Award-Winning Homebuilders Use ELAN g! To Capitalize On Housing Market Recovery

Consumer confidence is high, new home sales surged 8.3 percent in May and new home prices have climbed month over month in 2013, so it’s clear the housing market is recovering. Builders need to find ways to stand out and capitalize on this market growth, and one way to do so is to offer things that others don’t even consider, like total home control. Award-winning builders Jim Blansfield of Danbury, Connecticut-based Blansfield Builders, Inc. and Josh Wynne of Sarasota, Florida-based Josh Wynne Construction have both partnered with local integrators and found huge success using the ELAN® g! Entertainment and Control System to help close new home sales.

“I’m a believer in ‘the new normal’ way of thinking,” Blansfield said, “and with the affordable and expandable control solutions made possible by ELAN g!, home control is the new normal! In the past two years, I’ve closed several new homes by demoing the g! system for prospective clients. I have a g! system in my own home, so I’m the first person to say how easy it is to use, and my clients are consistently impressed that I include technology in my designs and recommendations, because many other builders minimize the importance of home technologies.”

Since partnering with the Danbury integration firm Structured Home Solutions, Blansfield has built 13 homes that include ELAN g! systems of varying size and complexity. Whether the new buyers were looking for enhanced security, HVAC scheduling, lighting, irrigation and pool controls, or super simple whole-home audio and video systems, every client received a custom solution tailored to their specific needs. From a business perspective, Blansfield knows that his knowledge, appreciation and passion for technology place him in an entirely different category from other builders.

“Any builders who resist change and aren’t prepared to talk to clients about integrated home control solutions will hurt themselves in the long run,” he said. “I even push remodel clients to install the ELAN g! system because it adds so much value to the home, and brings it into the 21st century more so than new countertops or an updated bathroom could ever do.”

Josh Wynne has had similar success integrating advanced home technologies with the ELAN g! system, and has teamed up with Sarasota integrator SmartHouse Integration to offer his new clients the best that modern home technology has to offer. Wynne is building four new LEED Platinum certified homes in 2013, each featuring the ELAN g! system to control core subsystems such as AV, HVAC, security, lighting, window shades, irrigation, garage doors, pool controls and surveillance cameras.

According to Wynne, “I’ve strived to make a basic home automation package standard for every new home I build. When smartphones came on the market a lot more people started to see how easily these advanced systems could integrate into their homes and help them live more simply and comfortably, and I’ve used that culture movement to benefit my business. Most of my projects are relatively big budget, around the $1 million mark, but there’s absolutely no reason that a $250,000 home shouldn’t include a multi-room audio system, an integrated HVAC or lighting system that saves money and energy, or a security and surveillance system that can be accessed remotely from any smartphone or tablet.

Both builders agree that determining the buyers’ interests is key to selling advanced home control solutions, whether they love music and want multi-room audio or desire heightened peace of mind and would benefit from a mobile-accessible security and surveillance system. From there it’s a small leap to demo the entire ELAN g! system and highlight all the trappings that easy-to-use home control offers. Another thing they agree on is the need to use a reliable, qualified integrator to make the homeowner’s technological dreams a practical reality. That’s why they’ve each partnered with a top integration firm in their respective regions, and worked together to craft custom solutions that make every home the perfect living environment for the owners.

Square 1 Bank Announces Credit Facility To NanoLumens

Square 1 Bank, the premier banking partner to entrepreneurs and the venture capital community, announced today it has provided a credit facility to NanoLumens®, the rapidly growing Atlanta-based manufacturer and marketer of award-winning flexible and fixed LED displays. Proceeds from the facility will help fuel continued growth for the company.

“Square 1 Bank has a demonstrated record of success in helping entrepreneurs and their companies rapidly scale their business,” Nanolumens President and CEO Rick Cope noted. “The proceeds of this new credit facility will help us to better meet the rapidly growing demand for our solutions while we continue to develop a host of new products for both current and new markets. The strong and consistent support of our partners at Square 1 Bank is going to play an important role in our continued success.”

Peter Meath, co-founder and senior vice president in Square 1 Bank’s technology banking group added, “I was very impressed with the vision, experienced management team and long-term business plan of Nanolumens. Square 1 is excited to be a part of their continued success in the digital signage space.”

About Square 1 Bank:
Square 1 Bank is a full service commercial bank dedicated exclusively to serving the financial needs of the venture capital community and entrepreneurs in all stages of growth and expansion. Square 1’s expertise, focus, and strong capital base provide flexible resources and unmatched support to meet our client’s needs. The bank offers tailored products and solutions aided by the latest in technological innovations. Square 1 has offices coast to coast in Austin, Boston, Denver, Durham, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, Seattle, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. For more information, visit square1bank.com.

NanoLumens Finds A Better Way To Engage Commuters At New York's Penn Station

Advertisers are constantly looking for new ways to capture and hold the attention of harried and hurried daily commuters, and nowhere is this more apparent than in New York City’s Penn Station, North America’s busiest transit center. To capitalize on the massive daily audience that passes through the station, CBS Outdoor turned to NanoLumens® to provide a unique solution that can’t be missed.

With more than 300,000 daily commuters, advertisers won’t find a more captivating display solution than the NanoSlim® display that hangs directly over commuters heads as they travel through the Long Island Railroad corridor of the station.  The installation marks the first time that a digital advertising display has ever been suspended from the ceiling in Penn Station.

 

“NanoLumens’ technology is literally transforming a traditional ‘signage’ industry into a ‘customer engagement’ industry,” NanoLumens President & CEO Rick Cope said today.  “No other company has the technology to allow clients to engage their customers in literally every and any type of environment, and our new Penn Station display underscores this ability.”

According to Cope, the ability to place the display in this location was possible because it weighs less than 700 pounds and uses less than one-third of the energy that a comparable LCD, plasma or projection setup would require. With a lifespan of 100,000 hours (more than 11 years running 24 hours a day), the NanoSlim display was not only the most eye-catching option, but also the most cost-effective. In fact, a lightweight LED display is the only viable option for a hanging display in a brightly lit environment, because LCD and plasma displays are prohibitively heavy and require immense support structures.

 

The 4.5-inch thick, double-sided 126” NanoSlim LED display uses NanoLumens’ 4mm pixel pitch technology to deliver bright, crisp, clear images and video on a display that is seamless and bezel-free, making it one of the most potent messaging platforms in Penn Station. 

This installation comes on the heels of NanoLumens recent announcement of several large NanoSlim displays being used to provide vivid, long-life video solutions for the new Sao Paulo Metro Line 4 in Brazil.

About NanoLumens:

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, NanoLumens®, Inc. is a privately held company dedicated to making the era of “digital wallpaper” a practical reality for every type of business looking to engage their customers anywhere and everywhere their customers happen to be.   NanoLumens flexible and rigid displays are extremely slim, ultra-lightweight, energy efficient, and feature a bright, seamless, high resolution picture quality that can be viewed from any angle throughout the display horizon without color shift or image distortion.

The company’s technology is protected by a portfolio of more than 20 international families of issued and filed patents.

High Design Meets High Tech In The 2011 Mansions and Millionaires Designers' Showcase Featuring ELAN g!

From September 10 to October 30, 2011, two separate ELAN® g! Entertainment and Control System installations will be on display in the 2011 Mansions and Millionaires® Designers Showcase® at Chestnut Manor in Upper Brookville, New York.

Exhibiting interior designers Katharine Posillico of Katharine Jessica Interior Design and Angela Leva and Suzan Visconti of Leva & Visconti Designs enlisted the help of Melville, New York-based custom electronics distributor Royal Systems to design the ELAN g! Control Systems for their rooms at Chestnut Manor. These seasoned professionals who designed the Pool Room and the Music Room, respectively, may have differing styles, but they all both agree on one thing.

“Technology is ingrained in everyday life, so I don’t plan any space without some sort of audio/video system,” said Posillico. “Mozart Multimedia installed an ELAN system designed by Gregg Feldman and Dave Silkin of Royal Systems in my home a couple years ago. It is such an amazing supplement to the house and to my life that I now strongly advise my clients to work with Royal Systems to incorporate a full ELAN g! Control System. The second-floor Pool Room at Chestnut Manor is the ultimate lounge and game room, so naturally I included a large projection TV and a full audio system.”

Visconti had Hauppauge, New York-based Audio Design Consultants install an ELAN Control System in her home nine years ago, and now she advocates that technology not be an afterthought, but instead be integral to the function and layout of the rooms she designs. She notes, however, that many homeowners still aren’t aware of the possibilities with control systems.

“A lot of people don’t know that when they are on vacation they can touch their iPhone and set up their heating, air conditioning and lighting so it’s ready when they get home, saving them energy and money,” said Visconti. “I think that as more people learn how this technology can affect their homes and their lives, and actually raise the home’s value, there will be a lot more houses with home control systems.

“In our design for the Music Room at Chestnut Manor, my partner Angela and I wanted to project a relaxing and rejuvenating ambience and create a place for the homeowner to get away from it all—watch whatever shows and listen to whatever music he wants or jam on his guitar. We incorporated the highest level of technology to make the room sophisticated and at the same time functional and simple to control.”

The Music Room’s A/V system was designed by Dave Silkin of Royal Systems and Bob Portolano of Audio Design Consultants, and features an ELAN HC6 as the system’s brain, an ELAN M86 for audio distribution and an ELAN TS7 seven-inch in-wall touch screen for simple user control. It even has a camera aimed at the door so anyone entering the room instantly sees themselves on the TS7 located next to the doorway. It includes a wall-mounted 42” Samsung 1080p Plasma HDTV and uses two Induction Dynamics SolidDrives to turn the room’s walls into speakers.

The Pool Room’s A/V System was designed by Royal Systems and installed by Mozart Multimedia of East Islip, New York. It features an ELAN HC4, ELAN M86 and ELAN TS2 with the VL2 Valet option, as well as a Severtson 120” front-projection screen and three Sound Tube ceiling-mounted speakers throughout. The room’s use of natural light helps to ensure the projector’s image isn’t overpowered or washed out.

“The Mansions and Millionaires Designers’ Showcase is a great way to show how technology is influencing designers, builders and homeowners,” said Dave Silkin of Royal Systems. “But the great thing about the ELAN g! Control System is it’s not just for millionaires. In fact, the system is so affordable that any homeowner can install a multi-room A/V system, and then expand it to control lighting, security, heating and air conditioning, and pool and spa systems.”

From September 10 to October 30, 2011, more than 30 New York City Metropolitan Area interior designers will showcase their work for the general public at the 97-year-old Chestnut Manor. All proceeds will benefit Mill Neck Manor School For The Deaf. To learn more about the Mansions and Millionaires® Designers’ Showcase®, visit designersshowcaseny.com.

To see more designs from Katharine Jessica Interior Designs, visit kj-id.com. For more information about Leva & Visconti Designs, visit levaviscontidesigns.com. For more information about Royal Systems visit royalsystems.com.