Building automation · Modulimo

A building that runs
itself.

Every Modulimo building manages its own energy, heat, network and services. It keeps working even without internet or grid power, and connects to the other buildings through encrypted links.

Modulimo residents in the monitoring room
Interactive diagram

    Autonomy

    It keeps going,
    even cut off from the world.

    Everything that keeps the building running is decided inside the building. The Modulimo network is added on top; it replaces nothing.

    Energy

    The sun first,
    the grid as backup.

    Every kilowatt-hour produced on the roof has a place, in an order set in advance.

    • Rooftop solar panels — about 6 kWp for a typical building, tilted to produce in winter and let snow slide off.
    • A priority cascade: essential functions first, then the battery, then the surplus heats the water and the concrete slabs.
    • “Thermal batteries”. The surplus is stored in the tank's hot water and in the mass of the concrete slabs, which release their heat for hours. Far cheaper than an electric battery.

    Indicative values for a typical building.

    Hot water and recovery

    Shower heat no longer
    goes down the drain.

    A single hot-water system for the building, and each step warms the incoming cold water a little more.

    • A central system, with a hot-water meter for each unit.
    • Shower heat is recovered: incoming cold water is preheated, summer and winter.
    • ≈ 95 % in summer, ≈ 35 % in winter: the share of hot water covered by solar and recovery.
    • Health safety: water is kept at 60 °C or more, and a thermostatic mixing valve limits the temperature before distribution.

    Indicative values for a typical building.

    Comfort

    Warm in winter, cool in summer,
    and quiet at night.

    Each room gets the heating and cooling method that suits it.

    Network and security

    Everything
    in its own zone.

    The building network is designed so that a problem stays where it appears.

    Preparedness · Modulimo

    An environment that takes on
    risk management.

    At Modulimo, preparedness for everyday risks is carried by the building, not by residents. Scenarios are identified in advance, protocols written down, drills held every year — following the Canadian government's “Get Prepared” program. A caring and responsible approach, where nothing is left to chance.

    Green level — Daily Continuous surveillance and maintenance
    Blue level — Preparedness 72 h kit, family plan and yearly drills
    Orange level — Shelter-in-place Emergency protocols and official directives
    Flashing indicators during an announced drill · steady indicators in a real situation.
    Built-in security

    A building designed
    for peace of mind.

    Security at Modulimo is not an add-on — it is built into the architecture of the building. Every entrance, every shared space and every protocol aims at residents' day-to-day peace of mind, without turning it into a source of worry.

    📹
    Cameras at shared entrances
    The main entrance can be viewed live by residents in CoHabitat, with its video surveillance notice; the other common-area cameras, by management only. No cameras inside homes or private corridors, and image retention is limited and written down.
    🪪
    Keycard access
    Keycards for the entrance, shared equipment and common areas.
    🔒
    Fenced grounds
    Secure perimeter with controlled access for residents and visitors.
    🎓
    Resident training
    Every resident is trained on the building's emergency protocols upon moving in.
    🌿
    How homes are allocated
    Objective criteria, the same for everyone: ability to pay, rental references and a commitment to the building's rules.
    🗓️
    Yearly drills
    Simulated drills and protocol reviews held each year with residents.
    🎤
    Themed talks
    Information sessions on emergency preparedness, inspired by the “Get Prepared” program.
    📋
    Evacuation or shelter plan
    Depending on the scenario, evacuation to an outside assembly point or shelter at the central refuge. Plan handed to each resident and posted on every floor.
    Risks covered

    Three sections,
    a common framework.

    Modulimo prepares its residents for the common situations anticipated by Canadian authorities, following a framework inspired by the French Plans Particuliers de Mise en Sûreté (PPMS). It rests on a named coordination team, a safety kit available on every floor, and a yearly programme of drills and updates.

    Blue level · Preparedness

    72 h kit and family plan

    A single protocol covers radiological emergencies, natural events (storms, climate events) and social unrest around the site. Official triptych of the Canadian government: STAY inside, LISTEN to official media, FOLLOW provincial and municipal directives.

    • Central shelter (core of the building)
    • Sealing of doors, windows and vents
    • Staying away from windows and exterior walls
    • Listening to official radio frequencies
    Building automation · planned from the first drawing

    A building that keeps watch
    when no one is looking.

    Protocols, drills and the 72-hour kit cover the exceptional. Building automation covers the ordinary — the leak under the water heater on a Tuesday afternoon, the heating that quits while you are away, the garage door left open. Those are the things that cost money and wake people at three in the morning.

    Building automation is home automation at the scale of the building: sensors, a few automations, and a computer in the utility room that ties it together. At Modulimo it is not a late addition: it has been part of the project from the start, like the staircase built for aging well or the central shaft ready for a platform lift. Conduits, rough-ins and sensors go in during construction, because afterwards it means opening walls again.

    For a resident it comes down to one sentence: the building takes on what a building can take on, and leaves you the rest.

    Does this mean one more app?
    No. Everything goes through CoHabitat, the app already used for bookings, shared mobility and shared spaces. Nothing to install: it opens in a browser.
    Do I have to manage it?
    No. In normal operation it stays out of sight. It becomes visible only when something is out of the ordinary.
    And inside my home?
    Your home stays yours. The building looks after common areas and infrastructure; whatever you add inside is your call.
    What the building does

    Three lists — and the third
    matters as much as the other two.

    It observes
    Continuously, with no camera or microphone
    • Water: leaks, abnormal flow, freezing risk
    • Smoke and carbon monoxide
    • Temperature and humidity in common areas
    • Power: outage, restoration, building consumption
    • Doors and access points on the grounds and in the garage
    • Shared equipment: chargers, laundry, greenhouse
    It acts on its own
    Without waiting for someone to decide
    • Shuts the water valve at the first few millilitres
    • Keeps common areas above freezing during an outage
    • Sets the floor indicators to the right level
    • Alerts the right person — not the whole building
    • Shifts charging and hot water to off-peak hours
    • Keeps a record of what happened, and when
    It will never do this
    The limits are part of the system
    • No cameras inside homes
    • No resident data leaving the building
    • No remote control of your home by the operator
    • No neighbour can see your consumption
    • No indefinite retention: the periods are written down
    • No life-safety function entrusted to software: the fire alarm and the lift remain certified, independent systems
    Day to day

    What it changes,
    concretely, for you.

    None of these is a gadget: each one removes a chore, a risk or an expense from a household's life.

    💧
    The water stops before the damage
    Water damage is the leading cause of home insurance claims in Quebec. Here a sensor catches it at the first litre and a valve closes — whether you are home or not.
    🔋
    The car is charged when you leave
    The chargers share the available power according to upcoming bookings, not order of arrival. You book it, it is ready.
    ❄
    Winter runs on off-peak hours
    Hot water and charging shift away from peak hours while you sleep. You change nothing in your habits; the building handles it.
    🏠
    The common room is ready when you arrive
    Heated and lit a quarter of an hour before your booking, idle the rest of the time. A pleasant space without heating an empty room all week.
    🔑
    Let someone in without being there
    A temporary access right for the plumber, a delivery or the sitter, valid as long as needed and revocable in one move. No more key under the flowerpot.
    🚗
    The visitor spot is booked ahead
    Your guest has a spot, and it is still free when they arrive. The duration is agreed at booking, which prevents the one thing that ruins a visitor spot.
    🌱
    The greenhouse watches itself
    Temperature and tank levels are read continuously and shown in the app — it is already running, and it is the proof that the rest holds up.
    🔔
    One alert, not a hundred notifications
    Each event goes to the person concerned: the resident for their home, the coordination team for the building. Silence is normal operation.
    📊
    You see what you use
    Your own curve, your comparison to the building average, the effect of a habit. For information and for deciding — never to bill you for anything.
    Your data

    Everything stays
    inside the building.

    There is no cloud in this story. The sensors talk to a machine installed in the utility room, and that machine is what shows the information in your app. Your data never leaves the building: only updates, licences and service exchanges between buildings travel, encrypted.

    When you are away, you reach that same machine through a private tunnel — the route changes, the destination does not.

    1
    The sensors
    Water, temperature, doors, chargers, greenhouse. No image, no sound.
    2
    The machine in the utility room
    It records, decides, alerts. It is here, not somewhere else.
    3
    Your screen
    In CoHabitat, on the building network or through a private tunnel when away.

    Who sees what. The detailed data from your home is visible to you alone. The building works only with totals. Retention periods are written down and limited, in line with Quebec's personal information protection law.

    The three levels shown higher up on this page are the screen for all of it.

    Green, blue, orange: these are not posters, they are states of the building. Building automation keeps them current, lights the floor indicators — flashing during an announced drill, steady in a real situation — and shows the current instruction in the app. The rest of the time it stays invisible. That is exactly what is asked of it.

    ℹ️
    Aligned with recognized standards Ces protocoles s'inspirent du programme Préparez-vous of the Canadian government and the framework of the Plans Particuliers de Mise en Sûreté (PPMS) used in France for public-facing establishments. In a real emergency, the official directives of provincial and municipal authorities always prevail. Residents are trained on every procedure before moving in and at yearly drills.

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