I love those more interesting shoots – something that is completely different. Recently I received a commission for some interiors photography for a company that was diversifying into the Smart Home sector.
Background
ACC Haus is an offshoot of ACC (Application Centric Computing) Ltd. The company is headed up by Jeff Jones.
Jeff is an IT pioneer specialising in technical product development and has over 100 press awards under his belt.
In 2015 Jeff decided to completely refurbish his 1920’s built home. He particularly wanted to take advantage of the latest in Smart Home technology.
He decided to make the property as energy efficient as possible. Also important were effective control and monitoring solutions.
Before deciding to start work Jeff initially conducted a full review of the smart building market. He decided to work with some industry-leading partners. Smart control systems were designed which could be accessed from multiple devices. This ranged from a PC down to a mobile device.
The technology
At the heart of the project are the latest innovations in space heating , control systems and security. The concept is more appealing as everything had minimalism in mind.
Initially, the existing gas fired boiler and radiators were removed. They were replaced with an internal air source heat pump to boost hot water. Secondly, far-infrared (FIR) heat panels were introduced.
These are designed to be heated to around 100 degrees C and produce long wavelength infrared. This energy is only absorbed by matter. This means that heat is not wasted by warming the air in the building.
Allergy sufferers find that dust is less of a problem as no convection air currents are set up.
The panels are fitted to the ceilings where they take up less space and one was also incorporated into the bathroom mirror.
As a back up, there is an efficient wood burning facility built into the property. This is in case of extreme temperatures or power cuts.
Solar panels generate most of the power used by the system even in winter. The unusual thing about the panels were that they were inset into the roof, rather than attached to it, saving on roof tiles
Monitoring the property
ACC devised the control systems present in every room where monitoring devices are built into what seem to be simple light switches.
These are high tech control and sensing devices monitoring temperature. They can detect whether someone is present in the room. This can be advantageous as devices can be set to switch off automatically.
Each room can have the temperature controlled separately. Lighting presets can also be set. Music can be piped to each room according to individual tastes.
Security is built into the system as CCTV cameras are installed which can be viewed remotely.
It turned out to be a very interesting to conduct an interiors photography shoot for a smart home. Definitely a view on the future.
Experts in building automation, Far InfraRed heating and ASHP hot water (acchaus.com)
© Andrew Boschier Photography 2018