Smart home 2026: from pure comfort to the energy backbone
Until a few years ago, the smart home in prefab construction was seen above all as a comfort topic – lighting scenes, roller shutters via app, perhaps a smart thermostat. In 2026 the task has fundamentally changed: with a heat pump, photovoltaic system, battery storage, wallbox and controlled domestic ventilation, a new build contains five to seven energy producers and consumers that must interact intelligently so that self-consumption is as high and energy costs as low as possible.
This makes the smart home the technical backbone of the house – with all the consequences for cabling, bus topology and software maintenance. Anyone building in 2026 should make at least three decisions before the building application: which platform (KNX, Loxone, Matter, Home Assistant, Apple Home), which depth of fit-out (basic, comfort, premium) and who maintains the system in the long term.
The five decisive smart-home worlds in the prefab house
KNX is regarded in 2026 as the premium solution for demanding homebuilders: a manufacturer-independent standard since 1990, wired, durable, supported by around 500 manufacturers. Investment in a prefab house: €18,000 to €35,000 for a 150-m² detached house including programming. Plus point: maximum future-proofing, ideal for complex logic. Minus point: high initial costs, a specialised integrator is required.
Loxone is the Swabian-Austrian complete solution with its own mini-server, its own visualisation and a coordinated hardware world. Investment: €12,000 to €22,000. Plus point: operational more quickly, clearly structured app. Minus point: closer manufacturer tie-in than with KNX. Matter, the open standard established since 2023 by Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung, is suitable as a bridge between the worlds and for retrofit devices. Apple Home and Home Assistant form the two most important control centres above Matter.
A pragmatic recommendation for 2026: lay the KNX cabling as the „structure“ (power, bus, lighting, sun protection), place a visualisation layer with Home Assistant or Loxone on top and integrate individual devices (door lock, voice assistant, mobile speakers) via Matter. This hybrid architecture combines the durability of KNX with the ease of use of Apple/Google and can already be implemented today with medium budgets from €15,000 to €18,000.
Three fit-out packages for prefab house homebuilders
„Basic“ package (€8,000 to €12,000): smart meter, individual room control, smart thermostats, photovoltaic monitoring, smart doorbell, voice assistant. Without a bus, predominantly wireless (Zigbee, Matter, WLAN). Suitable for homebuilders without deep technical interest who want to keep later retrofitting open.
„Comfort“ package (€15,000 to €22,000): KNX cabling at the factory, smart lighting control, sun protection, heating, PV/storage integration, wallbox control, visualisation via tablet and smartphone. Suitable for most homebuilders with a modern Efficiency House 40 and a PV system.
„Premium“ package (€28,000 to €35,000): full KNX fit-out, multiroom audio, security and camera technology, dynamic light management, predictive charging algorithms for wallbox and storage, video door station. Suitable for premium prefab houses; providers such as HUF HAUS or Baufritz partly supply such packages ex works.
