Thursday, April 25, 2024 
Thursday, April 25, 2024
May 24, 2018
Alberta is the first province to update its building code to allow for wireless electricity control in new residential construction and held an event Tuesday to showcase the change.
The province issued an electrical safety information bulletin in February allowing companies such as Edmonton-based Levven Electronics to install wireless switches, lighting and speakers into all new construction projects.
Going wire-free allows for faster construction and increased access to smart technology, said James Keirstead, president and CEO of Levven Electronics.
“It means that we can bring a lot of advantages to Alberta builders that will conserve resources, such as labour, materials, and bring the internet of things into everyday people’s homes,” Keirstead said.
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Keirstead is the co-inventor of GoConex, a new wireless rocker switch technology, a design which took three years to get approved. A switch goes into the wall and connects to the remote in the socket, minus the wires.
“By removing all the labour and all the materials that go into making the switch and the light connect together, we save that money that can go into the cost of the materials for the new switch,” Keirstead said. “So that ends up being cost neutral for the builder.”
“Should this technology reach the rest of Canada, it would result in over 302,000 ‘man-days’ saved in skilled labour and over 175 million feet of copper wire,” he said, adding that amount of wire could circle the world 1.25 times.
“Alberta home builders can save 23.5 million feet of copper wire without any cost to your business or the customer,” Keirstead said.
The customer demand is there, said Matt Paul. He is with KVR Electric and has been working with Levven for the past two years.
