OPEN SEASON

KNX UK President, Paul Foulkes, casts his vote for the ideal automation platform.

Is the cash cow that was lighting and AV automation on its last legs? Does a business model built on discount points still work in today’s multi-faceted smart control market? People want much more in their homes and workplace: in addition to the relatively easy lighting and AV wins, they want to integrate heating and cooling, shading and energy control and security. And why not given the existence of a proven, robust open-system automation platform that makes bringing it all together easy? That’s KNX.

During the weird year of lockdown and tiers, KNX has gone from strength to strength. It celebrated its 30th birthday as the de facto global open control protocol and signing up Sony took its count of manufacturer members past the 500 mark. Yes, that’s 500 manufacturers making controls that are guaranteed to work together, guaranteed to be backwards compatible, and guaranteed to enable you to broaden your horizons by designing interworking between applications controlling every aspect of home control. The real value add in automation comes from the quality of a systems integrator’s thinking, and the combination of skill and talent that creates scalable, flexible solutions that meet customer expectations and, above all, are just reliable.

Don’t limit yourself by starting with a proprietary control system that only controls AV and had to link to another system for the rest of the building, start with a platform that offers the control of the majority of the building then add the AV control on top.

The big risk with proprietary solutions is that they might require you to update an installation’s central controller when a new range of keypads is released? You know who we mean; and you know that the big discounts don’t make up for the client’s ire when they learn at the cost of the upgrade! Meanwhile a KNX integrator will have been able to programme a new, KNX-certified keypad design into the existing system, make a quick physical swap onsite and then sit back and continue to enjoy an amicable and profitable long-term relationship with the customer.

There are KNX devices and solutions for every application, it may be lighting control with Theben DALI Gateways, BMS integration with the ABB application control or visualisation & remote access with the Gira X1/S1 combo. But that’s not to say you have to ditch your favourite systems or familiar products because, for the most part the proprietary players have already made the KNX choice for you. They have created the gateways that let the magic happen. Control4 and Savant both offer a native IP connection to KNX simplifying the integration of KNX lighting and comfort, with audio and video entertainment for homes around the world. Crestron has an IP to KNX gateway, a bi-directional Ethernet interface capable of addressing up to 250 KNX objects, while Lutron can be interfaced using third party software.

Even consumer solutions are coming to the KNX party with Sonos, Apple Homekit, Siri, Alexa and Google home all able to either control or be integrated with a KNX system.

For advanced users, SDKs and Object servers enable custom integrations to other platforms. With KNX as the underlying automaton platform the limits are endless so there is no need to be restricted by the limits of a proprietary platforms.

KNX integrators in the UK have been delivering high end residential projects in the UK market for many years. That’s possible because of the range of user interfaces not in spite of them, like other solutions. The KNX ETS programming software hasn’t actually changed fundamentally, but the skin it lives in has evolved making using it ever-easer.

Commercial or residential, KNX argues it has the solution This underlying stability is the real strength: you are investing time and energy in a platform that you will be able to use to consistently deliver projects with lifecycles extending into decades. KNX UK Association members are now maintaining and expanding systems they installed 15 years ago, adding more sophisticated security devices, for instance, or building in the whole new approach to entertainment that has evolved since the CDs that were prevalent when their system was first designed.

When it comes to smart homes, not all updates need to be done at once. Projects can be phased, or evolved as lifestyles change: children may leave home or older lifestyles begin to call for automated help with assisted living. All of this can be catered for with the cross-application flexibility of KNX without having to go back to the drawing board. As KNX is a system with distributed intelligence, there’s no high-risk central point of failure and new devices can simply be attached to the nearest node, a switch or sensor perhaps. Changing a KNX system is not disruptive – the customer will hardly know you’ve been there.

The international KNX Association has already indicated that 2021 will be a decisive year for proving that the KNX IoT 3rd Party API holds many advantages for parties outside the KNX community to connect to KNX data, thus cementing the KNX position the de facto automaton platform for solutions that build on data collected via this manufacturer-independent interface. In the commercial smart building arena, KNX is also playing a key role in promoting a secure multistandard IP-based infrastructure to replace the inefficient, still-widespread use of siloed solutions. The KNX Association, working with BACnet International, OCF, Thread Group and the Zigbee Alliance have announced a new initiative: “IP Building and Lighting Standards” (IP-BLiS).

Big or small, commercial or residential, simple or complex, there will always be a KNX solution that makes sense. Don’t let the proprietary systems fool you: why be good at one or two things for the length of the project when you can be good at many things for the whole life of the installation?