Siemens USA, a global leader in intelligent infrastructure, has taken an innovative approach to connect the community of Sterling Ranch with technology solutions that have been designed to be scaled as the community continues to grow to what will include 12,000 homes. When this project was started, Siemens was tasked to identify and evaluate technologies from best-in-class organizations that would help homeowners improve their everyday life with a special focus on sustainability. Siemens came to a roadblock when trying to figure out how they could scale a whole smart city with only baseline technology that has to work for people across the board. When the technology team at Siemens thought about how to design a system that could be easily handed off to a homeowner that could be scaled and upgraded with DIY or professional service and support options, the Z-Wave ecosystem provided a solution that checked off all their demands.
“Z-Wave was a natural solution as we looked at designing a home automation system that could be replicated across the entire community and provided both DIY and professional service and support options. This development is being built in phases and homeowners have the option to work with nine different builders who all offer different designs and floorplans. We are currently in the third phase of our technology package, even though each iteration has been slightly different, homeowners still have a consistent experience across each home no matter the builder,” said Christopher Stovall, Engineering Specialist, Siemens Smart Infrastructure.
Sterling Ranch has been thoughtfully designed with Z-Wave technology at the core of every home in the community thanks to the ingenuity of Siemens all-in-one home automation, home security, and utilities monitoring app STEWARD, only exclusive to Sterling Ranch. STEWARD connects homeowners to their home security system, smart home controls, and real time utility usage information from one seamless user interface. Not only does STEWARD support a wide variety of devices including door & window sensors, lighting control, door locks, garage door control, smart thermostats, smoke and water detectors, smart irrigation control, audio, and video systems and more, but each Sterling Ranch home comes standard with STEWARD plus an integrated suite of Z-Wave certified devices. Homeowners can choose to further customize their home by adding optional upgrades including in-home entertainment systems, EV chargers, solar panels, and more. With 12,000 single and multi-family homes, over 2 million square feet of commercial development, and 37 percent of land being dedicated to open space, Sterling Ranch is the modern model for a smart city. To learn more about this case study download the 2022 State of the Ecosystem report here: Z-Wave State of the Ecosystem 2022
