Samsung Electronics unveils 'AI Modular Home' to Minister Kim Seong-hwan, showcases low-carbon housing technology

[Financial News] Samsung Electronics is stepping up efforts to expand its high-efficiency, low-carbon housing solutions business by unveiling a next-generation housing model that combines AI-based energy management technology with heat pump solutions. The company plans to use technology that centrally manages energy production, storage and consumption in the home to support the government's carbon-reduction policies, and to expand its business into multi-unit housing and large residential complexes. 
Samsung Electronics said it introduced heat-pump-based heating and cooling technology and AI-based energy management solutions to Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment Kim Seong-hwan, who visited the 'Samsung AI Modular Home' model home in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on the 14th.
The visit was arranged to explore potential applications for Samsung AI Modular Home in connection with the government's Korean-style Green Transformation (K-GX) policy. 
Samsung AI Modular Home is a housing model that combines modular homes, assembled on site from modules prefabricated at a factory, with Samsung Electronics' AI home appliances and Samsung SmartThings-based energy management solutions. Appliances and related solutions are installed and registered in advance during module production, so residents can use an AI home environment as soon as they move in.
A key feature is that high-efficiency appliances, heat pump solutions, solar panels and an energy storage system (ESS) are connected to centrally manage energy production, storage and consumption. Samsung SmartThings Energy lets users check and control solar power generation and household electricity use in real time, helping improve energy efficiency.
Samsung Electronics also showcased the technology behind its 'EHS All-in-One' heat pump solution, which is set to launch in South Korea. EHS All-in-One is a product that provides indoor cooling, underfloor heating and hot water from a single outdoor unit. Because it requires less space for outdoor unit installation, it can be used not only in detached houses but also in multi-unit housing such as apartments. 
The system also uses 'heat recovery' technology to reuse waste heat generated during cooling to produce hot water. This can further reduce energy consumption and improve heating and cooling efficiency, the company said. 
Samsung Electronics also presented an overseas example. The company introduced a project that installed a high-efficiency, low-carbon energy system combining heat pumps, solar power and an ESS at a 1,500-home residential complex in Cornwall in the UK. At the complex, the B2B-only integrated management solution 'SmartThings Pro' can be used to monitor and control energy use across the site, from individual homes to public facilities.
Samsung Electronics said, "We plan to substantially expand our business in South Korea by combining high-efficiency appliances with AI energy management solutions, centered on heat pumps." It added, "We will provide individual households with features that reduce energy costs through Samsung SmartThings Energy, and apply an integrated management solution based on SmartThings Pro at large residential complexes to meet demand for the electrification of heating and the transition to low-carbon living." 
[email protected] Im Su-bin Reporter