ZigBee Today

Although the relaxing summer months are upon those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, there is no slowing down for the Alliance. So far this year, the Alliance added 38 new member companies, representing one of our largest increases in membership. Today, the Alliance has more than 280 members worldwide, putting us well on the way to our goal of 300 members by the end of the year. In May, the Alliance certified 19 ZigBee Smart Energy public application profile products from 14 different members, and more are expected in the coming months. These products provide a complete system necessary to begin implementing a variety of advanced metering infrastructure programs using ZigBee Smart Energy. If you have not seen the list, you can do so here. With the successful completion of the ZigBee Smart Energy in May and certification of these first devices, we just made Smart Energy available for free download here.

We expect the Alliances rapid growth and progress to continue as more companies see the value of the ZigBee ecosystem. Our growing membership expands new business and partnership opportunities while adding to the product and supply diversity important to customers of all types. Continued adoption by utilities will further increase ZigBee’s value across the entire wireless sensors and control space and create even more opportunities than ever before.

 
Until next time,


Bob Heile

Chairman, ZigBee Alliance

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ZigBee smart energy: THE STANDARD FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY AVAILABLE NOW

Public Availability Will Accelerate Development of New Energy Management Products

San Ramon, Calif. – June 23, 2008 – The ZigBee Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, commercial and consumer applications, today announced public availability of its ZigBee Smart Energy public application profile. ZigBee Smart Energy is a ready-to-use solution offering utilities and technology suppliers a secure, interoperable, easy-to-use wireless global standard for developing products that improve energy management and efficiency for both consumers and corporations.

ZigBee Smart Energy was developed through collaboration between innovative utility companies, product manufacturers and technology suppliers in response to demand for a global wireless standard for better energy management. It enables wireless two-way communication between utility companies and common household devices, empowering consumers to manage their energy usage more precisely. ZigBee Smart Energy allows utility companies to implement more sophisticated programs for greater energy management, and to respond to government demands for energy efficiency. It is available for free download by the public at http://zigbee.org/en/spec_download/zigbee_downloads.asp.

In May, the Alliance certified 19 ZigBee Smart Energy products. These products represent a full range of devices necessary to implement a wide variety of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) programs. All ZigBee Smart Energy products are certified to perform regardless of manufacturer, allowing utilities and consumers to purchase with confidence. The complete list of interoperable products is available at http://www.zigbee.org/en/certification/certified_products_zse.asp

"Reliant Energy continues to be a strong supporter of ZigBee Smart Energy because standards accelerate the development of a broad array of products and solutions for our customers," said Glen Stancil, vice president of Smart Energy R&D from Reliant Energy. "With the introduction of certified ZigBee Smart Energy products, consumers will have the ability to get more information, choice and control over their energy use."

Demand for energy management systems has never been greater. Soaring fuel prices and competition for those resources are creating a global energy crisis. The expense to build new power plants has more than doubled since 2000. Growing public resistance for building more power generation or transmission often delays or prevents many new projects. With government legislation on the horizon requiring coal-fired generators to pay fees to emit global warming gases, the shift toward energy efficiency becomes more compelling and cost-effective. ZigBee Smart Energy provides an affordable and easy way to improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact.

"ZigBee Smart Energy is a significant achievement because it is the only global wireless standard among utilities, product manufacturers and technology suppliers," said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "The introduction of ZigBee Smart Energy to the public will exponentially increase and advance the development of more products and services to boost the energy efficiency movement. As more products get certified, consumers and utilities gain more choices in how they implement new efficiency programs in homes and businesses worldwide."

The Alliance has grown to more than 280 members, boasting a presence in 28 countries spanning six continents. Product manufacturers represent more than 50 percent of the Alliance’s global membership. ZigBee is the only standards-based technology designed to address the unique needs of low-cost, low-power, wireless sensor networks for energy management and efficiency, home and commercial building automation, plus embedded network applications in the commercial, industrial and consumer markets. Companies wanting to participate in developing the ZigBee marketplace may join the Alliance by visiting http://www.zigbee.org/en/join/

ZigBee: Wireless Control That Simply Works
ZigBee is the global wireless language connecting dramatically different devices to work together and enhance everyday life. The ZigBee Alliance is a non-profit association of more than 280 member companies driving development of ZigBee wireless technology. The Alliance promotes world-wide adoption of ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for use in energy, home, commercial and industrial areas. For more information, visit: www.ZigBee.org.

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The idea of growing crops or plants in an environmentally controlled area has existed since Roman times. Some of the early attempts required enormous amounts of work to exclude the elements – and even more work to provide adequate heat and security. Today, greenhouses are high technology production facilities growing crops managed by computer controlled systems. These systems provide screening installations, heating, cooling, lighting and harvesting management systems. Despite dramatic improvements, challenges still face today’s greenhouse owners: maximizing production efficiency, product quality, post-harvest operations and even reducing environmental footprint. To address these challenges, automation, robotics, precision agriculture, sensors and other advanced technologies are being planted today in the most modern greenhouses.

Hortimax, a leading provider of production and process automation solutions for professional greenhouse companies worldwide wanted to provide a client with the ultimate automated system. They called on Kronos, known around the world for their ability to empower organizations to effectively manage their workforce by delivering software, hardware and services that enable them to reduce costs, increase productivity, and enhance the service provided. Kronos offers automation through a new ZigBee® wireless terminal from GreenPeak. The ZigBee terminal transmits data from greenhouse harvesting carts to routers, enabling the data to be gathered and analyzed in a central coordinator unit. This wireless technology allows the monitoring of individual pickers’ efficiency whereas previously, only the average picking weight per corridor and not per picker was known. Use of the ZigBee wireless terminal has increased overall greenhouse productivity by 15%.

Kronos’ selected the GreenPeak/ZigBee wireless system because it is reliable, even in radio unfriendly environments. With its multi-hop, mesh technology, the ZigBee solution lets each wireless sensor and actuator device act as a repeater for other wireless devices even if one or more are blocked by metal, dense foliage or high humidity levels. This robustness is made possible because of ZigBee’s unique use of mesh networking technology. The ZigBee sensor nodes form a mesh network by sending messages through intermediate nodes from various sources to the final destination. This approach enables the network to span larger distances (even when individual nodes can only see a local area of the network), allowing site-wide wireless coverage throughout the greenhouse.

The ability to track harvested areas, as well as how much has been picked enables greenhouse operators to quickly implement corrections in spraying, fertilizing and scheduling to maximize not only the amount of the harvest, but also the overall quality. The system also improves other greenhouse logistics such as scheduling of the packaging unit and just-in-time transportation to market. The result for the greenhouse operator is better quality products through a more efficient harvest bringing about a reduction in both management time and expenses.

GreenPeak Lime Module

While more companies are increasingly scrutinized for their energy consumption practices, energy management companies are rightfully held to an even higher standard. In addition to setting the energy consumption pace across all industries, energy management companies have the most to gain, and the most to lose when it comes to their own energy efficiency.

Mr. Stefan Andersson, CEO of Rantzows Sport, AB, Sweden's largest supplier of sports equipment, also works closely with designers and architects installing, servicing and conducting safety inspections for gymnastic and sports arenas. Recognizing the need for a streamlined solution to reducing energy, he decided to outsource the energy management to a specialist firm. After being selected to manage this project, Bali Facility Management AB (BFM AB), a Swedish-based innovative energy management company, concluded that MeshNetics’ ZigBit modules with ZigBee® technology would actually exceed all wireless range and energy consumption requirements for this project, thereby providing room for future solutions as well.

BFM knew traditional wired building automation would not work due to the significant expense to install and maintain. They realized the best solution would be one based on sensor and control units interconnected through a wireless network. Such a solution would allow all the benefits of local control functions and remote operations without the associated wired infrastructure costs.

BFM considered many factors when deciding to select the MeshNetics’ ZigBit module for this project. The module provides a convenient cost-effective solution as it offers RF design, all the circuitry, antenna and software needed in a single, easy-to-use package. But the decision to choose MeshNetics for this energy management job was easily made when BFM also discovered that the modules come bundled with MeshNetics’ ZigBee PRO certified networking stack software and support for both the hardware and the software.

Rantzows Sport, AB Facility with Meshnetics’ ZigBee
Module-Based Wireless Sensing Solution

"Energy management wireless sensor networks such as the MeshNetics/ZigBee module-based solution provide tremendous value in terms of energy conservation and bottom-line benefits for building owners across any and all industries,” said Richard Hänsel, CEO Bali Facility Management AB.  “Working with MeshNetics allowed us to stay focused on our core competency, while reaping all the benefits of ZigBee wireless technology.”

MeshNetics ZigBit

Around the world, energy markets are being stressed to their limits during peak demand periods. Fluctuating power flows and increasing price volatility add to the unease about future energy supply security and also increase the potential for a system reliability disaster. To reduce peak energy consumption and the risk of taxing the existing power infrastructure to the point of blackouts, many energy services companies are investigating how to provide their consumers with demand response programs. Energate, a leading provider of home energy management controls, systems, and services for the energy, HVAC, and home automation markets is now offering a solution with its ZigBee® Smart Energy Certified Pioneer Z100 smart thermostats.

Demand response programs specifically focus on reducing energy usage through energy automation in the customer premises. Energate’s Pioneer Z100 smart thermostats not only reduce energy demand but also measure this reduction. Past demand response programs nationwide in the U.S. have shown the ability to reduce peak energy demand by 30,000 MW, which is equivalent to reducing the need for up to 250 peaking plants, eliminating the burning of 680 billion cubic feet of gas per year and the release of 31,000 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions.

Among the first companies to receive official ZigBee Smart Energy certification, Energate provides seamless interoperability with smart grid technology to improve energy management and efficiency. By being ZigBee-compliant, utilities can be assured that Energate's smart thermostat is interoperable with ZigBee-enabled Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Demand Response systems, and other home energy management solutions, providing utilities great flexibility to meet their needs and the needs of their consumers. The ZigBee Smart Energy public application profile offers utility companies a global open standard for implementing secure, easy-to-use wireless home area networks for managing energy.

However, for demand response programs to be truly successful, utilities need "the keys to the house." Many consumers will only grant such access if certain important conditions are met. Consumers want to save on their utility bills with easy to use, proven, innovative, intelligent, secure and reliable energy solutions that seamlessly integrate into the complexities of advanced metering infrastructure. But most of all, this sophisticated technology must be easy to understand and even easier to use.

From a homeowner’s perspective, Energate’s ZigBee Certified Pioneer Z100 smart thermostat delivers consumer empowerment through support of overrides, the use of plain language, multi-lingual interfaces and context-sensitive help screens allowing consumers to understand and control where energy is being used, at what cost, and how it can be reduced. Once configured, the Pioneer Z100’s advanced climate control algorithms ensure comfort is maintained consistently and efficiently. It also provides features and information that empower consumers to manage their energy use more effectively.

The Pioneer Z100 smart thermostat is a part of the ZigBee Smart Energy Certified Product portfolio. ZigBee Smart Energy enables wireless communication between utility companies and common household devices such as smart thermostats and appliances. It improves energy efficiency by allowing consumers to manage their energy consumption more precisely using automation and near real-time information while having the ability to choose from a large global ecosystem of companies supplying interoperable products. It also helps utility companies implement new advanced metering and demand response programs to drive greater energy management and efficiency, while responding to changing government requirements.

"We're in the midst of an exciting and significant change in the energy industry as a growing number of utilities roll out smart grid technology," said Jorge Deligiannis, chief technology officer at Energate. "Given the range and sophistication of this technology, it is critical that we help develop and embrace industry standards to ensure security and interoperability. Our ZigBee Certified Pioneer Z100 smart thermostat provides seamless two-way communication, allowing utilities to monitor and manage energy use while giving consumers the tools they need to improve their own energy-use practices."

Energate Pioneer Z100 smart thermostat