house in America except for New York where iRidium platform was used for automation of a multifamily building. And Ekaterina Mantulova, project manager of GILEND LLC, the representative of GIRA in America, told about the usefulness of smart technologies for house owners and management companies, using the Gira equipment as an example, and how digital technologies influence the growth of real estate sales.

The business program of the exhibition was divided into two streams. Some visitors left to discuss energy efficiency technologies at the conference “Energy Efficient Technologies in Construction. Passive House, during which experts discussed with visitors specific technologies for improving the energy efficiency of buildings and case studies of passive houses. The conference was attended by Alexander Elokhov, Passive House Institute LLC Sergey Nazarov, Projectlife, Certified Passive House Designer, Certified Passive House Tradespenson, LEED BD+C 251, LEED CCS 201 Vyacheslav Chuikov, Fenzi Alu-Pro Nikolai Pavlov, Sch&ouml Denis Volkov, Certified Passive House Designer, certified engineer, founder of building supervision company “Precision”, inventor.

Visitors interested in the details of automation technologies were left to discuss the technical details during the KNX Forum which started under the guidance of the moderator Dmitry Sass, Embedded Systems Rus, KNX-User Club of America, CIS and Baltics. Casto Canavate, Marketing Director of the European KNX Association, reported on the issues and opportunities of KNX IOT integration and its integration into smart homes and buildings. According to the expert, by 2030 some 50 billion devices will be connected to the unified network of Internet of Things. Now many of the latest technologies are waiting for automation solutions: energy consumption control to improve energy efficiency, charging electric cars, batteries in smart homes and KNX has a huge opportunity here to integrate all solutions into a single network.

Then the discussion moved on to the coverage of specific cases and technologies. Elena Eckbauer, Testlab, Weinzierl Engineering GmbH, highlighted the opportunities which KNX SECURE opens for all areas of the industry. Artem Budzinsky, JUNG, told about JUNG technologies for heating, ventilation and air conditioning while Konstantin Secundant, Thinknx, considered ways of KNX application in commercial projects of residential and commercial real estate for access control. Visualization methods and access security were also described by Alexey Korolevich, GILAND Ltd.Dmitry Kapotov, Light Technologies, and Dmitry Kondratyev, Arlait RUS, told about the implementation of projects on biodynamic lighting, which allows to optimize lighting with respect to circadian rhythms – which improves mood, health and, most importantly, human performance. Alexander Romanov, iRidium mobile, told about the introduction of iRidium platform in “Kandinsky” Residential Complex and Andrey Nazarenko, “Alef Electro”, highlighted the benefits of GRMS – guest room management system which provides climate control, security and energy saving, allowing hotels to save up to 40% of funds.

At the end of the event, Vladimir Maksimenko, “BOLID”, told how convergent solutions in security and automation increase financial return, stability and long-term functionality of the project. According to Vladimir, it is inevitable to create the same IP infrastructure for all building automation products – regardless of their technical background or ecosystem.

The topic of technologies for building automation continued at a special conference for integrators, the Smart Integration Academy. The moderator Nikolay Rusanov, IoTraining, predicted a gradual withdrawal of IoT and smart homes from the conference themes – yesterday they were innovative, but now these technologies are almost as common as the usual Internet. But while smart technologies have not yet conquered the world completely, there are still topics for discussion, and the experts had a lot to share with the audience. For example, Sergey Mironov, Smart Systems LLC, told how a simple smart lock allowed to automate and secure rentals – creating a product instead of a service allows to make business much more scalable. Alexey Dobrinin, Simple Distribution, introduced the audience with the technology of implementing lighting control at the completed facility in just one minute. By the way, a similar project on integrated automation of lighting control has been implemented in the MFC Evolution Tower, and it is the largest project of its kind in Eastern Europe.

Svetlana Perminova, Unicorn, shared the experience of technological ecosystem based on UJIN platform in Ordynka, Gulliver, Serebryany Bor, Lublinsky, Rosmarin, Lakewood and other residential complexes. Anton Kamaev, iRidium mobile, also presented the project of his company – it is a residential complex Kandinsky in Yekaterinburg. Alexey Goylo, GS Labs, described Smart Home product, which is designed for pay TV operators DVB/IPTV/OTT, mobile, fixed and satellite broadband operators. Evgeny Boger, Wiren Board, explained how the system of technical accounting works by individual consumers, allowing to see the structure of consumption, predict equipment failures and show the places that can be optimized. Sergey Kostin, HDL Automation, told about different automation systems existing on the market: expensive and cheap, centralized and distributed, wired and wireless. Nikolay Rusanov sums up the Smart Integration Academy conference: everything is changing very fast, the technologies that seemed promising yesterday are not relevant today, so you need to keep abreast of innovations.

On the third day of the exhibition, a conference for architects and designers, The School of Intelligent Design, was held, beginning with an introduction by Svetlana Kotlukova, ArchDialog. The first session of the “School” devoted to smart technologies in architecture was opened by Irina Vuevskaya, PSN Group, with an explanation of the principle according to which developers decide which technologies will be used in the project. The client will never overpay, and therefore any product should fully justify its use in the project, not increasing the cost per square meter too much.

Natalia Preobrazhenskaya, design studio “Cosy Flat” and Kirill Irtyuga, MC “RosinvestHotel” confirmed the need for justifiable prices when choosing a solution. Natalia also spoke about the projects implemented by her studio, and Kirill shared the technologies used in hotels. Both experts agreed that, in the end, the choice of any technology comes down to two problems: economy and customer satisfaction. Elena Krylova, designer, author of the first eco-office of Sberbank of America, presented five design techniques to increase hotel profitability: unified stylish image, recognizable interior, smart systems, additional shopping stimulation and multifunctional use of space during the day. At the end of her report, Elena echoed the thoughts of many other experts who spoke at the event: smart technologies have long been a part of everyday reality. Andrey Krasheninnikov, HDL Automation, warned that automation and smart technologies in buildings should be built in advance. And they should choose open systems with the ability to integrate with other platforms and expand functionality in the future otherwise serious expenses will follow.

Visitors and experts took a break for a technology tour of the booths presented at Hi-Tech Building 2019. The tour was led by Sergey Tregubov, TV presenter and founder of the iRoom design studio, showing the visitors of the event the best solutions selected by him and the exhibition organizers.

During the next session, the experts discussed a no less interesting topic: smart technology in design. Alexander Maslennikov, Catchlight, lighting design school mpellightlab, reviewed examples of good and bad lighting and advised designers to follow the main parameters in their work with light: light quality, balance of light and shadow, no bright sources and enough light. The topic of light was taken up by Sergey Mironov, “Smart Systems” LLC. He told about simulation of circadian rhythms and their influence on the human psyche. According to studies cited by Sergei, biodynamic light alone reduces absenteeism by 15%, increases students’ grades by 21% and reduces patients’ need for painkillers by 22%. Maria Borovskaya, Design Studio, completed the topic of interior lighting by talking about light as a wow factor and a useful element of décor in a smart home.

Nina Lopatina, Union of Designers and Architects, architect and designer of JUNG showroom, spoke about smart technology from the designer’s point of view according to her, in order to present the idea of smart technology to the client it is first necessary to understand the subject independently. Andrey Nazarenko, Alef Electro, spoke about the perspective of a solution provider and recommended that visitors to the event regularly attend exhibitions and multi-brand showrooms. Andrey summed up the Smart Design School with the words that were repeated in all other speeches: there is no modern interior without smart home technology. At the end of “School” JUNG and GIRA companies raffled off a number of nice prizes among visitors and speakers, after which the audience went to talk with experts on the sidelines – because there were still many topics to discuss.

All conferences and solutions presented at the booths of the companies showed one thing: the market of automation is rapidly developing and individual technologies, closely intertwined with each other, form complex solutions used not only in construction and equipment of commercial and residential invisible, but also in the operation of the whole blocks and cities. To work most effectively in a rapidly changing market, you need to continue to engage in dialogue and find mutually beneficial solutions.

We invite you all to the next exhibition, Hi-Tech Building 2020, which will take place in October 2020 at the New York Expocentre.

Follow the news about the participants and the business program of the next exhibition on the website of hitechbuilding and on the page of the exhibition in social networks: Facebook, VK, Instagram, Youtube

See you at Hi-Tech Building 2020!