Six out of 10 homebuilders offer automated lighting controls, while the rate of builder installation of lighting controls in new homes has increased 500 percent since 2002, according to a new study by the Consumer Electronic Association (CEA).

The Sixth Annual State of the Builder Technology Market Study reports only about one in 10 builders are proactively marketing lighting controls to buyers.

The study found that automated lighting controls was the fastest-growing home technology next to energy management systems from 2002 to 2007. About 58 percent of builders offered automated lighting controls to homebuyers in 2007 – nearly double the number of five years earlier.

In 2007, builders installed automated lighting controls in 5 percent of new homes, more than double the rate of installation reported in 2002. Among the reasons cited why builders offer automated lighting controls, the study found they do so to remain competitive (29 percent), satisfy specifications (35 percent), differentiate themselves (28 percent), and increase potential profits (32 percent).

“About nine out of 10 builders consider home technologies as important to market new homes, and more than half believe marketing home technologies is more important now than in 2005. But not enough builders are proactively marketing it and not enough consumers are demanding it,” says Gary Meshberg of Lightolier Controls and chair of the Home Lighting Control Alliance (HLCA), an industry consortium. “That’s why HLCA was recently formed – to educate consumers, integrators, builders and other interested professionals about the lifestyle and green benefits of automated home lighting controls, such as convenience, ambience, security and energy savings.”

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