Smart Home – m2Square Berlin Real Estate

Smart heating – more comfort for less money

Angelo Arboscello — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 10:38:13 +0000

Who doesn’t know it? First it is too cold. Then you turn the thermostat on the radiator, and after a few minutes you sweat and turn it down again. But soon it will be too cold again. Different rooms in a home need different room temperatures. These temperatures also differ depending on whether someone is at home or not and how many people are in the room. Smart heating technology ensures the optimum temperature and also helps to save money.

A smart heating system takes care of adjusting the radiators for us. If the residents are at home, it determines the optimum temperature. If everyone is away from home, it throttles the heat. Smart heating increases living comfort and saves resources at the same time. Smart radiator thermostats already pay off in a rented apartment. The installation of a smart heating control pays off even more.

The changeover from manual to automatic operation is not so difficult. The classic thermostats for radiators can easily be replaced with intelligent thermostats. Only the valves are changed. Anyone can do this themselves. Unscrew the old ones, screw on the new ones – that’s it. With the smart thermostats, you set the desired temperature and the units regulate the heat output themselves. Heating costs can already be reduced in this way. This is also practical in a rented apartment. The old thermostats can be reinstalled when you move out.

A smart heating control system for a house offers even greater savings potential. Experts recommend taking advantage of these opportunities when building a new house or modernising an existing one. What the installation of smart home technology costs more, it recovers from the heating costs. Energy costs can be reduced by up to 20 percent. Operation is also made easier, for example via a touchscreen directly on the heating system or via a smartphone app.

Smart heating systems can also be programmed. At certain times, the temperature can be lowered, for example when the residents are at work. On the other hand, it can raise the temperature again shortly before the planned return. The best way to solve this problem is to program each thermostat individually. Of course, this is quite costly – but ideal for price-conscious people. More expensive, but more comfortable, are centrally controlled heaters.

The savings potential can also be expanded. The heating can, for example, be coupled with roller shutters. These can then be closed at a certain time to prevent cooling.

But it is still important to pay attention to safety. If the heating system is connected to the Internet or telephone network, strong encryption and secure passwords are essential.

Are you looking for someone to sell your existing property? Contact us! We will be happy to advise you.

Photo: © BrianAJackson/Depositphotos.com

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House tour of the future

Angelo Arboscello — Sat, 01 Sep 2018 12:47:20 +0000

Viewing real estate is getting easier and easier. If a house is being renovated or the new building is not yet finished, you can also walk through the object virtually. With VR glasses you gain impressions of the property or can already plan the furnishing. While standing in the virtual house, you can place or move furniture, change floors or paint walls in other colours. VR experts Matthias Ruffert and Sebastian Träger explain why Virtual Reality is becoming the new standard here.

How did you come up with VR simulations for real estate?

Matthias Ruffert: What has already established itself in other sectors is also gradually gaining ground in the construction of real estate. This is now possible because the technology has developed enormously and has also become more affordable. Not only for projects worth millions and billions, but also for 200,000 Euro projects. In other industries, electronic planning has been simulated for many years: whether in the areas of aircraft development, ship development, machine development or power plant development. This is done before you even take a piece of steel in your hand or form anything.

What are VR simulations used for in construction project planning?

Sebastian Träger: Both for planning and sales. The building doesn’t have to be up for that yet.

Matthias Ruffert: Yesterday, for example, I spoke to a market participant who had several housing units planned. I asked him if he could send a plan, but he had nothing, just the land and the idea. There hasn’t been a commission for an architect or anything. Nevertheless, he already had to sell housing units. To this end, he wanted to present the idea in digital form so that it would continue to grow in the minds of project developers and building contractors.

What is represented in simulations? How detailed are they?

Sebastian Träger: That goes partly to the last detail. Both from the object and from the exterior views. We can even simulate the traffic outside on the road. This varies from project to project. One project is more about garden design. There each plant, which the landscape architect intended, is represented in detail. In others it’s more about the interior.

How are VR simulations of projects created that do not yet exist? What do you need as a basis?

Sebastian Träger: Most of our customers already have a rough plan of how you want it in the end. At least with the buildings. We’ll get architectural plans and rough drawings by then. We then first fill them with walls and floors and then increasingly detailed with windows, furniture and sanitary facilities.

How long does it take to create a simulation? How many people are involved?

Sebastian Träger: That depends entirely on the project. Roughly speaking, it takes between two and eight weeks. A typical project takes about four weeks. We have a workflow with four to five people.

Matthias Ruffert: There are also different qualifications that are needed. One has a more interior design feel, the other is more specialized in basic structures. We also have a specialist for all lighting questions. Because just like in the real world, light makes a big difference here and ultimately provides the finishing touches.

One problem with the construction planning is that nothing can be visited yet. Do VR simulations solve this problem so that investors and buyers can be found more easily?

Matthias Ruffert: Absolutely! It’s not just about influencing the planning, but really about selling faster. Suppose you are an investor with a large 5 million euro project, but you only have 50,000 euros in cash and now need a loan from the bank. Before investing, it will require the first residential units to be sold. So that’s where the cat bites its tail. Virtual Reality allows an easy start. You don’t have to be physically there to get a quick deal. This allows you to find buyers and investors more quickly.

Sebastian Träger: Usually the last customer pays the most because he has to introduce himself the least. But with Virtual Reality, even the first customers can already see something without having to think too much about it. In this way, a higher price per square metre is achieved directly.

The real estate market is booming at the moment. Isn’t it easy to find buyers there anyway?

Matthias Ruffert: Many are not interested in selling to the end customer, but in winning a contract for a project. Because that is why you are in competition with many other companies. That is why savings banks and other major customers come to us to apply for large projects and want to show with this technology that they are innovative and willing to perform. This way they get the surcharges of developers and companies.

How is the market for simulations developing? Will you soon become the standard for new construction projects?

Matthias Ruffert: I am deeply convinced of that. Meanwhile we see that more and more people are relying on this technology. Two years ago we were different, but now the end customers are sitting at the banks or brokers and asking directly. They could then perhaps look at another project at a competitor via a simulation and now want this standard.

What fascinates you about VR simulations?

Matthias Ruffert: I see this above all from an entrepreneurial point of view. It is an enormous opportunity because a completely new market is emerging here. I find this particularly exciting: being a participant in a newly developing market.

Sebastian Träger: I have a slightly different view of it. Of course, I also find developing a new market exciting. But the most fascinating thing about VR simulations for me is actually that it is something that nobody can imagine. You can talk about it, make movies about it, but you can’t imagine. You have to experience it. You have to put on glasses – everyone who has done this once will be fascinated. For me this is a kind of mental extension: You put on your glasses and after half a minute you are in another world. No matter what you are shown, whether you see a property or an underwater world, you are in there right now. It’s so real that body and mind can’t tell it from the real world.

Would you like to know whether a virtual tour of your property is also worthwhile? Please contact us! We will be happy to advise you.

Fotos: © RossHelen / peshkov

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Always keeping an eye on home

Angelo Arboscello — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 07:38:12 +0000

With Smart Home, most people immediately think of the smart speakers from Amazon, Apple, Google and the others, which conveniently control light, music or air conditioning via voice control. But it can also be a size smaller. Monitoring your own four walls also works via app.

Homeowners have the possibility to check what is going on in the house from on the way. Is a window still open? Is the stove still on? Have you forgotten to turn off the heating during your holidays? What makes mobile phone surveillance so interesting? “Many people do not want to invest in an expensive smart home system for home monitoring, with which the heating can then be switched off directly. It is enough for them to get a short alarm and then quickly turn back and close the window themselves,” reports the expert for mobile home surveillance and Managing Director Manfred Sarrazin of Techno Trade.

Estate agents or property management companies already use such apps in vacancy management, for example. Techno Trade develops various smart sensors and the app to monitor real estate. All data and fault messages from all sensors are recorded here. Various alarms can be set for this purpose. Motion sensors can detect if someone enters the building, heat sensors can control the temperature and detect water sensors if, for example, a pipe is leaking and water is leaking. “Technically, this is possible by attaching small sensors at the respective point, which send signals to the App user via W-LAN via a radio station,” explains Frank Reiser, business IT graduate at Techno Trade. What is useful for professionals can also help owners to always and easily maintain their property.

Manfred Sarrazin describes the situation of Techno Trade as follows: “Among other things, we come from the field of radio clocks and weather stations – everything that has to do with time and weather. So the sensors and radios were already there. For mobile monitoring, however, completely different conclusions are drawn from the data supplied than, for example, with a classical thermometer. Frank Reiser gives just a few examples: “For example, if the temperature near the stove rises sharply, I can conclude that I forgot to make out a plate. Or if a water sensor near the washing machine sounds an alarm and it’s currently on, I can assume it’s overflowing.”

With motion sensors mounted on doors and windows, a mobile monitoring device is also an inexpensive alternative to the classic alarm system. When a door opens, the alarm first goes to your mobile phone and not directly to the police. “Then I can quickly let a neighbor know if everything is all right and save me an expensive police operation, should it be a false alarm.”

Fotos: © Techno Trade

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Houzz – Everything under one roof

Angelo Arboscello — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 07:34:55 +0000

The wallpapers are yellowed, the colours of the sofa faded and the tiles in the bathroom have cracks and actually have to be renewed a long time ago. So three questions arise: 1. What should my home look like after the renovation? 2. what new furniture do I want? And 3. where can I find an expert to take care of the renovation or give me tips? At the Houzz.de portal you will find living ideas, products such as furniture or accessories as well as real estate experts.

The online platform Houzz brings together real estate-related service providers and owners. At Houzz.de, users are inspired by living, design and interior decoration as well as gardens. From the classic rustic country house style to modern urban living, users can collect and store their living ideas here. Owners can either browse freely through the suggestions and let themselves be guided from idea to idea or search specifically for what they need using categories such as “room” or “style”.

The same possibilities are available in the product area. Here, too, users can search or simply browse for furniture or accessories that match their home design. Once the user has found what he is looking for, he can buy his favourite piece of furniture or find out where he can buy it.

For the content – texts and photos – Houzz relies on the expertise of professionals. To maintain quality, real estate-related service providers must register as experts on the platform. Only commercial providers can provide content here. Thus Houzz manages to keep private snapshots away from the platform and to offer a good quality standard in terms of content. After all, it is in the best interests of the service providers to present themselves at their best. Behind this principle is also the revenue model of the portal. Because the experts pay for being able to publish content on Houzz. They can then publish blog posts via the community. Thus, craftsmen, interior designers or property developers post their works as references in small stories. Users can also contact the experts directly in the community and get advice from them.

The portal from the USA has been online in Germany for four years. Since then it has grown rapidly. Meanwhile about 100 employees work for Houzz in Germany. According to Houzz, over 40 million users worldwide use the platform every month. 90 percent of these are to be real estate owners who use the platform as companions during conversion or renovation work. In addition, more than 1.5 million experts are active on the platform worldwide. The expert directory allows you to quickly find the right professional for any real estate problem.

If you are looking for inspiration to renew your own four walls, you will find the latest design trends on Houzz. And if you are looking for support in renovating your home, you can first get an idea of the professionalism of the experts before deciding on someone to help you with words and deeds.

Would you like to know whether it is worth upgrading your property? Please contact us, we will be happy to advise you.

Fotos: © houzz

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Artificial intelligence in nursing – what is possible?

Angelo Arboscello — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 13:18:25 +0000

Perhaps you are currently faced with the question of whether you want to move into a new, age-appropriate home or convert your beloved four walls barrier-free. But what happens if you or your partner need care? Under what conditions could technological developments support everyday life at home in a sensible and discreet way?

The number of people in need of care in Germany is increasing rapidly. Unfortunately, however, many elderly people are not lucky enough to be cared for by their own relatives. And the nursing staff is also becoming scarce. The idea of placing the welfare of the elderly and infirm in the hands of robots comes from Japan. But can we still talk about their “well-being” at all – and emotionally?

Almost 2.9 million elderly people in need of care currently live in Germany, one third of them in retirement homes. The Federal Statistical Office estimates that this figure will increase to around 4.5 million by 2050. How should this challenge of demographic change be met? In the future we will face the problem that although there are more and more people in need of care, there are fewer and fewer people who take up and pursue care professions. In addition, the health and nursing insurance companies lack money, but this becomes necessary when the number of seniors who are no longer able to cope with their daily lives themselves increases.

Are nursing staff being replaced by technology?

The Japanese are facing a similarly precarious situation, which also leads to new ideas in the field of artificial intelligence in the country of technical innovations in the field of geriatric care. Already 16 years ago, the electronics group Panasonic opened a high-tech nursing home near Osaka, where residents were supplied and controlled exclusively by technology. However, even the technology-oriented Japanese could not make friends with some products such as necklaces with motion sensors, which were intended to monitor the stay of the home residents and prevent them from running away.

Germans are much more sceptical about the idea of being washed, fed and carried by robots in their old age. For this reason alone, it cannot be assumed that artificial intelligence can replace human nursing staff in Germany in the near future. Some media often suggest that the technology will make all nursing staff obsolete in the future. “But there is a translation error here”, Christian Buhtz, founder of robotics manufacturer Boston Dynamics Marc Raibert, clarifies in an interview with heise online. “There are simply no care robots. There are only robotic systems that can support individual functions and thus relieve the workload of nursing staff”.

What counts is the interpersonal aspect

According to Buhtz, the problem is not the technical feasibility, but the complexity of interpersonal relationships between nurse and patient, which enables individual encounters. The question of whether nursing robots can really satisfy the needs of old people does not really arise from this point of view. Artificial intelligence has no feelings like love, connectedness or joy, it can only simulate such feelings corresponding behaviour. And even if the opponent may not recognize the difference, one moves here ethically seen on a narrow degree.

Christian Buhtz advocates a sober presentation of the real capabilities and possibilities of machines and prefers the terms “robotic care assistance systems” or “robots for maintaining autonomy”. In Germany, numerous companies are working to support people in need of care in their daily lives in this way. Primarily it concerns technology, which is installed into the dwelling, in order to relieve caregivers or maintaining member. Technological developments such as automatic roller shutter control, intelligent overflow systems for the bathtub, fall detectors and smoke detectors networked with emergency call centres are already available on the market, but are not yet very widespread in private homes due to the high purchase costs.

Together with the Berlin Charité, the industrial gas company LINDE is working on a project called Bea@home, which is intended to enable respiratory care for people in need of the most severe care at home. The implementation is currently being tested in practice – with great success: the project gives the caregivers greater confidence in taking action and patients can be cared for in their home environment. Instead of all-round care by a nurse, a sophisticated monitoring system is installed at the bedside of the respiratory patients and continuously transmits the medical values to a hospital. For the nursing and health insurance companies this means a considerable financial relief, and for the patients and their relatives nothing less than that they can live side by side in their own four walls.

In a discreet supporting function, Artificial Intelligence can actually help elderly people. But a warming smile and the right word at the right time can only give a being with emotional intelligence.

You want to design your home with modern care technologies to suit your age? We will be happy to check whether your property is suitable for this.

Foto: © aerogondo

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Will the power in my house soon be free?

Angelo Arboscello — Sat, 30 Jun 2018 07:06:34 +0000

Sounds like an illusion, but it’s already real. Power from the socket in abundance. Where to put it? If private individuals produce their electricity on their own roof or in the domestic cogeneration plant – decentralised – more people can be supplied with electricity. Some are already doing so and producing more electricity than they consume. You deliver this surplus directly to the consumer – without the energy giant in between. Electricity production is thus democratised.

So far, private individuals who have produced electricity have fed the excess energy into the grid and received a fixed price from the grid operator. For about two years now, however, private electricity producers have been able to sell their electricity directly to consumers via Internet platforms – past the electricity companies.

One such platform is the company Enyway. The managing director of Enyway Heiko von Tschischwitz told Der Spiegel: “The next stage of the energy transition could be a kind of AirBnB for electricity”. Instead of consumers buying their electricity from energy giants such as E.ON or RWE, they choose their own supplier. Other companies such as Beegy or Buzzn are also working on similar models.

Electricity can be produced, for example, by a school with a photovoltaic system on the roof or by the homeowner with a cogeneration plant in the basement. The owner of an orchard near Hamburg has had wind turbines built on his plantation. Between Hamburg and Bremen, for example, according to Der Spiegel, the owner of an old mill produces and sells his electricity. A small river drives the mill wheel, which in turn drives two generators that convert the power into electricity. For example, the mill, which previously had nothing to do with energy generation but ground grain, generates around 100,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. About 25 four-person households can be supplied with it for one year.

If one household could supply four households with electricity, one quarter of all German households could theoretically supply all German households with electricity. In the future, it could go something like this: Households – both producing and consuming – are connected via modern communication technology. Intelligent electricity meters measure in real time how much electricity a household currently needs and how much other households are currently producing. The private electricity producer uses an app to control what should happen to his electricity – whether it should be stored, consumed by himself or fed into the grid. The consumer, in turn, decides from which supplier he wants to obtain energy. There are no longer any notice periods. It can be changed in seconds. Because everything is connected, everything can be balanced among each other. If it rains at one producer, another, where the sun shines, can supply him with his surplus electricity.

Experts expect that electricity will be produced in abundance in the future and only the management of electricity will cost money, but the electricity itself will no longer cost anything. This is already the case in Texas, USA. Huge wind farms produce about ten percent of the electricity there. Especially at night, when consumption is low, energy is abundant. The first companies have already started to give away their electricity between 9 pm and 6 am. The odds are there. Time to use it.

Fotos: © TomasSereda

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You are on holiday – your house is safe

Angelo Arboscello — Sun, 10 Jun 2018 10:18:48 +0000

Before going on holiday, many homeowners wonder how they can protect their home from burglars. Last year, an average of more than 300 apartments throughout Germany were plunged every day. If you don’t want to turn your home into a fortress, there are smart aids that deter burglars.

1. Kevin

“Kevin” from the Swiss startup Mitipi is a virtual roommate. The “Smart Home IoT” device simulates movements and the presence of people with light, light effects and noises. Using intelligent control options, Kevin simulates a person moving around the house and performing everyday tasks: “Kevin” can fake conversations, washing up noises, music or even a fight. It pretends to be someone’s home.

In order to fake a person’s presence in the apartment, Kevin uses a logic that takes several factors into account: Time zone, region, language, weather, house type and much more. In addition, the system can be customized by setting your own preferences: For example, whether you have pets or a family, play an instrument or like to do a workout at home. It can be operated via app or buttons on the device.

Further information at: www.mitipi.com

2. Hue

“Hue” the smart LED lighting system from Philips is primarily a mood light. So it can be programmed to adjust the intensity and colour of the light to the mood of the user, to wake him in the morning or to dim the light in the evening. But “Hue” also has the function of pretending to be there.

The light can of course be controlled via an app, but there is also a random control that automatically illuminates the apartment or individual rooms. Schedules can be programmed for this.

Further information at: www.meethue.com

3. Arlo Pro

With the Arlo Pro security camera you can check from the beach via your smartphone or tablet whether everything is okay at home. The Arlo Pro records in sharp HD (720p), works wirelessly, has a durable, rechargeable battery, two-way audio, a motion sensor and the Smart Siren, an intelligent alarm siren with 100+ decibels.

The two-way audio lets you hear everything that goes on around your house and can address intruders. All videos triggered by movement and noise are stored in the cloud free of charge for seven days each.

Further information is available at: www.netgear.de

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How to stay cool in the apartment when the heat strikes

Angelo Arboscello — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 09:51:20 +0000

In summer your apartment becomes an oven? The heat is building up in your attic apartment? Your bedroom or living room are on the south side of your property and get the full power of the sun all day? “Air coolers” don’t have to be loud, big and ugly.

1. Geizeer

The “Desk-Ice Cooler” Geizeer combines Italian design with cool air. It is also mobile and works with USB. Should the air conditioning in the train fail in the summer, simply activate Geizeer on your laptop – and you’re saved. For less than 1 cent per day, it can cool a room of up to 12 square metres. Thanks to its space-saving size and its elegant Italian design, Geizeer fits on any desk, night table or coffee table. Geizeer works very simply.

Inside the wooden housing there is a cooling battery and a quiet fan. The ice pack can be simply “charged” in the freezer compartment, then it can be inserted into the housing. It cools the air that the fan then distributes throughout the room. The battery lasts up to four hours. There is also no circuit breaker, but Geizeer is activated by two contact plates when both housing parts are placed on top of each other in the correct position. To switch it off, the upper part can simply be turned through 90 degrees so that the contacts no longer sit on top of each other.

Further information at: www.geizeer.com

2. evaSMART

The climate improver from evapolar combines several functions at once. It cools, humidifies and purifies the air. evaSMART is portable, can also be connected via USB, is compatible with most smart home platforms and consumes only 12 watts of power.

The unit consists of a quiet fan, a water tank and a filter. By evaporation, the Air Cooler absorbs warm and dry air and makes it fresh, humid and cool. The filter consists of a mineral compound that is clean, hygienic and contains no chemicals. evaSMART is small and fits on any table. The design is modern and captivates by its mood light.

Further information is available at: www.evapolar.de

3. Dyson Pure Cool

Dyson’s Pure Cool cools and purifies the air. Three sensors automatically detect indoor air contamination. They detect gases, particles in the air, humidity and temperature. The particles are filtered and the fan distributes the clean air in the room.

In addition, the fan function can be switched off so that the air filter can be used all year round. The design of the Pure Cool is a mixture of classic and modern.

Further information at: www.dyson.de

Is it worth installing an air conditioning system before the sale? Please contact us. We will be happy to advise you.

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The digital assistant will soon arrange your appointments

Angelo Arboscello — Fri, 25 May 2018 12:05:08 +0000

Anyone selling their property has a lot to organize. Everybody knows how hard it is to reach someone. This can quickly become exhausting. Especially when you don’t have time to stay on top of it all the time. Find dates for property valuation, electricity suppliers, removal companies – or just think of offices and authorities, where the seller must obtain the documents necessary for sale. Wouldn’t it be convenient if my phone could organize it without me?

Google Duplex is an artificial intelligence. The digital assistant plans your appointments. And this is how it could happen:

Voice 1: “Hello, how can I help you?”

Voice 2: “Hello, I would like to arrange a notary appointment for a property sale.”

Voice 1: “The next free appointment would be on May 23rd at 10 am?”

Voice 2: “Unfortunately it doesn’t fit. “If May 25th were possible at 4:00 p.m.”

Voice one: “One moment, please.”

Voice 2: “Mm-Hmm.”

Voice 1: “Yes, that would do.”

Voice one: “Good. I’ll make a note of the appointment.”

This is not yet possible. However, this already exists for hairdressing appointments. You can listen to this phone call on YouTube.

Could you tell who the artificial assistant was and who a real person? What if in the future your digital assistant could clarify everything with your broker on his own? At least as far as the deadlines are concerned. You set the free times and Google Duplex plans the activities around the real estate sale. Your phone no longer rings constantly and you take care of your own move while the old property is being sold.

This will certainly not happen very quickly. Google Duplex is still under development and can only be used for certain types of phone calls. But reservations, arranging appointments or requesting opening hours are already possible. In the future, digital assistants will be able to arrange appointments for us. “Hey, Google, set up a notary appointment for the house sale.” The Google Duplex would dial the notary’s number and ask the notary’s digital assistant for an appointment. If both assistants agree, the appointment would be noted in both calendars.

But it is also interesting to try to make an artificial voice sound human. And Google has now succeeded in doing so for the first time. The voice is much softer and speaks irregularly. It is no longer mechanical and monotonous like the voice reading SMS on the landline or like Siri, Alexa and Cortana. Furthermore, the voice becomes more real by simulating pauses or formulations like “Mm-Hmm”. The only question is, how do you know if you are talking to a human being or a machine in the future?

Tried and tested for years: Real estate sales from person to person. Determine sales price in line with the market, inspection management, obtain energy certificate, legally compliant sale. We’ll take care of it.

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