All Articles Tagged Mdu

Jason Knott | 12/20 01:56 PM, 0 Comments

Housing starts rose to their highest level since April 2010, led by multidwelling units (MDUs), according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department. The 9.3 percent increase in November adds up to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 from October, according to the Wall St. Journal. MDUs led the way, jumping a whopping 25.3 percent. Single-family construction rose only 2.3 percent. Because the housing market is still volatile, not as many people want to buy homes, instead opting to rent. Thus, the jump in MDUs. For integrators, it begs… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 08/10 09:53 AM, 0 Comments

Coming soon to iBAHN IPTV screens: Control4 automation iBAHN, a major broadbrand infrastructure provider for the hospitality industry, is letting Control4 piggy-back on its IPTV service. Control4’s guest-room controls are being integrated with iBAHN’s on-screen user interface in three new properties from the Dorchester Hotel Group: 45 Park Lane in London, and the Hotel Bel Air and Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Through the unified interface, guests will be able to control lighting, HVAC, blinds, and wake-up settings in the same environment as they control their iBAHN-powered in-room entertainment.… View this story

Jason Knott | 03/25 11:00 AM, 0 Comments

The MDU market in New York/New Jersey is through the roof, according to one real estate executive. Writing in Multi-Housing News, Cushman & Wakefield Inc.’s Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group director Brian Whitmer says MDU vacancy rates are just 4.9 percent in northern New Jersey. Along the Hudson River, occupancy rates are in the high 90-percentile range. With many apartment complexes filled near capacity, Whitmer adds that move-in concessions from landlords have almost entirely been eliminated. After dipping in 2009, rents are up 1.5 percent. The average rent in the… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 03/25 06:40 AM, 0 Comments

It’s easy enough to update a multi-dwelling unit (MDU) with energy-saving automation if the devices require no new wires. Now imagine if the devices required no batteries either. The maintenance staff would never have to touch a sensor or hotel card reader again. That’s what Leviton offers with its LevNet line of wireless self-powered solutions. Based on technology from Enocean, the LevNet RF products require so little energy that they can be powered by the kinetic energy of a rocker switch a-rockin' These little gems harvest energy from the mere… View this story

Jason Knott | 03/24 09:33 AM, 0 Comments

When an integrator is contracted for a campus housing installation, the focus is usually on infrastructure wiring/network communications. But don’t overlook the value of bringing lighting control solutions to the school. According to Leviton, the cost reductions for lighting control in schools is dramatic. Schools use a significant portion of their budgets on electricity. By simply installing occupancy sensors along with lighting control, integrators can save schools and their residence halls huge amounts on energy bills. (See chart.) The most dramatic results are not even in the dorms, but in… View this story

Jason Knott | 03/15 10:17 AM, 0 Comments

The development of the new IEEE 40/100Gig standard and the TIA 568 C-Series standard are among the most pressing issues Leviton is examining. In an interview with TIA, Leviton specification engineer Brian Hansen covers a wide range of issues, including a brief history of the 105-year-old company, its involvement with the development of new standards and the changes taking place in the vertical healthcare market. Hansen says that as more low-voltage integrators move into installing IP-based networks in hospitals for patient monitoring, telemetry and nurse call systems, it is creating… View this story

Jason Knott | 03/15 10:07 AM, 2 Comments

Unlike the single-family housing market, multi-dwelling units don't need to be luxuriously appointed high-end accommodations to include technology. And that fact is exacerbated by the influx of federal and state government funds for alternative energy, along with the utility rebates. A perfect example of this trend is Everyday Energy, a systems integration company in San Diego that specializes in bringing solar panels to low-income housing and getting it paid for by the government. Everyday Energy has established a Solar Service Agreement (SSA) that works with the California Solar Initiative’s Multi-family… View this story

Jason Knott | 03/15 08:48 AM, 1 Comment

According to a new study, 64 percent of apartment dwellers say they would move or not renew their lease if they were dissatisfied with the bandwidth speed of their Internet service. That piece of news is good fodder for integrators to bring to MDU management companies to upgrade the networking infrastructure in either existing apartments or rented condos. It is also important news to bring to MDU developers. The data is from a study of 10,000 MDU residents conducted by J. Turner Research. Some other key data from the study:… View this story

Jason Knott | 03/15 07:45 AM, 0 Comments

There are three key security technologies are developing that are vital for the multi-family market. Smart Cards: This technology has come a long way from its inception. In essence, it's a card that not only provides access control in and out of an MDU unit, but also tracks the user's habits in the facility and handles payments. Smart cards are being used for entry into public laundry areas, health spa and swimming pool areas, parking garages, etc. The cards also act as debit cards for internal payments in the housing… View this story

Jason Knott | 03/10 09:08 AM, 0 Comments

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Multifamily Production Index (MPI), which tracks developer sentiment about new construction on a scale of 1 to 100, is at 40.8 -- up more than 5 full points since the previous quarter and the highest number since the fourth quarter of 2006. The MPI component tracking developers' perception of market-rate rental properties is at 51.7 -- the first time this component of the index has been above 50 since the second quarter of 2007. The index and all of its components are scaled… View this story