MechoShade Systems, Inc., is the leading provider of windowshading solutions for architects and interior designers. MechoShade Systems manufactures a wide range of window shading systems using visually transparent shadecloths, the ACC SolarTrac and its new advanced Daylighting Module that manages and controls excessive daylight/brightness.

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If you, too, are a low-tech person in a high-tech world, here’s good news: The trend in home technology is toward being more user friendly, says Mike Holmes, chairman of Home Technology Alliance for the National Association of Home Builders, and a custom builder in Reno, Nev. I’ll click to that.

The bad news? Houses will keep getting smarter. Here’s a sampling of the smart home technology he says is here or coming:

• Start dinner from your office. You will be able to control anything that has an on/off switch from your computer or i-Phone. From your office or on your way home, you will someday turn on lights, heat the Jacuzzi and start the oven.
• Get greener. You’ll see more high efficiency furnaces and air conditioners, tankless water heaters, multiroom programmable thermostats, water-saving devices and energy efficient windows.
• Tomorrow’s house. By 2015, according to the NAHB, many if not most homes will have these smart technologies: Monitored burglar/fire/toxic gas alarm systems, fiber-optic networks, multiroom video and audio, and sensor-operated faucets.
• The power of light control. Many homes already have remote control window treatments, which raise and lower motorized shades or open blinds to save on heating and cooling bills. Remotes also turn lights on and off, and dim them. Eventually, computers will let you program your lights and window treatments to operate at certain times.
• More candid camera. As closed-circuit televisions enter more homes, you will be able to see who is at your door or by the pool from the television in your bedroom, or from your office.
• So long, remotes. Touch-screen menus will replace keypads. Remotes will go away. (Hurray!) Wires will disappear as more home gadgets go wireless. You will no longer need to remember your alarm code or your door key. Entry systems will read your fingerprint, retina, facial features or voice. In other words, soon houses will be so smart they will make people like me look brilliant.

Ultra energy efficient home unveiled

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District says construction is finished on a home in Folsom that should see monthly energy bills of about $24.

The 1,940-square-foot bungalow features two-inch by six-inch framing to allow more room for advanced insulation, solar electricity and a solar hot water, LED lighting, very tight and conditioned attic space and walls and an advanced water-based air conditioner.

Another feature is a home automation system that monitors energy use, solar energy production, and water use and remotely controls the home’s lights, thermostat, and window blinds, SMUD says.

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OpenRemote Debuts First Open Database for Home Automation

ATLANTA – (Business Wire) The open source OpenRemote project (http://openremote.org) today announced the first public release of its Beehive database, a web-based open source application to collect, format, and distribute home automation codes.

Until now, no web-based open source central database effort of this scope existed to bring cohesiveness to a fragmented home automation, or domotics, market. Beehive is seeded with 100,000 codes that are compatible with 2,500 devices. Anyone can browse through Beehive, download whichever codes they need, and contribute new codes.

“Today, there is simply no central database for these kinds of codes – only scattered collections in different and proprietary formats,” said Christian Bauer, Beehive project lead. “Beehive attempts to change this. We believe there is a need for a truly open, unified way to collect and share all code formats and enforce a clean database schema for easy consumption by both professionals and hobbyists alike.”

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It is severe. Quiet, serene, secure, and without distractions.

While the first floor was designed to eliminate any suggestion of the urban setting (tree tops and sky are the window vistas), the second level, up a flight of blond wooden stairs, features views of downtown, an 1880s church, and the brick tower of a century-old steam plant.

Mr. Carpenter is a photographer and painter, and his studio fills the open second-level space. There’s a guest bathroom (with door), heating and storage closets, and a bridge leading to a studio room, currently outfitted with a bed and inhabited by a long-term guest. Just beyond is a covered porch.

An alcove with a huge window overlooking the venerable Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church across the street transports northern light. It’s Mr. Carpenter’s favorite painting nook.

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B9 System : Motorized Roman Shade System, Manufacturer: BTX Window Automation, Inc.
Content Source: McGraw Hill Sweets Network View Item at Source
LIFT AND LIFT/TILT SYSTEMS

The BTX Lift/Tilt systems can adapt to all major manufactured pleated shades, cellular shades, wood blinds and mini-blinds. The quiet and powerful motor will allow for effortless lifting and where required, tilting of louvered horizontal wood and mini-blinds. A simple wall switch, remote control, sun sensor/timer or building interface control will provide a multitude of operations.

MOTORBLIND™ MLS-40

BTX brings to you its motorization solution for automating lift and lift/tilt shades and blinds. With the MLS-40 Motorized Lift System (pat.) we are able to motorize all pleated and cellular shades as well as mini and wood blinds with ease. This system eliminates the worry of cords or tapes breaking or getting any kind of backlash with uneven lifting. The MLS-40 coupled with a high quality control option from BTX gives your home or office the design look you want with the automated technological conveniences that your customer demands.

FEATURES

Capable of lifting and tilting shades or blinds with existing cords
Can use any of the custom control options available
Quiet, easy to install systems
Pre-set automatic shut off limit switches

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Btx – DC Window Automation

Ideas for Interesting Window Treatments

Submitted by Staff on September 15, 2008 – 2:31pm.  Home and Leisure | Home Improvements

In the interest of full disclosure, I must state that I work for a company that sells window blinds. That said, it has become apparent to me that one of the big hurdles to purchasing blinds and shades is simply deciding what you want.  Let’s face it there are a lot of choices and since this is a long-term purchasing decision, you don’t want to mess it up.  I for one would be completely overwhelmed by the choices and might just end up buying what I know.  By doing so, I would have missed out on some really cool options.

Last on my list are roman shades and woven woods. Both of these are window shades, not blinds (remember that blinds have slats or vanes; think mini or vertical blinds). What I like about romans and woven woods, which are sometimes called bamboo shades, is the great selection of fabrics and materials, hence their versatility. If you are interested in a tropical décor, or Asian-inspired interior design, both these shades are the right option for you as they come in materials like bamboo, grasses, wood and other natural materials either woven together or blended into a fabric like linen. Choose a different material and these shades transform into a classic and luxurious window treatment. To offer further differentiation, roman shades tend to open and close via folds and woven woods tend to roll up like a roller shade. Both come in a variety of light-filtering options from room darkening to sheer and are pretty simple to install and operate.

OPEN YOURSELF UP TO NEW WINDOW TREATMENTS: Window coverings take a beating from sun and dust. And when they get dated, they age the look of your entire home. Sometimes simply hanging new curtains will dramatically update the look of a room. I’m in the process of doing just that in my kitchen. The window valance above my sink has gone limp, so this fall, I’m going to replace it. I’m having as much fun thinking through my window-treatment options as I will looking at my new coverings once they are up.

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Ask an expert By Darlene Jurow for the Mercury News
Article Launched: 09/12/2008 01:43:13 PM PDT

New technology has enabled us to reduce energy use while we keep our homes warm, light and safe. The newest in hard-wired or radio frequency control systems give us the option of having window shades raise or lower automatically depending on the amount of light coming into the room. Occupancy sensors can turn lights on and off as you enter and leave a room.

Saving the planet also is about saving money; specifically, yours. Associated Lighting Representatives/Lutron spokesman Aaron Lane says, “Intelligent control systems that integrate the automatic operation of lights, window coverings, heating and air conditioning and even appliances are being installed in new and remodeled homes on a regular basis, so you can say goodbye to your mother’s voice telling you to turn out the lights.

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Open-and-shut
By ROSEMARY,10/03/2008

Blinds have been around for a long time and are still used extensively today — for good reason.

With blinds, you can control sunlight levels by tilting the slats.

Blinds offer privacy when closed. This is accomplished if the rout holes, through which the cords are threaded, are placed at the back.

Blinds offer a geometric elegance to any window. The consistent lines — horizontal or vertical — are attractive from inside and outside.

What about the mechanisms that open and close the slats? Well, they used to be a problem sometimes, but modern blinds have easy-to-use wands and cords. A child-safe no-cord style allows you to raise the blinds by pushing up from the bottom and lower them by pulling down by the bottom slat. And motorized blinds — operated by remote control — make opening, closing and raising really easy.

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