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.
