Houses That Think For Themselves

Dvele, a La Jolla company that builds modular homes, is taking smart homes to a new level with the introduction of artificial intelligence software that monitors the air quality inside and out among other things.

“It’s the first intelligent home,” said Matt Howland, president of Dvele.

Calling the system DveleQ, the company has developed a system that allows the home to intuitively learn its owner’s habits and adjust to accommodate them.

For instance, if someone typically takes a morning shower at 6:30 a.m., the home’s AI system will learn that and start heating the water a few minutes earlier.

Clean Air

Aside from the convenience of having hot water instantly available, that also conserves water since, there’s no running the water waiting for it to heat up Howland said.

Perhaps more important, the system automatically makes adjustments in air circulation throughout the house based on air quality.

“It works with all the other systems in the house. It’s connected to your HVAC, to your lights, to about 300 real-time sensors. It connects to doors through a variety of mechanisms, some hard-wired, some Wi-Fi,” Howland said. “All of our systems have boost mode so we can cycle the air much faster than normal.”

DveleIQ can monitor things like air conditioning and heating systems and watch for problems and alert homeowners when preventative maintenance might be required.

If the outdoor air quality drops to unhealthy levels, the system will inform the homeowner through Amazon Alexis or other audio systems and perhaps advise against opening a patio door.

That can be especially significant in fire-prone areas, Howland said.

Like other smart home systems, Dvele’s can do things such as turn lights on and off, lock and unlock doors, raise and lower blinds and adjust thermostat settings through a smart phone.

But Howland said Dvele wanted to take the smart home further.

“When we evaluated the market looking for a smart home partner, nothing aligned to our core tenets of occupant and planet health, so we decided to move the industry forward and build the first 100% integrated, intelligent, software-defined home complementing our self-powered home product,” Howland said. “It’s one of the first ones that really drives the health of the planet and the health of the owner other than just having another way to turn on your light switch.”

Dvele last year announced that all if its homes would be self-powered through the use of solar panels, batteries and other energy efficient measures.

The Company

Formed by brothers Kurt and Kris Goodjohn in 2017, Dvele set out to make health and the environment central themes in their home design.