Awareness of the advantages of smart home technology continues to grow, with its role in energy management and fighting climate change making it impossible for house builders and designers to ignore.

Sue Redman, Marketing Consultant for KNX UK, discusses some of the smart home systems that can help building owners simplify their lives and save energy.

While there are many smart home systems on the market that enable the integration and control of a wide range of devices and systems to achieve some level of convenience and energy savings, KNX is the only worldwide standard for home and building controls.

As the national group for KNX in the UK, we represent the certified manufacturers, distributors, integrators and training centres who are making their mark by continually raising standards and producing some of the most impressive and innovative smart home and building projects in the industry. Being experts in the KNX worldwide standard makes it easy for them to do that. This is how…

Smart home ecosystem

KNX is approved as an International Standard (ISO/IEC 14543–3) as well as a European Standard (CENELEC EN50090 and EN ISO22510) and Chinese Standard (GB/T 20965). Products that work using the KNX language are made by different manufacturers and can be combined, the KNX trademark logo guaranteeing their interworking and interoperability.

All electrical equipment in the building, such as lighting, HVAC, shading, security systems and AV systems can be controlled via one common language, across wired or wireless communication making it suitable for both new and retrofit installations.

KNX should be seen as a smart home ecosystem, bringing everything together and allowing all devices to communicate in a common language via a data bus cable, RF or the internet at the backbone. Allowing your home to breathe along with you.

Freedom of choice

More than 8,000 devices from 500 different manufacturers use KNX technologies and are directly compatible with each other and many more via gateway. This means that whatever your specification, budget, family lifestyle, needs or interior design style – there is a solution to be found using products that speak the KNX language. KNX UK manufacturing members alone represent a broad spectrum of products that have been labelled with the KNX trademark;

• Switches, keypads and control panels that can be configured to control any components in a KNX smart home ecosystem, allowing occupants to adjust lighting, heating, ventilation, and other aspects of the system to their liking. Available in endless styles and finishes to suit any taste.
• Actuators and system devices that work behind the scenes receiving signals and using that information to perform physical actions, such as turning on or off lights, opening or closing blinds, adjusting the temperature, and controlling other electrical devices.
• Sensors and detectors that monitor and detect changes in the environment, such as temperature, humidity, light, and motion and provide real-time feedback, which is used to control various aspects of the smart home, such as lighting, heating, and security.
• Our members manufacture a wide array of other technologies such as gateways, servers, visualisations and entertainment products. All of which work in harmony with each other and every one of the other 8000 KNX certified products using one common language. This gives endless possibilities for automated home installations.
• All specifiers and homeowners need to design the dream smart home is an experienced professional. With over 100,000 certified integrators globally KNX isn’t short of these and we represent some of the best in the industry here in the UK. A KNX integrator will have the experience and technical knowledge to help with planning and design of any home automation project. Moreover, they will have all the technical skills to set up the wiring and install your hardware and software.

Future proofing the industry

There is a growing need for qualified smart home installers to meet the increasing demand for energy-efficient buildings. As more building owners and occupants become aware of the benefits of KNX technology and it is more widely adopted in the construction industry, the demand for qualified KNX installers is increasing.

KNX will never become obsolete and a KNX professional certification will future proof any electrical contracting business by allowing installers to meet the building automation needs of any specifier or homeowner.

Plus, a partner certification and membership of the KNX UK National Group with its recognised Code of Conduct will give customers a clear sign of their installer’s quality of work.

Visit https://knxuk.org/ to find registered training centres or qualified integrators to continue your KNX journey.

KNX UK is the National Group for the worldwide standard for smart building controls. They represent KNX Certified Manufacturers, Distributors, Integrators and Training Centres in the UK.

knxuk.org

Photograph credit: Jung (C) Constantin Meyer

Photograph credit: IndigoZest Smart Home Automation Specialists

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