Note: In part 1 of this two-part series, we explain how the new rating system came into being.

When the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced its newly revamped TechHome Ratings System (THRS) for home technology last month, it was hoping that the simplified three-tiered approach would provide value to both builders and homebuyers.

"One of our main goals with the revision was to give builders an easy blueprint to how they can add a technology infrastructure to their homes that will allow homeowners to have access to a variety of installed home technologies," said Kerry Moyer, senior director of strategic relations for the CEA.

After establishing a baseline pre-wiring specification, the "good-better-best" approach provides for gradually more complex and sophisticated wiring designs and cable types designated Bronze, Gold and Platinum.

However, trying to simplify a complex proposition is inherently a slippery slope. Josh Christian, vice president of marketing at DSI Entertainment Systems in Los Angeles, which specializes in high-end custom home systems integration, points out that at that end of the market, wiring requirements will often be determined by what types and brands of technology it's terminated to. For instance, he says, a Crestron touch screen has its own very specific Cresnet wiring requirements that differ from those of other manufacturers.

"We find that the potential problem is that, unless all of the home technology has been decided upon already, people will try to minimize the complexity [of cabling] and just say pre-wire for everything," he says. "But what constitutes 'everything' differs from situation to situation. To truly wire for everything would cost a fortune and still not be cost-effective."

The bottom line, Christian says, is that the wiring ratings system can be effective, as long as choices are made in consultation with a systems integrator, "to make sure control needs are met," he says.

Anything that keeps the builder engaged with the technology loop is fine with many electronic systems contractors. So says Ray Lepper, owner of Home Media in Richmond, Va. "This is a big improvement over the last rating system," he says. "ESCs can use it to level the playing field by having a clear road map with which to talk about technology with clients, and it gives builders a handle on technology for the homebuyer that they might not have had before."

Huh?

CEA executives have acknowledged that the original TechHome ratings system, rolled out in 2004 and which used numerical values assigned to various technologies and products, was not aggressively marketed to home builders. Not surprisingly, many, if not most, builders had never heard of it or the new revision.

"I read the trades pretty thoroughly and so do my vendors and none of us had ever noticed this program," states Chris Parker, owner of Parker Custom Builders in Nashville.