This year KNX will once again be represented at the light+building trade fair in Frankfurt (30 March – 4 April 2014).

The three letters of the KNX name will be emblazoned in eye-catching locations in several of the halls at the fair, for example in the popular Galleria, where the KNX Association is building the “KNX city” on an area covering some 700 square metres. Topics addressed in the KNX city will include “Energy management in the city of the future”, “The new KNX software ETS5 and the new ETS apps”, “KNX Championship – the KNX competition”, and – in due recognition of the forthcoming 2014 Football World Cup in Brazil – the “KNX Football Championship”, a very special football competition for visitors to the fair. The Association will also be offering visitors special trade fair discounts on ETS software plus half-hour KNX training sessions, while KNX Professionals will be presenting twelve new applications for use with the increasingly popular global standard KNX.

In 2014 the KNX Association will have four stands at the fair, spanning a total area of more than a thousand square metres. In addition to the KNX city there will also be the Members’ Stand in Hall 8 (Stand F98) manned by 20 KNX members from ten different countries, a joint stand with the central associations of the German electrical engineering and electronics industry (ZVEI) and the German electrical trade (ZVEH) in Hall 9 (Stand B30), and a KNX information stand in Hall 11.1 (Stand C92).

Latin American spirit will be out in force at light+building, because a samba dancing troupe is coming to the fair. South America is important for KNX not only because of this year’s Football World Cup, but also because of the five new KNX national groups that have recently been founded on the South American continent: KNX will in future be represented with a national group in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay.

An absolute highlight of the fair will be the KNX Top Event on Tuesday 1 April 2014, which will include the KNX Award Ceremony. Entries have been received this year from as many as 60 different countries. 2014 is the Awards’ tenth year, meaning they are now a very firm fixture on the KNX calendar. This time there will be a brand new highlight, however, in the form of the People’s Choice Award, the winner of which will be selected by internet voting. The Top Event, which once again takes place in the Panorama hall in Frankfurt Exhibition Centre’s Forum building, will finish with a lively after-show party.

ETS5, the latest version of the KNX software, will also be debuting at light+building 2014. This standardised tool, currently available in 17 languages, can be used for the installation of more than 7,000 KNXcertified devices from around 350 well-known manufacturers. The new edition of Engineering Tool Software (ETS) is the first to permit the quick, simple integration of wireless KNX components in KNX installations. Its database management system has additionally been simplified, and a new dongle introduced that gives users of the software even greater flexibility in handling projects.