KNX: Introduction

More convenience, more safety, higher energy savings: The demand for building management systems is continuously increasing.

 

Whether in a single-family house or in an office complex, the demand for comfort and versatility in the management of air-conditioning, lighting and access control systems is growing. At the same time, the efficient use of energy is becoming increasingly important. More convenience and safety coupled with lower energy consumption can however only be achieved by intelligent control and monitoring of all products involved. This however implies more wiring, running from the sensors and actuators to the control and monitoring centers. Such a mass of wiring in turn means higher design and installation effort, increased fire risk and soaring costs.

 

The Answer: KNX – the Worldwide STANDARD for Home and Building Control

 

In order to transfer control data to all building management components, a system is required that does away with the problems of isolated devices by ensuring that all components communicate via one common language: in short, a system such as the manufacturer and application domains independent KNX Bus. This standard is based upon more than 20 years of experience in the market, amongst others with predecessor systems to KNX: EIB, EHS and BatiBUS. Via the KNX medium to which all bus devices are connected (twisted pair, radio frequency, power line or IP/Ethernet), they are able to exchange information. Bus devices can either be sensors or actuators needed for the control of building management equipment such as: lighting, blinds / shutters, security systems, energy management, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, signaling and monitoring systems, interfaces to service and building control systems, remote control, metering, audio / video control, white goods, etc. All these functions can be controlled, monitored and signaled via a uniform system without the need for extra control centers.

 

Lighting	Blinds & Shutters	Security Systems	Energy Management	HVAC Systems
Monitoring Systems	Remote control	Metering	Audio/Video Control	White Goods

 

KNX: The Meaning

World means			Open Standard means
References all over the world: the world of home and building control "speaks" KNX. Several millions of successful KNX installations can be found not only all over Europe but also in the Far East, North and South America - a proof of just how attactive the KNX approach is. Over 100 KNX member companies worldwide offer almost 7.000 KNX certified product groups in their catalogues, from different application domains.				KNX is approved as an International Standard (ISO/IEC 14543-3) as well as an European Standard (CENELEC EN 50090 and CEN EN 13321-1) and Chinese Standard (GB/T 20965). KNX is therefore future proof. KNX products made by different manufacturers can be combined – the KNX trademark logo guarantees their interworking and interoperability. KNX is therefore the world´s only open Standard for  the control in both commercial and residential buildings.
			Home and Building Control means
				A benefit in every type of building: From the office complex to the average household. Whatever the kind of building is, KNX opens up complete new opportunities for building control systems while keeping the costs at a manageable level. KNX can provide solutions that can only be realized with considerable effort with conventional installation techniques. Via a single touch panel, all applications in the home or building can be controlled. From heating, ventilation and access control to the remote control of all household appliances – KNX allows completely new ways to increase comfort, safety and energy savings in the home or building.

KNX: A single approach with many advantages

Wherever it is employed, KNX brings real benefits to architects, designers and contractors and, above all, to building owners and/or users.

• Low operating costs resulting in considerable energy savings
  Lighting and heating are only switched on when needed, e.g. depending on time profiles and/or actual presence, thus saving energy and money. Furthermore lighting can be controlled automatically in relation to the daylight intensity of the daylight, thus maintaining a specified minimum level of brightness at each work place and reducing energy consumpion (only those light sources really needed remain switched on).

• Time saving
  Interlinking all communicating devices with a single bus considerably reduces design and installation time. A unique manufacturer and application domains independent Engineering Tool Software (ETS) allows the design, engineering and configuration of installations containing KNX certified products. As the tool is manufacturer independent, the system integrator is able to combine products of different manufacturers with different communication media (twisted pair, radio frequency, power line or IP/Ethernet) to one installation.

• Flexibility and adaptability to future developments
  A KNX installation can be easily adapted to new applications and is easily extendable. New components can be easily connected to the existing bus installation.

KNX Association: Your guarantee for a worldwide standard!

The driving force behind KNX is KNX Association, a group of leading companies active in many fields of home and building control. Currently, KNX Association has more than 300 members, accounting for more than 80% of the home and building control devices sold in Europe. As common goal, these companies promote the development of building installation systems in general and KNX as the world’s only open STANDARD for home and building control. Worldwide KNX Association has partnership agreements with more than 35.000 installer companies in 120 countries, more than 90 technical universities as well as over 250 training centers.