The ZigBee Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in energy-management, commercial, and consumer applications, has completed development of and ratified the ZigBee Building Automation standard, creating the industry's only BACnet-approved wireless-mesh standard for commercial buildings.
ZigBee Building Automation enables wireless products to connect and provide secure and reliable monitoring and control of commercial building systems. Products using ZigBee Building Automation are designed to provide building owners and operators control of more building types, previously unreachable rooms or sensitive areas, thanks to its low-power wireless operation. In addition, existing wired BACnet building automation systems can now be expanded with greater ease and reduced operational cost.
The standard was developed by numerous alliance members, with major assistance coming from Convergence Wireless, Johnson Controls, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Ingersoll-Rand and Ubilogix. “ZigBee Building Automation delivers much sought-after integration with BACnet building automation systems,” said Andy McMillan, BACnet International president and general manager of Philips Teletrol. “We selected ZigBee Building Automation because its low-power mesh networks will meet the needs of just about any type of building.”
ZigBee Building Automation wireless products can contribute toward satisfying credits in the Sustainable Sites, Energy and Atmosphere and Indoor Environmental Quality categories of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building certification program.
“With ZigBee Building Automation, it is now possible to eliminate the web of wires required to monitor and manage a building and maintain all the benefits of BACnet,” said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "ZigBee Building Automation provides product manufacturers with a proven standard to expand their product line and help their customers adapt for the future. A ZigBee Building Automation network makes it easier, faster, and cheaper for a space to be reconfigured to meet a new tenant need."
The ZigBee Alliance is an open, non-profit association of approximately 400 members driving development of innovative, reliable and easy-to-use ZigBee standards. The Alliance promotes worldwide adoption of ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for use in consumer, commercial and industrial areas. For more information, visit: www.ZigBee.org.
The Alliance expects members to create ZigBee Building Automation products that will become ZigBee Certified. To see a full list of features and benefits offered by ZigBee Building Automation, visit: www.ZigBee.org/BuildingAutomation.