KNX Association is the creator and owner of the KNX technology – the worldwide STANDARD for all applications in home and building control, ranging from lighting and shutter control to various security systems, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, monitoring, alarming, water control, energy management, metering as well as household appliances, audio and lots more. The technology can be used in new as well as in existing home and buildings.
For members of the KNX Association the system is royalty-free, moreover can be implemented on any processor platform. All products bearing the KNX logo are certified in order to guarantee system compatibility, interworking and interoperability.
KNX is the only global standard for home and building control with
KNX is approved as
This standard is based upon more than 20 years of experience in the market including its predecessors, EIB, EHS and BatiBUS. Over 200 member companies worldwide from different application domains have almost 7000 KNX certified product groups in their catalogues. The KNX Association has partnership agreements with more than 30,000 installer companies in 100 countries and more than 60 technical universities as well as over 150 training centres.
KNX is approved as an International Standard (ISO/IEC 14543-3) as well as an European Standard (CENELEC EN 50090 and CEN EN 13321-1) and Chinese Standard (GB/Z 20965). KNX is therefore future proof. KNX products made by different manufacturers can be combined – the KNX trademark logo guarantees their interworking and interoperability. KNX is therefore the world´s only open Standard for the control in both commercial and residential buildings.
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.
Wherever it is employed, KNX brings real benefits to architects, designers and contractors and, above all, to building owners and/or users.
The KNX technology is the result of the pooling of knowledge and experience gained over the last 15 years with the predecessor technologies to KNX, i.e. the European Installation Bus (EIB), the European Home System (EHS) and BatiBUS.
SAC
Approved the KNX technology as the Chinese Standard GB/Z 20965 in 2007.
ANSI/ASHRAE
Approved the KNX technology as the US Standard ANSI/ASHRAE 135 in 2005.
In view of the above, KNX is the Worldwide STANDARD for Home and Building Control.
The KNX certification process ensures that different products of different manufactures used in different applications operate and communicate with each other. This ensures a high degree of flexibility in the extension and in the modification of installations. Product compliance is checked at neutral laboratories (third parties).
KNX is the only home and building control standard running global certification schemes for products, training centers (vocational and private institutions) and even for persons (electrical contractors, building designers).
KNX Association requires a high level of production and quality control during all stages of the product life. Therefore all manufacturing members have to show compliance to ISO 9001 before they even can apply for a KNX product certification.
Besides the manufacturer compliance to ISO 9001, the products have to comply with the requirements of the European as well as International standard for Home and Building Electronic Systems. In case of doubt, KNX Association is even entitled to have certified products retested or can require from the manufacturer test reports underlying his declaration of hardware conformity.
The PC software tool ETS allows the planning, engineering, and configuration of all KNX certified products. The tool is moreover manufacturer independent: the system integrator is able to combine products of different manufacturers to one installation.
KNX can be used for all possible functions / applications in home and building control ranging from lighting, shutter control to security, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, monitoring, alarming, water control, energy management, metering as well as household appliances, audio and lots more.
KNX improves comfort and security and contributes heavily to energy savings and climate protection (up to 50% for lighting control and the same amount for heating applications).
KNX can be used in both new as well as existing buildings. KNX installations can therefore be easily extended and adapted to new needs, with little time and financial investment (e.g. when new tenants move into a commercial building).
KNX can be installed in both small-size single family houses as well as large buildings (office, hotel, conference centers, hospitals, schools, department stores, warehouses, airports...).
KNX offers different step-in levels for the realization of KNX projects: via KNX E-Mode, non-KNX qualified electrical contractors are addressed. Via S-Mode, KNX trained contractors/integrators are able to realize sophisticated installations. The different modes are:
Each communication medium can be used in combination with one or more configuration modes, allowing each manufacturer to choose the right combination for the targeted market segment and application.
Several KNX manufacturers offer gateways to other networks, i.e. to other building automation systems, telephone networks, multimedia networks, IP networks, etc. KNX systems can be mapped to BACnet objects (as documented in the international standard ISO 16484-5) or offers the possibility to interface with the DALI technology.
KNX can be realized on any microprocessor platform. KNX can be implemented from scratch but for easy market entrance, KNX manufacturers can also take recourse to providers of KNX system components. For KNX members, it is completely FREE of additional royalty fees.
KNX is the worldwide approved INTERNATIONAL STANDARD for home- and building control.
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KNX is approved as:
From an Industry to an International Standard:
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Convergence of Batibus, EIB and EHS |
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The predecessor specifications to KNX: Batibus, EIB and EHS, came into being in the early 1990s. At that time nobody could foresee their individual future. These three highly important homegrown European solutions for home and building control initially tried to develop their markets separately and tried to find their own places in European standardisation. Batibus did particularly well in France, Italy and Spain, whereas EIB enjoyed success in the German speaking and north European countries. EHS was the preferred solution for manufacturers of white and brown goods. In 1997, the three consortia in charge of the above mentioned specifications decided to join forces to develop the market for intelligent homes with the agreed goal to develop a new, common industrial standard that could also be proposed as an international standard. The KNX specification was published by the newly set-up KNX Association in the spring of 2002. It is based on the EIB specification, supplemented with new configuration mechanisms and communication media originally developed by Batibus and EHS.
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CENELEC |
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In December 2003, the KNX protocol as well as the two media, TP (twisted pair) and PL (power-line) was approved by the European national committees and ratified by the CENELEC Bureau Technique as the EN 50090 European Standard. The KNX Radio Frequency communication medium was approved in May 2006. |
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CEN |
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As KNX increasingly provides specifications that are not only used for the automation of electrical installation equipment but also for HVAC applications, the KNX Association proposed its specifications to CEN for publication as a European standard for building automation control systems. CEN accepted the proposal and the KNX specifications were published by CEN as EN 13321-1 and EN13321-2.
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ISO/IEC |
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In view of the large interest in KNX compatible products outside European countries and its proven technology, the KNX association also initiated the necessary steps to have the KNX standard approved on an international level. Countries active in CENELEC proposed the European EN 50090 norm for standardization by ISO/IEC at the end of 2004. In November 2006 the KNX protocol, including all transmission media (TP, PL, RF and IP) was approved for publication as the ISO/IEC 14543-3-x International Standard. This makes KNX the only worldwide open standard for home and building control.
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SAC |
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The great interest in China for compatible KNX products and KNX technology was the main reason for the KNX Association to have the international ISO/IEC 14543 standard translated into Chinese. The Chinese standardisation committee, SAC TC 124 introduced the KNX standard in China and adopted it as standard GB/Z 20965 in July 2007. |
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ANSI/ASHRAE |
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Also the coupling of KNX to other automation systems is internationally standardized: both the US ANSI/ASHRAE standard 135 as well as the ISO 16484-5 documents the mapping between KNX and BACnet. |
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