View from America: sustainable infrastructure using active site technology
By Philip R. Juneau, ATC. A little over six years ago, I was honoured to co-author an article entitled Active Site for the longstanding publication ABB Review. This explained how renewable energy, together with on-site generation and storage on an industrial or large campus site (i.e. microgrid), can provide energy independence whilst using the energy […]
A Fresh Perspective: three ways that KNX changed my opinion of ‘smart’
By Luke Thomas, Ivory Egg. Until joining Ivory Egg, my idea of a smart home was smart plugs, off-the-shelf ‘intelligent’ lightbulbs, a few clever widgets on my phone and some home assistant speakers dotted about the house. Please feel free to scoff at my ignorance now! Fast-forward a few months and KNX has unravelled this […]
The Colours and Shades of KNX: helping the customer to decide
By Mark Warburton, Ivory Egg. Choice is an interesting thing. When faced with limited options, it’s often easy to work out what you want. Presented with just two options, you could decide on the flip of a coin. Regardless of the actual result, by the time the coin has landed you will know your preference. […]
System Design: balancing the James Bond effect with function
By Simon Buddle, Future Ready Homes. It is beginning to feel like a very long year. This office desk of mine has spent far too many days confused by my Zoom shirt/shorts dress combination. It, like me, could do with a few days off from the ongoing low-level stress and isolation. We are, after all, […]
Case Study: world’s largest sports air dome completed in one month
By Flavio Sanches, ComfortClick. Connacht GAA (Connacht Provincial Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association) is the governing body for Gaelic games that are played in the province of Connacht, Ireland. It had been planning an indoor playing facility for some time, and in 2017, decided that this would be in the form of an air […]
KNX@30: a personal journey
By Colin Price, Ivory Egg. KNX is a thirty-year-old. No longer a child, nor a teenager. KNX is now a fully-sentient adult taking its place in the world. How extraordinary it is to think that a small idea, born out of a twinkle in the eyes of a handful of European companies, has turned into […]
Thirty Years of KNX: whatever its age, your system will not be obsolete
By Simon Buddle, Future Ready Homes It is the 30th year of the KNX standard. Celebrations have been ongoing for most of the year, and KNX continues to grow as the dominant smart building standard across Europe (I think the UK is still in, currently, but I just read that my biometric passport will soon […]
View from America: reducing our energy consumption via demand-side management
By Philip R. Juneau. I write this article just as the results of the election are coming in here in the USA, and have decided to focus on demand-side management (DSM), i.e., the monitoring and controlling of our energy consumption, especially regarding our building infrastructure. During the election, discussions regarding the phasing out or elimination […]
Adapting to the New Reality: KNX is the ideal standard for market-leading building control projects now and in the future
By Mark Warburton, Ivory Egg Over the last few months we have all had to make some major adjustments to our lives and businesses in order to cope with the challenges being posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst this is an extremely challenging time for many, there are some positives that have emerged. The recent […]
The Bigger Picture: how to avoid protocol soup through building-wide networks
By Simon Buddle, Future Ready Homes Three days ago, it was a balmy 24°C, but now I am looking at the beginning of the ‘long grey’. The holiday season is over too – at least what there was of it. In Europe, we the British are blessed that almost everyone can speak our language in […]