Dive Brief:

• The Westpark Maintenance District in Irvine, CA is taking part in a pilot program for a smart modular system designed for homeowners associations (HOAs), called Common Sense.
• Sensors are installed throughout the property's common areas, and the information collected from the facilities is transmitted to a dashboard via the cloud.
• Community managers can monitor the facilities' data and analytics through the secure dashboard and receive alerts when something goes wrong; they can also control some equipment remotely. A different portal allows residents to access real-time information about facilities or submit service requests.

Dive Insight:

In many ways, HOAs operate like tiny cities. They have a central management body that oversees numerous community facilities and services, similar to a municipal government.

Although some HOAs have integrated a couple of technological advances into the community — such as security cameras or automatic lights — they're largely not managed through one main system. The Common Sense pilot will allow the Irvine-based HOA to determine if using a core system makes operations more convenient and efficient.

During the pilot, the HOA's pool equipment, irrigation system and lighting have been equipped with sensors that connect to the secure network. Community management will have real-time access to information like pools' water chemistry, which is tested and analyzed every 15 minutes. The resident-facing portal will allow community members to see information, like if a pool is occupied by a group or what the water temperature is, and they can report any issues and submit maintenance requests. Outside service providers also can be granted some access to the system so that, for example, lighting or pool vendors can remotely check in to verify that their facilities are working properly.