Private tour for design and construction professionals to brands leveraging technology for the connected home

(Alpharetta, Ga.) – January 6, 2020 – Design & Construction Week (DCW), encompassing the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) and the International Builder’s Show (IBS) is hosting its first “VIP Technology Tour”. Created specifically for design, construction and technology pros who wish to learn more about products available that enable the “connected home”, the tour will be hosted by Sally Finder, Senior Architecture Editor of Traditional Home magazine. Taking place on Tuesday, January 21 from 10:00 AM-12 noon, the tour is sponsored by Thermador who will host a lunch and demonstration at the close of the event.

“We are very excited to be a part of the first-ever VIP Technology Tour,” said Beatriz Sandoval, Director of Brand Marketing for Thermador. “Thermador is empowering consumers to customize the way they interact with appliances – both inside and outside of the kitchen – all within a single app, the Thermador Connected Experience by Home Connect™. We look forward to showcasing to our design, construction and technology professionals how luxury homeowners can seamlessly integrate their appliances with their lifestyles, elevating their everyday experiences.”

Connected homes or smart homes, commonly understood as “a house in which a number of interconnected devices and home appliances are performing certain actions in order to save money, time, and energy is forecast to reach a value of more than 53 billion U.S. dollars by 2022, globally. Consumers from North America were forecast to spend the most on smart home systems and services in 2022, with expenditures amounting to 63 billion U.S. dollars, in comparison to consumers from other regions”, according to market research firm Statista.

“Bringing together design, construction and technology professionals is critical to helping to deliver successful, fully integrated residential projects,” said Amy Hornby, show director, KBIS. “The time to help brands connect with these audiences at DCW is now. We are pleased to be the catalyst for connections throughout the entire show.”

Brands selected by the tour committee include:

Thermador Appliances (sponsor)

The Thermador Connected Experience by Home Connect™ is every exceptional entertainer’s dream app, delivering curated content such as extraordinary recipes, innovative appliance features, and culinary recommendations from trusted partners. The app allows users to control their appliances remotely with ease via their smart devices, and consumers can enjoy personalized settings and features – such as remotely starting built-in coffee machines post-workout, dimming ventilation lighting to set the mood, selecting unique interior color settings dishwashers, adjusting the temperature of the wine and refrigeration columns, and monitoring the status of the select Induction Cooktops as well as ovens. Additionally, as many consumers become increasingly integrated with smart devices in their homes, the Thermador Connected Experience by Home Connect™ easily connects to the devices already present for a truly whole-home connected experience. The app boasts an impressive partner network including Amazon Alexa, Amazon Dash Replenishment, Chefling, FitBit, IFTTT and more. Because enhancing the luxury culinary experience is always top of mind for Thermador, the app also features mobile notifications and remote diagnostics for the ultimate user experience.

GE Appliances

GE Appliances, a Haier company, is the leader in smart home appliances. The company will showcase the latest version of the award-winning Kitchen Hub, a first-of-its-kind, over-the-range interactive smart kitchen and ventilation system. New with a built-in microwave, the next-gen Kitchen Hub Micro boasts an additional third camera inside the oven that’s integrated into an Artificial Intelligence (AI) computer-vision-cooking technology, creating a cutting-edge digital cooking experience that assists families with the planning and making of meals. The new AI technology will help the home chef select a recipe based on available ingredients detected by a camera, assist in the detection of doneness of food items, raise or lower oven temperature and note any missing ingredients. The camera located inside the oven allows cooks to check in on their food either from the Hub or their smartphones and built-in Google Assistant means that owners can create grocery lists, plan meals, search the internet for answers or even control the thermostat.

Control4

Control4 introduced – Neeo – a sleek, intuitive remote control for the Control4 Smart Home OS, giving homeowners fast access to the things they use most — their favorite streaming services, most-watched TV stations, playlists, room-level or household-level smart home scenes, and much more. Neeo is the first Control4 handheld remote to combine the benefits of hard buttons and a touchscreen, providing an elegant smart home interface fully personalized to meet the unique interests and devices for any home.

CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design Installation Association)

CEDIA is the global professional trade association for companies that design, manufacture, and install technology in the home. CEDIA members curate the best technology solutions that will complement and enhance both the design of the home and the lifestyle of the client.

FOTILE Range Hoods

FOTILE EMG9030 is the industry’s first intelligent, self-adjusting range hood empowered to solve more kitchen problems. The smart range hood automatically adjusts its speed and height from 3.14 to 4.72 inches according to the amount of smoke and odors which are detected through infrared technology. Once the smoke is captured, the range hood uses double-layer filtration and high-speed centrifugal power to separate 92% of the airborne oil particles and reduce odors by 98%, ensuring you only breathe in clean air.

Whirlpool Corporation

Inspired by the iconic KitchenAid Stand Mixer and the versatility it brought to the kitchen, the KitchenAid® Smart Oven+ with Powered Attachments features three interchangeable attachments that connect to the oven hub, in addition to standard baking, broiling and convection options. Offering oven-powered grill, baking stone and steamer attachments, this smart oven expands the creative horizons of a wall oven to include true indoor grilling, faster baking stone preheating and the ability to steam a meal for four all at once. Smart features allow users to remotely monitor and control the oven, giving cooks even greater control in the kitchen.

Aareas Interactive

The VDC Pro is an online home visualizer/configurator that intelligently allows buyers to select compatible finishes & upgrades online. Simultaneously, displaying an exact running total of upgrade costs and estimated mortgage impact. Proven to increase sales, cut design appointments in half and reduce errors, the platform is fully integrated with DocuSign and multiple payment processors for buyers to sign, pay, or book an appointment online.

The Outdoor Living Experience

The SMART All-Season Patio is all about helping builders deliver beautiful, comfortable and functional outdoor spaces that can be used all year-round. It is an amalgamation of three products, which create an ultimate retractable enclosure. These systems integrate seamlessly to provide homeowners an outdoor area they can dine and lounge in without the beaming sun in their eyes, pesky insects flying around their food or being rained out of the space altogether. Use Hey google or Alexa to preset play scenarios such as “Play cozy evening” – sit back while it closes the louvers and screens, turns on the heater and lights, and plays ambiance music.

Hafele

The Häfele Connect Hub is taking connected home capabilities to a new level with voice activation. Working in concert with Amazon Alexa, Google Home and other similar devices, users are able to customize and operate Häfele products throughout the home. Through the connectivity between the Häfele BLE Mesh Box and the wireless Häfele Connect Hub, users can customize and control their sound system, Häfele Loox LED lighting, TV lifts and select cabinet flap fittings throughout the home all with voice activation.

Kohler Company

KOHLER Konnect portfolio is part of the KOHLER Smart Home offering that comprises kitchen and bath products using voice-commands, hands-free motion control, and personalized presets all managed through the KOHLER Konnect app for iOS and Android devices. New kitchen and bathroom technologies and smart solutions addressing wellbeing and personalization will be debuted at KBIS 2020 as a part of the KOHLER Konnect smart home portfolio.

Register for the tour here. 

Please note only registered attendees and press may participate. Tour spaces are limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

About KBIS

KBIS, in conjunction with the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA), is an inspiring, interactive platform that showcases the latest industry products, trends and technologies. KBIS is the voice of the kitchen and bath industry and has been for 50+ years.

In 2013, the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announced an agreement to co-locate the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) with the International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Las Vegas, Nev. in February 2014 under the banner of Design and Construction Week®. In 2018, both organizations extended the agreement through 2026. The mega-event returns to Las Vegas Jan. 21-23, 2020. NKBA and NAHB will continue to produce separate educational programming and special events though one pass provides access to both shows. 

KBIS is produced by Emerald Expositions, a leading operator of business-to-business trade shows in the United States. The company currently operates more than 55 trade shows, as well as numerous other face-to-face events. In 2018, Emerald’s events connected over 500,000 global attendees and exhibitors and occupied more than 6.9 million NSF of exhibition space.

More information about KBIS can be found at www.kbis.com.

About the National Kitchen & Bath Association and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show

The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) is the not-for-profit trade association that owns the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show® (KBIS), as part of Design and Construction Week ® (DCW). With nearly 50,000 members in all segments of the kitchen and bath design and remodeling industry, the NKBA has educated and led the industry since the association’s founding in 1963. The NKBA envisions a world where everyone enjoys safe, beautiful and functional kitchen and bath spaces. The mission of the NKBA is to inspire, lead and empower the kitchen and bath industry through the creations of certifications, specialty badges, marketplaces and networks. For more information, visit www.nkba.org or call 1-800-THE-NKBA (843-6522).

KBIS® and NKBA® are registered trademarks of the National Kitchen & Bath Association.

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