A new royalty-free and platform-independent Standard is revolutionising the way we see home and building control, writes Paul Skelton.

In the early 1990s, three sets of quality Standards – Batibus, EIB and EHS – were struggling to find their place in the European standardisation of home and building control.

Individually, they seemed to have a short life expectancy until, in 1997, they were amalgamated into one.

The result was KNX – the world’s first open, royalty-free and platform-independent international Standard for home and building control.

Based largely on the EIB specification, KNX adopted the configuration mechanisms and communications media aspects of EHS and Batibus to develop a new international Standard to improve on interoperability between different countries’ requirements.

Due to growing interest in international markets, such as Australia, KNX was approved as European (EN 50090 – EN 13321-1) and Worldwide Standard (ISO/IEC 14543).

The KNX Association opened a branch in the UK in June to promote the use of KNX in Europe, and advocates in Australia say the Standard is gaining attention locally.

One distributor that brings a large range of KNX products into Australia is i-Lifestyle.

Director David Chung says a global Standard for building automation in industrial, commercial and domestic buildings is extremely important to the industry.

David says i-Lifestyle has reported exponential growth over the past two years as knowledge of the KNX Standard spread among architects, interior designers and home-owners.

“Buildings are designed to last for many years, and owners or investors need the assurance that the investment in building technologies is protected against obsolescence – at least for the lifetime of the building.

“We chose to adopt the technology after spending months researching what was available in Australia, and also what was being used internationally.

“We were looking for an open system that was independent of manufacturer and platform, offering interoperability and high product quality. And there had to be a large number of product offerings to suit a diverse range of requirements and individual tastes.”

KNX technology was designed from a database of more than 10 years of legacy systems. The final guidelines drew on wide experience in controlling lighting, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, blinds and shutters, monitoring, alarms, security systems and load management.

Supporting different communications media – such as twisted pair, powerline, RF and Ethernet – KNX promotes interoperability across manufacturers. Different equipment can communicate on the one KNX network.

“KNX is still relatively new to the Australian market,” David says.

“However, it is getting lots of attention on a variety of fronts. Electrical and mechanical engineers straight away see the benefits of an open Standard in building automation for light, power and HVAC.

“Users are enjoying the choices and freedom of individual expression that the large range of devices affords them. It will be only a matter of time before Standards, especially global Standards, are an important factor in decision making on building designs.”

David says a system is only as good as its designer and installer – regardless of what system is used.

“The good thing is that integrators don’t need to learn specially designed integration tools for products from a diverse range of manufacturers.”

Locally, several properties are adopting KNX technology through electrical installers such as Victorian-based i-Wired Australia. In Mornington, for example, a $2 million home uses KNX to control lights, blinds, pool, fountains, gates and fireplaces.

The Delfin Estate at Mawson Lakes in Adelaide has 10 town houses using KNX to control lights, blinds and motion/lux sensors.

Another Australian distributor of KNX technologies is iAutomation, with 20 years’ experience in industrial automation and control systems – including robotic and programmable logic controllers.

“We decided to adopt KNX based on the flexibility and depth of product range offered by the Standard,” director Craig Dentry says.

“It would have been an easy route for our business to choose an existing Australian protocol, in that we would get immediate penetration of the market.

“In choosing the KNX protocol, a lot of groundwork had to be undertaken to familiarise engineering consultants with the product, build a reputation, find acceptance of KNX capability with builders and talk to architects about the choice in design elements that KNX offers.

“In that respect KNX involved a harder development cycle, but we consider the benefits of the Standard make for better long-term returns to our business.”

Craig says KNX is extremely simple to use because of its ‘plug and play’ approach. If a building occupier decides to use another switch or convert a push button to a movement sensor, it is as simple as pulling that item off the wall’s bus coupler, plugging in the other component and assigning its predefined properties via the ETS3 software.

“The role it plays in Australian installations is increasing as installers realise the advantages offered by KNX.

“However, there is some difficulty in understanding all the products on offer, and the strengths and weaknesses of the manufacturers that participate in the Standard – who is good at what, who has what solution and who interfaces to whom.

“No single manufacturer has to produce every system component.One manufacturer could focus on KNX-compliant push buttons, another on KNX relays, another on KNX touch screens and another on compliant gateways.In essence more than 100 manufacturers produce components for KNX-based building control systems.”

The KNX Association, creator and owner of KNX technology, provides a forum for participating manufacturers all over the world to benefit from the transfer of licences and know-how between users. They have the opportunity to include their products in the association’s ‘neutral’ design and commissioning tool. They can also participate in KNX partnerships and research programs.

The KNX Association has more than 100 member companies worldwide with access to nearly 7,000 KNX certified product groups, and partnership agreements with more than 21,000 installers in 70 countries.

In June, the KNX Association opened a UK branch with more than 70 delegates, including architects, consultants and systems integrators. UK chairman Hugh Whalley said the launch will act as a springboard for the development of KNX in the UK and encourage more companies to become members of the association.

“The benefits of KNX technology are there for all to see.”