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KNX Association » KNX: Introduction

KNX Members » More convenience, more safety, higher
energy savings: The demand for building
KNX Partners »
management systems is continuously
National sites increasing.
Whether in a single-family house or in an office complex,
KNX Certification »
the demand for comfort and versatility in the management
of air-conditioning, lighting and access control systems is
KNX Tools » growing. At the same time, the efficient use of energy is
becoming increasingly important. More convenience and
Downloads / Support » safety coupled with lower energy consumption can
however only be achieved by intelligent control and
News & Press » 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
Home turn means higher design and installation effort, increased
fire risk and soaring costs. KNX

The Answer: KNX – the Worldwide What is KNX?

STANDARD for Home and Building Control
KNX for:
In order to transfer control data to all building management Home owner
Installer
components, a system is required that does away with the
problems of isolated devices by ensuring that all Planner
components communicate via one common language: in Investor
Developer
short, a system such as the manufacturer and application
domains independent KNX Bus. This standard is based
upon more than 15 years of experience in the market, KNX in:
Residential Buildings
amongst others with predecessor systems to KNX: EIB,
Commercial Buildings
EHS and BatiBUS. Via the KNX medium to which all bus
devices are connected (twisted pair, radio frequency,
KNX Applications
power line or IP/Ethernet), they are able to exchange
Touch KNX
information. Bus devices can either be sensors or actuators
KNX meets audio
needed for the control of building management equipment
KNX is green
such as: lighting, blinds / shutters, security systems, energy
management, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning
KNX projects
systems, signaling and monitoring systems, interfaces to
KNX International Projects
service and building control systems, remote control,
KNX Award Projects
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 & Security Energy HVAC

Shutters Systems Management Systems

Monitoring Remote Metering Audio/Video White

Systems control Control Goods

KNX: The Meaning

World Open Standard means

means
References all KNX is approved
over the world: as an International

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KNX Association :: [Official website] » KNX » What is KNX? Page 2 of 3

the world of Standard (ISO/IEC

home and 14543-3) as well as
building control an European
"speaks" KNX. Standard
Several millions (CENELEC EN
of successful 50090 and CEN EN
KNX installations 13321-1) and
can be found not Chinese Standard
only all over (GB/Z 20965). KNX
Europe but also is therefore future
in the Far East, proof. KNX
North and South products made by
America - a different
proof of just how manufacturers can
attactive the be combined – the
KNX approach KNX trademark
is. Over 100 logo guarantees
KNX member their interworking
companies and interoperability.
worldwide offer KNX is therefore
almost 7.000 the world´s only
KNX certified open Standard for
product groups the control in both
in their commercial and
catalogues, from residential
different buildings.
application
domains.

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

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KNX Association :: [Official website] » KNX » What is KNX? Page 3 of 3

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 100
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
21.000 installer companies in 70
countries, more than 50 technical
universities as well as over 100
training centers.

Updated: 20 Feb 2009 Disclaimer / Company data ©

KNX 2009

http://www.knx.org/knx/what-is-knx/ 18/3/2009