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The Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA), Indianapolis, announced new additions and changes to this year’s CEDIA EXPO.

After two years of bouncing around a bottom, remodeling activity is expected to pick up later this year, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, Cambridge, Ma.. Why?

As energy costs continue to rise in the slowly recovering economy, some homeowners are looking for ways to save money. At the same time, other homeowners have an interest in reducing their impact on the environment and reduced energy use. Security integrators who offer home automation along with energy consumption monitoring services and products can help these homeowners discover how they can conserve energy and save money while creating a healthy bottom line.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) in its 9th Annual State of the Builder Technology Market Study finds positive news for home builders exploring broadband connectivity as a selling point in homes.

Honeywell’s 6280i Tuxedo Touch™ touchscreen highlights the growing trend of residential security systems to become increasingly intertwined with other home systems, including energy management, lighting controls, HVAC, and other “green” opportunities — designed to help homeowners improve comfort while saving money and respecting the earth.

It’s green and small. And someone is going to win the HGTV Green Home after a full-press national campaign that will help educate homeowners on the positives of sustainability. Kemp Hall Studio designed the 2,300-square-foot HGTV Green Home 2012 to look, feel and live like a 4,000-square-foot home.

Most realtors report having encountered homes on the market with installed technologies. What do they think?

Like the closely-linked market for home energy management systems, the smart appliances market has, so far, failed to take off as quickly as some had expected. Many products are still involved in small pilots and have failed to hit retail outlets in any large number. However, shipments will soon begin to pick up and exceed 24 million units by 2017.

The housing downturn has affected not only the number of new homes that are built each year, but also the characteristics, features and size of the ones that do get built. This includes technologies in and outside the home as well as overarching concepts such as green homes.

Green homes comprised 17 percent of the overall residential construction market in 2011 and are expected to grow to between 29 and 38 percent of the market by 2016. By value, this equates to a five-fold increase, growing from $17 billion in 2011 to $87-$114 billion in 2016, based on the five-year forecast for overall residential construction.