More Technical

System Architecture

Silviri is a star-topology wireless sensor network with edge-resident control logic and a cloud presentation layer. The protection path (detect, decide, actuate) operates locally on the gateway; the cloud handles visualization, multi-site aggregation, and outbound notifications.

Logical layers

Detection-to-action latency budget

Sensor uplink interval (event)

Sub-second to a few seconds at SF7–SF9; longer at higher spreading factors. Wet-event uplinks are prioritized over scheduled telemetry.

Notification delivery (cloud path)

Typical end-to-end <30 seconds from wet contact to staff SMS/email under nominal conditions.

Shutoff command (assisted mode)

Bounded by human approval time. The "shut off zone" UI is one tap from the alert.

Shutoff command (automatic mode)

Bounded only by local rule evaluation and valve actuation time; typical <2 minutes from confirmed wet event to closed valve.

Control authority and operating modes

Three operating modes are configurable per zone (fixture / unit / building):

• Detect-only: alerts dispatched, no actuation. Used when a shutoff valve is not installed or is bypassed for maintenance.
• Assisted shutoff: alert dispatched with a one-tap confirmation control. Default mode for the first 60–90 days post-deployment; lets owners build trust in the system before delegating closure.
• Automatic shutoff: valve closes on confirmed wet event without human intermediation. Configurable per zone, with optional wet-confidence threshold and manual-override window.

Wireless Protocol & RF

Silviri's wireless layer uses LoRaWAN — an open IoT standard governed by the LoRa Alliance — operating in the US 902–928 MHz unlicensed ISM band. The choice of 915 MHz over 2.4 GHz is deliberate: at sub-GHz frequencies, RF penetration through reinforced concrete, plumbing risers, and metal-frame construction is materially better, which is the dominant constraint in multifamily.

Radio specification

Device classes

LoRaWAN defines three device classes by downlink behavior. Silviri uses two:

Class A — used by leak / flow sensors

Receive windows open only after device-initiated uplink. Lowest power consumption. Adequate for sensors that report on event or scheduled interval.

Class C — used by shutoff valve actuators

Continuous receive when not transmitting. Higher power draw, but supports unsolicited downlink commands needed for closure on demand. Valves are mains- or large-cell powered to support Class C.

Why 915 MHz over 2.4 GHz

Consumer leak detectors typically run on 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi or Zigbee, both of which are heavily congested and attenuate aggressively through reinforced concrete. In multifamily structures, free-space path loss at 2.4 GHz is approximately 8 dB higher than at 915 MHz before considering material penetration. Floor-to-floor losses through reinforced slabs can exceed 20 dB at 2.4 GHz. The result is per-unit gateway requirements at 2.4 GHz that are economically and operationally impractical for portfolios of 50–300 unit buildings.

Spectrum coexistence

US915 is unlicensed; coexistence with other Part 15 devices is the operator's responsibility. Silviri's per-device duty cycle is well below 1%, and uplink frame timing is ALOHA-randomized per LoRaWAN spec, so coexistence with other LoRaWAN deployments and unlicensed traffic in the band is well-characterized.

Sensor Hardware

Silviri deploys three sensor classes. All are battery-powered Class A LoRaWAN devices with no mains connection requirement. Hardware is sourced from established LoRa Alliance certified manufacturers; specifications below reflect the configurations used in standard Silviri deployments.

Sensor classes

Common specifications

Range and link characterization

Free-space range at SF12 in an open environment is on the order of 1.5–3 km. In a multifamily structure, in-building range is constrained by floor and wall penetration losses. Empirical link budgets in 6–8 floor concrete buildings consistently support a single rooftop or upper-floor gateway covering all sensors on the property. Steel-frame high-rises, basement-only utility access, and unusually long footprints may require a second gateway; this is sized during the site survey.

Battery economics

For a 200-unit building with a typical sensor count of approximately 800–1,200 devices, the 5–7 year battery life translates to roughly 120–240 sensor service events per year — manageable as a scheduled annual maintenance task rather than continuous attention. Battery-low telemetry surfaces 30–60 days before exhaustion, giving maintenance teams ample lead time to schedule replacement during routine unit access.

Gateway & Edge Behavior

The gateway is the protection-critical component. It receives all sensor uplinks, evaluates wet events against locally cached rules, dispatches valve commands, and forwards events to the cloud. Detection and shutoff continue to function when the gateway loses cloud connectivity.

Hardware specification

Edge-resident logic

The gateway holds a local copy of the active rule set, including:

• Per-zone wet-event thresholds and confidence requirements
• Authorized actuator addresses and per-zone valve assignments
• Operating mode (detect-only / assisted / automatic) per zone
• Maintenance-mode flags that suppress event escalation while a unit is being serviced

Rule updates from the cloud are applied via authenticated downlink; the local cache is the authoritative copy during connectivity outages.

Fail-safe behavior

Cloud unreachable

Detection and local actuation continue. Events queue locally and synchronize on reconnection. SMS / email outbound notifications are interrupted; visual indicator on the gateway surfaces the condition.

Gateway power loss

Sensors continue to attempt uplink; events are buffered at the device for a bounded duration. Valves remain in their last commanded position. Cloud heartbeat alarm fires within minutes.

Valve communication loss

Gateway escalates to operator notification. Valve remains in last commanded position; manual override at the valve location is always available.

Power restored

Gateway re-establishes cellular link, replays buffered events to the cloud, re-syncs rule state. No event is lost from the audit log.

Cloud, Data & Security

Silviri's application layer is hosted on AWS in US regions. Data classification is intentionally narrow: device telemetry only. The platform does not collect, store, or process tenant personal information, occupancy patterns, audio, or video.

Hosting and infrastructure

Data classification

Data collected is restricted to the following telemetry fields:

• Wet / dry state, with wet-event timestamp and duration
• Flow rate (Optimize tier, per-unit flow meters)
• Battery voltage and self-test status
• RSSI / SNR per uplink (link quality diagnostics)
• Valve state changes and actuation source (assisted / automatic / manual)

Not collected: tenant identifiers, lease data, video, audio, motion or occupancy data, or any personally identifiable information beyond the contact roster maintained by the property owner for alert dispatch.

Encryption

Device to network server

AES-128 at the LoRaWAN MAC layer. Two independent keys: NwkSKey (network integrity) and AppSKey (application payload confidentiality). The network operator does not have access to decrypted application payloads.

Network server to application

TLS 1.2+ for all internal service-to-service traffic.

At rest

AWS KMS-managed AES-256 for all stored telemetry and configuration.

Retention

Default retention is 90 days hot-tier and up to 7 years cold-tier audit. Customer-specific retention policies may be applied by contract. Audit log records of valve actuation events are retained for the full contract retention period and are exportable.

Access control

• Role-based access at the property and portfolio level
• SSO via SAML 2.0 supported for customers using identity providers (Okta, Azure AD, etc.)
• API access via short-lived bearer tokens; long-lived service accounts not issued by default

Compliance & Certifications

Status of regulatory certifications and engineering standards relevant to multifamily IoT deployment. Silviri's compliance approach is to be transparent about what is achieved, what is in process, and what is out of scope. The dedicated Compliance page covers the California regulatory landscape; this section covers product-level certifications.

Radio and product certifications

Building and plumbing standards

Insurance Reference

For brokers, underwriters, and risk consultants. This section covers the insurance mechanics behind Silviri's value proposition: how multifamily property forms typically structure water-related coverage, where the deductible-bearing exposure sits, and where an active monitoring program affects underwriting.

Multifamily property policy structures

Master / blanket / per-location

Most owners of more than one property carry a blanket commercial property policy. Limits and deductibles can apply per occurrence, per location, or in aggregate, depending on form. The treatment of water damage varies materially across these structures.

Builder's Risk

Active during major capital projects; typically excludes the operating policy's water claim history but introduces its own water exposure during retrofit.

Umbrella / Excess

Sits over primary GL and property; rarely the response layer for water damage in 50–300 unit buildings except in tenant-bodily-injury or third-party liability scenarios.

Deductible structures relevant to water

• AOP (All Other Perils) deductible: the base property deductible, typically $5,000–$25,000 in the 50–300 unit segment; sometimes higher post-2020.
• Water-specific deductible: increasingly common in California and other tightening markets; often expressed as a higher per-event amount or as a percentage of TIV (total insurable value) at the affected location.
• Per-location vs blanket: per-location deductibles apply individually to each affected property; blanket deductibles aggregate, which materially changes the math for portfolio owners.
• Sublimits: mold, fungus, microbial sublimits ($5,000–$25,000 typical without endorsement); ordinance or law sublimits triggered when repair must be brought up to current code.

Coverage gaps commonly seen on standard forms

Standard ISO commercial property forms (and their equivalents) typically cover sudden and accidental water discharge. The exclusions and limitations that produce uninsured loss for owners are:

• Gradual seepage / continuous leakage — frequently excluded outright or sublimited at low values. The classic "the bathtub overflowed for two hours" event may be covered; the "supply line behind the wall has been weeping for six weeks" event typically is not.
• Wear and tear, deterioration, defective maintenance — standard exclusions on ISO CP 10 30 / CP 10 32 base forms.
• Mold, fungus, bacteria — sublimited absent specific endorsement; secondary mold from a covered water event is often the most expensive line item in a claim.
• Faulty workmanship / construction defect — excluded on the property form; potentially covered under construction defect litigation, on a different timeline.

The result is that a meaningful share of the multifamily water damage loss class is borne directly by the owner — either below the deductible on covered events, or entirely uninsured on excluded slow-leak events. This is the loss class Silviri is engineered to surface.

California carrier landscape

• Admitted vs surplus lines: California admitted carrier appetite for multifamily property has narrowed materially since 2020; many programs now place primary or excess layers in the surplus lines market.
• Carrier exits and reductions: several major admitted carriers have reduced California habitational appetite or non-renewed segments of their book in recent years.
• FAIR Plan: the California FAIR Plan is the named-peril last-resort property market; multifamily owners increasingly rely on it for fire-exposed assets, with property insurance for water and theft layered on top via wrap policies.
• Loss runs: standard 5-year lookback at submission; a 5-year clean water-loss history is now routinely required for the most favorable terms.

Where active monitoring affects underwriting

Documented continuous monitoring with logged events and actuator history changes the conversation with underwriters in three distinct ways:

1. Risk improvement narrative. Active shutoff and 24/7 monitoring is a quantifiable risk improvement that brokers can present in the submission, particularly relevant on renewals after a water claim.
2. Loss control evidence. Audit-log exports of suppressed events provide concrete evidence of loss prevention, which can support credit at renewal or unlock more favorable terms in the surplus lines market.
3. Credit programs. Some carriers operate explicit credit programs for monitored properties; these vary by carrier, region, and class. Silviri does not represent or guarantee specific carrier credits, but the documentation is the precondition for them when offered.

Financial Reference

For asset managers, real estate finance professionals, and investment committees evaluating Silviri as risk-mitigation capex. This section covers the financial mechanics: NOI sensitivity to insurance, cap rate impact, ROI/payback frameworks, and pro forma adjustments.

NOI impact of multifamily insurance escalation

Federal Reserve research (FEDS Notes, September 2025) examined the pass-through of multifamily insurance increases to rents over the period 2019–2024. Two findings drive the financial case:

Source: Federal Reserve FEDS Notes, "Multifamily Insurance Costs and Pass-Through to Rents," September 2025; FNMA Multifamily Insurance Survey, 2024.

Cap rate sensitivity

For a stabilized multifamily asset, the relationship between operating expense and value is governed by the cap rate:

Worked example — 200-unit California asset. An insurance increase of $200 per unit per year on a 200-unit building creates $40,000 of annual NOI erosion that the owner cannot pass through. At a 5.0% cap rate, that translates to $800,000 of asset value loss, before considering further escalation. A risk-mitigation program that demonstrably reduces water claim frequency at renewal is being evaluated against value protection in the seven figures, not against the program's annual run cost.

ROI and payback framework for Silviri

The Silviri financial case has three return components, in approximate order of weight:

1. Avoided out-of-pocket water damage cost. The dominant return for most 50–300 unit buildings. Captures both deductible-bearing covered events and uninsured slow-leak events. Modeled probabilistically against the building's plumbing cohort, claim history, and per-event deductible structure.
2. Insurance posture impact. Modeled at renewal cycle (typically 12–18 months post-deployment). Treated as an option, not a guaranteed credit; sensitivity-tested by carrier appetite scenario.
3. Submetering recovery (Optimize tier only). For master-metered buildings, per-unit billing through a licensed sub-billing administrator can recover a meaningful fraction of the building's water utility expense, depending on local regulation and the lease structure. Independent of damage prevention; in master-metered conversions, this single line often justifies the capex.

Capex / opex structure

Pro forma adjustments

• Insurance line: on a 12–18 month forward pro forma, model the carrier credit potential as a sensitivity range, not a point estimate. The base case should not assume credit; the upside case can model 5–15% reduction conditional on broker placement and carrier appetite.
• Repairs & maintenance: water-damage-driven R&M is a meaningful component of multifamily R&M expense. A defensible model reduces this line by an event-frequency-times-event-cost product, with the reduction tied to per-event-type detection coverage.
• Submetering (Optimize): in master-metered conversions, water utility moves from owner expense to recoverable through tenant billing, subject to local regulation. Model this as a recovery rate against current water utility expense, not as a 1.0 conversion.
• Capex amortization: hardware-portion capex is depreciable; the resulting tax shield offsets a portion of the program's capital cost.

Building & Plumbing Reference

Reference for the building-side details that drive deployment scoping and underwriting. Plumbing material cohorts, common multifamily failure modes, and sensor placement strategy.

Plumbing material cohorts

Common multifamily failure modes

Toilet supply line failure

Braided steel hoses are a high-frequency failure point with a service life shorter than most owners assume (5–10 years). The failure mode is often a slow leak that progresses to a full disconnection.

Washing machine hose burst

Rubber hoses with a recommended replacement interval of approximately 5 years, frequently extended in tenant-occupied units. High-severity when the unit is unattended.

Water heater rupture

Tank water heater service life is approximately 8–12 years. Failure is typically the corrosion-driven loss of tank wall integrity. Drip pan with a leak sensor is a high-leverage placement.

Slab leaks

Common in post-tension and copper-in-slab construction. Often presents as warm spots on the floor or unexplained water bill increases. Detection at the slab is impractical; flow-meter anomaly detection is the operative signal.

Frozen pipe

Lower frequency in coastal Southern California; meaningful exposure in inland and high-elevation properties. Vacant-unit risk is concentrated in the heating-off / unmonitored period.

Sensor placement strategy

Water heater rupture economics

A representative cost comparison for a single tank water heater event:

The economics of monitoring a single water heater are not subtle. The decision question is portfolio-wide deployment cost vs portfolio-wide event probability, not per-asset payback.

Glossary

Compact definitions for technical, regulatory, insurance, and finance terms used on this site. Cross-references in code style.

Wireless and protocol

Hardware and ratings

Insurance

Real estate finance

Regulatory (California-specific)