Wireless Standards- here's a reality check

Dec. 4, 2009

Here's a reality check for everybody who thinks that the choice is between WirelessHART and ISA100 and Zigbee. This is a press release from Bob Eckery at EnOcean:

EnOcean's Emergence as Wireless Leader Evidenced by Real Shipping Products

Here's a reality check for everybody who thinks that the choice is between WirelessHART and ISA100 and Zigbee. This is a press release from Bob Eckery at EnOcean:

EnOcean's Emergence as Wireless Leader Evidenced by Real Shipping Products

11 EnOcean Alliance members showcased more than 100 building automation products at GreenBuild - 5x more than any other wireless standard

[December 3, 2009 – Boston, MA] One week after winning the IDTechEx "Energy Harvesting" award, EnOcean again demonstrated its commercial viability and emergence as the wireless leader in building energy management at GreenBuild 2009. More than 100 shipping products, manufactured by 11 different companies (Leviton, Verve Living Systems, Philips Ledalite, Osram Sylvania, Douglas Controls, Echoflex Solutions, EMerge Alliance, EnOcean, Illumra, Spartan Peripheral Devices & Tambient), were on hand at GreenBuild - the industry's premier event for sustainable buildings. The energy harvesting wireless products at the show manage HVAC and lighting energy consumption in buildings and are motored by EnOcean’s revolutionary energy harvesting technologies. Each of the 100+ products is interoperable because each has in common the EnOcean wireless standard.

"The promise of wireless in buildings has been evident for a long time," said Jim O'Callaghan, president of EnOcean North America. "But widespread integration has been held back by the challenge of powering the wireless sensor networks. EnOcean transcended that giant barrier through energy harvesting. After eclipsing power barriers, we've seen explosive growth in solution development - which was evident at GreenBuild."

EnOcean-based sensors and switches are powered by ambient sources of energy - such as light, temperature and motion. Once captured, ambient energies are used to power radio signals that automate energy conservation in buildings. 100,000 buildings worldwide currently house EnOcean-based controls. The wireless sensors, switches and controllers inside sustainable buildings are interoperable - regardless of the manufacturer. For example, an EnOcean-based occupancy sensor manufactured by Vendor A will communicate to any controller manufactured by Vendor Z. More than 120 companies have joined the EnOcean Alliance. The resulting products significantly reduce energy consumption and the costs attached to system installation and maintenance.