Introduction
Building a custom home gives you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to integrate smart home features new construction makes simple and affordable. When the walls are open and the plans are still on paper, you can run wiring, install conduit, and position infrastructure exactly where it needs to be — without the headaches and expense of tearing into a finished home later.
At Brandon Construction, we have seen the demand for smart home technology in custom homes grow dramatically over the past decade. Homeowners in Northeast Florida are no longer asking whether they should include home automation. They are asking how much to include and what to prioritize.
This guide walks you through the most impactful smart home systems to consider during new construction, what needs to be decided during the design phase versus what you can add down the road, and how a design-build approach ensures nothing gets overlooked.
Why New Construction Is the Best Time to Go Smart
Retrofitting smart home technology into an existing house is possible, but it is almost always more expensive and more limited. When you build from the ground up, you gain several advantages that simply are not available in a renovation.
First, you can run low-voltage wiring, network cable, and conduit through walls before drywall goes up. This costs a fraction of what it would take to fish wires through finished walls. Second, you can plan dedicated electrical circuits for high-demand systems like EV chargers, home theaters, and server equipment. Third, you can position equipment closets, outlet placements, and cable pathways in locations that make sense for both performance and aesthetics.
The bottom line is straightforward. Planning smart home features during the design phase of your custom home saves you money, delivers better performance, and avoids the compromises that come with aftermarket solutions.
The Foundation: Structured Wiring and Network Infrastructure
Every smart home starts with its backbone — the wiring and network infrastructure hidden behind your walls. This is the single most important investment you will make in home automation, and it is also the hardest to change after construction.
Structured Wiring
Structured wiring refers to a centralized system of cables that run from a main distribution point to every room in your home. Instead of running individual cables for each device, a structured wiring system uses a home-run topology where every cable terminates at a central panel or network closet.
At minimum, we recommend running Cat6A ethernet cable and RG6 coaxial cable to every room. Many homeowners also choose to run conduit — empty tubing through the walls — so future cables can be pulled without any demolition. A typical structured wiring package for a 3,000-square-foot home runs between $3,000 and $8,000, depending on the number of drops and complexity.
Design phase decision: The location of your network closet, the number and placement of cable runs, and conduit pathways must all be finalized before framing begins.
Enterprise-Grade WiFi
Consumer WiFi routers from the big-box store simply cannot keep up with a modern smart home. When you have dozens of connected devices — thermostats, cameras, door locks, speakers, TVs, appliances — you need enterprise-grade wireless access points strategically placed throughout the home.
Systems from Ubiquiti, Ruckus, or Access Networks provide seamless coverage without dead zones. These access points are ceiling-mounted and powered over ethernet (PoE), which means each one needs only a single cable run back to your network closet. Planning their placement during design ensures optimal coverage and clean installation.
We also recommend setting up a separate IoT network for your smart devices. This keeps your personal computers and phones on a secure, high-speed network while your light switches, sensors, and appliances operate on their own isolated network. It is both a performance and security best practice recommended by organizations like CEDIA.
Design phase decision: Access point locations and ethernet runs must be planned during design. The network equipment itself can be selected and configured closer to move-in.
Lighting Control Systems
Lighting is where most people first experience the power of a smart home, and it is one of the areas where building it in from the start makes the biggest difference.
Whole-Home Lighting Systems
Systems like Lutron RadioRA 3, Lutron HomeWorks, and Control4 give you precise control over every light in your home. You can create scenes — “Movie Night” dims the family room and turns off the kitchen — and schedule lights to adjust throughout the day for comfort and energy savings.
These systems use smart switches and dimmers at each light location, controlled by elegant keypads, your phone, or voice assistants. Lutron RadioRA 3 is a popular choice for homes in the $500,000 to $1.5 million range, while Lutron HomeWorks serves the luxury tier with more granular control and integration options.
Budget roughly $5,000 to $15,000 for a whole-home Lutron system, depending on the number of zones and the level of customization you want.
What You Can Add Later
While the switches and keypads can technically be swapped out after construction, the wiring behind them matters. Ensuring neutral wires are present at every switch location — which is code in new construction — means you will have full compatibility with any smart switch you choose, now or years from now.
Design phase decision: Lighting layouts, switch locations, and keypad placements should be finalized during design. The specific system brand can be chosen slightly later, but we recommend locking it in early so your electrician pulls the right wiring.
Climate Control and Comfort
Northeast Florida’s heat and humidity make climate control a top priority. Smart systems give you comfort and efficiency that traditional thermostats cannot match.
Zoned HVAC With Smart Thermostats
A zoned HVAC system divides your home into independent climate areas, each with its own thermostat. Your master bedroom can be set to 68 degrees at night while the guest wing stays at 74. Smart thermostats from Ecobee or the Google Nest Learning Thermostat take this further by learning your schedule and adjusting automatically.
Zoning is a decision that must happen during the HVAC design phase. Adding zones to an existing single-zone system after the fact is expensive and often impractical.
Motorized Shades and Window Treatments
In Florida, solar heat gain through windows is one of the biggest drivers of cooling costs. Motorized shades from Lutron Palladiom, Hunter Douglas PowerView, or Somfy can be programmed to close automatically during peak sun hours, reducing your cooling load and protecting furniture and flooring from UV damage.
Motorized shades need power — either hardwired or battery-operated. Hardwired shades are more reliable and never need battery replacements, but they require planning during the framing stage so your electrician can run low-voltage power to each window header.
Budget $500 to $1,500 per window for motorized shades, depending on the fabric, size, and system you choose.
Design phase decision: If you want hardwired motorized shades, power must be roughed in during framing. Battery-operated shades can be added anytime but come with ongoing maintenance.
Security and Access Control
A well-designed security system in new construction goes far beyond a basic alarm panel. Today’s systems integrate cameras, smart locks, video intercoms, and sensors into a single platform you can monitor from anywhere.
Smart Locks and Entry Systems
Smart locks from Yale, Schlage, or August let you lock and unlock doors remotely, create temporary access codes for guests or contractors, and receive alerts when someone enters. Video doorbell systems and intercoms from DoorBird or Doorking let you see and speak with visitors from your phone, even when you are not home.
These devices typically run on WiFi or Z-Wave and are relatively easy to add after construction. However, pre-wiring for a hardwired video intercom system at your front gate or entry door must happen during construction.
Surveillance Cameras
For the best image quality and reliability, hardwired PoE cameras outperform wireless models every time. Running Cat6 cable to each camera location during framing costs very little but gives you the option to install professional-grade cameras with no signal drop-off, no battery concerns, and continuous recording.
Plan camera locations at all entry points, the garage, the driveway, and any exterior areas you want to monitor. A typical home needs six to twelve camera positions. Running cable to each location during construction adds roughly $100 to $200 per camera run — a small price compared to the cost and limitations of going wireless.
Design phase decision: Camera locations, intercom wiring, and alarm panel placement should be mapped out during design. The specific cameras and locks can be selected later.
Audio-Video Systems
Whether you are a casual music listener or a dedicated home theater enthusiast, planning your AV systems during construction delivers dramatically better results.
Distributed Audio
Distributed audio systems let you play music in every room of your home — or just the kitchen — from a single app. Sonance, Origin Acoustics, and Bowers & Wilkins make architectural speakers that mount flush in your ceiling or walls, virtually invisible yet delivering impressive sound.
Each speaker location needs a cable run back to your equipment closet. In-ceiling and in-wall speakers also need proper backing and positioning during framing to avoid conflicts with HVAC ducts, recessed lights, and structural members.
Home Theater Pre-Wire
If a dedicated home theater or media room is on your wish list, the pre-wire stage is everything. This includes running HDMI, speaker wire, and power for the projector, screen, subwoofer, and surround speakers. Getting conduit into the walls for future upgrades — like running a new HDMI 2.1 cable in a few years — protects your investment.
A well-planned home theater pre-wire typically costs $2,000 to $5,000. The equipment itself is a separate investment, but the wiring is the part you cannot easily redo.
Design phase decision: Speaker locations, subwoofer placement, projector mount location, and screen wall dimensions all need to be finalized before framing. Equipment can be selected and installed later.
Motorized Features Beyond Shades
Motorized technology extends well beyond window treatments, and several popular features require planning during the build.
Motorized Garage Doors
Smart garage door openers from LiftMaster or Chamberlain integrate with home automation platforms and allow you to open, close, and monitor your garage from anywhere. These are relatively simple to add after construction, but pre-wiring for a clean installation — including a dedicated outlet and network drop in the garage — keeps things tidy.
Motorized Retractable Screens
Here in Northeast Florida, outdoor living spaces are a major part of the lifestyle. Motorized retractable screens from Phantom Screens or Screenmobile let you enjoy your lanai without the bugs, then disappear when you want an unobstructed view. These screens need structural support and power at the header, both of which should be incorporated during the design of your outdoor living areas.
Design phase decision: Structural support and power for retractable screens must be planned during framing. Garage door openers can be upgraded at any point.
Energy Management and Future-Proofing
Smart energy management is no longer optional — it is an expectation for thoughtfully designed homes. The National Association of Home Builders reports that energy-efficient features are among the top requests from new home buyers.
Solar Pre-Wire
Even if you are not ready to install solar panels on day one, pre-wiring for solar during construction is one of the smartest investments you can make. This means running conduit from your roof to your electrical panel and reserving space in the panel for a future solar inverter. The cost is minimal — typically $500 to $1,500 — and it saves thousands compared to retrofitting later.
EV Charging
Electric vehicle adoption is accelerating, and having a dedicated 240-volt circuit in your garage for a Level 2 EV charger is quickly becoming a standard feature. Running the circuit during construction costs a few hundred dollars. Adding one after the fact can cost $1,500 or more, depending on the distance from your electrical panel to the garage.
Smart Energy Monitoring
Whole-home energy monitors from Sense or Emporia give you real-time visibility into your power consumption. They install at your electrical panel and integrate with your smart home platform, helping you identify energy waste and track your savings. These can be added after construction, but planning for them ensures a clean installation.
Look for the ENERGY STAR label on smart thermostats, appliances, and lighting products. These certified products meet strict efficiency standards and can qualify for rebates and tax incentives.
Design phase decision: Solar conduit, EV charging circuits, and panel capacity must be planned during the electrical design phase. Monitoring equipment can be added later.
How the Design-Build Process Protects Your Smart Home Investment
One of the biggest advantages of working with a custom home builder in Jacksonville that uses a design-build approach is that your technology plans are integrated from the very beginning. When your builder, architect, and technology integrator are all working from the same set of plans, conflicts get caught early and opportunities get maximized.
At Brandon Construction, we coordinate with your preferred technology integrator — or recommend one from our network of trusted partners — during the design phase. This ensures that every cable run, outlet placement, and equipment location is accounted for before the first shovel hits the ground.
This coordination is the difference between a home where technology feels seamless and one where compromises were made because someone forgot to run a wire. You can see examples of this integrated approach in our portfolio of custom homes.
Start Planning Your Smart Custom Home
The best time to plan your smart home is before construction begins — when every wall is open and every decision is still on the table. Whether you want a fully automated estate or simply want to future-proof your home with the right wiring and infrastructure, the design phase is where it all comes together.
With more than 20 years of custom home building experience in Northeast Florida and a track record that includes a top 2% BuildZoom ranking and zero claims, we understand how to coordinate technology planning with every other aspect of your build.
If you are beginning to think about building a custom home with smart technology built in from the start, we would love to talk through your options. Reach out to our team to start the conversation.