The KNX Standard was created by the KNX Association and is the world’s only Open Standard for home and building control and is approved to European Standard GENELEC EN 50090, US Standard ANSI/ASHRAE 135, International Standard ISO/IEC 14543-3, and Chinese Standard GB/2 20965.

With any 21st century building design, energy conservation is paramount if the demands of regulations, industry targets and client requirements are to be achieved. Building controls play the critical role in the electrical and mechanical design process by providing the operating parameters, strategy, measurement and monitoring functions of the building services.

Reputedly home to more millionaires per square mile than any other county in the UK, Cheshire is no stranger to impressive executive homes. However, when David Edwards decided to commission a multi-million pound property that would become his new family home, he was keen to use the most advanced technology to create a house that would not only have the wow factor but one that would offer exceptional comfort, convenience and energy efficiency.

KNX ticks all the boxes as the only truly-open and international bus protocol for modern, future-proof building management. So it makes sense that it ought to be ubiquitous, and to be part of everyone’s thinking from day one of a project. So what’s holding us back?

While it may be the players’ salaries that grab all the headlines, the wages bill is not the only major expense that sports clubs have to deal with. Also high on the list of significant costs is the amount of money spent in running the stadium: usually a huge building that is difficult to heat and uses large amounts of energy to light. On match days, when the paying public pour into the building with their cash, running the stadium may not seem such an unjustified expense, but on non-match days and out of hours the cost of running these venues continues to mount while most of the building is lying idle.

Building automation using KNX is an established standard for controlling functions such as heating, lighting, sunblinds, ventilation or safety technology. The control of these is achieved seamlessly through the use of KNX technology, a system that offers significant advantages over other alternative approaches to building automation and control.

We Brits know a thing or two when it comes to developing new technology.  It was a Brit, Michael Faraday, who discovered electromagnetic induction, the principle behind the electric transformer and generator in 1831, then another, Joseph Swan, who first demonstrated his incandescent electric light bulb in 1878. A pedigree like this makes it all the more perplexing that the UK electrical industry stands so far behind our European colleagues when it comes to adopting a building control protocol that is more flexible, future proof and cost-effective than traditional hard wired systems.

At the beginning of the new millennium, my company, GES Digital went looking for new opportunities and came across KNX (at that time known as EIB).

The O2, Dublin is a redevelopment of The Point, which famously hosted the premier of Riverdance in the interval of the Eurovision Song Contest, and remained Ireland's premier music venue, with an iconic status for the nation. The re-launch of the venue has seen Live Nation retain parts of the original building, whilst enhancing the seating capacity, facilities and acoustics of the auditorium, transforming the site into a cutting-edge and exciting performance space. Through the tie-in with O2, Live Nation has completely branded the venue, creating the ability to reach out to audiences through mobile phone media.

KNX smart home technology is assisting in religious abidance at a home in Leeds where the main criteria of the installation was that the lighting in the house should be controlled for a period of 25 hours so that the family could comply with Jewish Sabbath rules relating to creating or extinguishing fire (switching on any electrical item is considered to be a form of fire creation).  The installation has been completed by KNX UK member Application Power Hire (APH) of Leicestershire.

A KNX systems integrator turned KNX manufacturer when the owner decided to build the world's best lighting control module after years of installing other manufacturers' sub-optimal, proprietary products.

The rising cost of energy, the need for commercial viability and the protection of the climate call for more transparency in energy consumption. The general practice of annual energy bills does not help in this matter. Changes are on the horizon only with respect to the supply of electricity. By using intelligent energy meters, electricity consumers could view their consumption as it happens and would be in a better position to control it. With KNX, more detailed choices regarding the responsible use of energy are possible, not only for electricity but also for heat, water and fossil fuels such as oil and gas.

The project, named installation of the year by the KNX (UK) Association, was designed by systems integrator Building Evolution. According to managing director Nigel Stafford, KNX was chosen because it is an open standard and for the full functionality that it offers.

MediaCityUK is being developed by a partnership of the Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company, Peel Holdings and Salford City Council. This is a major development for the North of England, for the UK as a whole and will be of global importance as the project will revolutionise the media and creative industries in the North.