Join the revolution
Consumers are looking for new and better ways to take control of energy use in their homes.

Over the past 25 years interest in intelligent technology that monitors and controls our buildings and homes to optimize our use and conservation of energy has grown in proportion to the awareness of energy consumption’s impact on climate change. The market is here NOW.

Conference Objectives:

• Show the vision of Intelligent Home Solutions to an audience who can kick-start the market
• Establish connections between importers/manufacturers and retailers of recommended wireless devices
• Broaden the awareness and potential of DEST´s My Home to pertinent manufacturers/importers
• Increase awareness of the Z-wave alliance

Who should attend?

• Retailers
• Utility Companies
• Importers/Manufacturers of wireless products
• Public influencer's e.g. politicians, journalists and NGO’s with an interest in the intelligent home

Why Copenhagen?

The next UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) is taking place in Copenhagen 2009. The Danish Electricity Saving Trust (DEST) will participate in an exhibit concerning the future possibilities of energy savings targeting private households. The conference is an obvious forum to show not only the vision of the Intelligent Home, but also that Denmark is a pioneer country in the field of home control and that Denmark has already begun implementing intelligent home monitoring solutions to generate energy savings

Why Z-Wave?

The DEST has concluded that the most promising wireless technology currently available is Z-Wave.
DEST recommends wireless devices based on one joint standard (Z-Wave certified). The Trust has developed a modified Energy Saving Label for wireless devices and established a list of products on www.Elsparefonden.org where wireless devices recommended by The DEST and Z-wave certified are promoted.

The Home Control and Energy Savings Conference consists of two main events

Z-Wave & DEST Lounge
Tuesday, 30 September 2008 – 16:00 - 19:00
Sponsored by Zensys & DEST, the Lounge is a casual gathering that enables participants to meet executives and senior managers from Z-Wave Alliance member companies and DEST and to take advantage of this opportunity for personal networking in the home control industry.

Home Control & Energy Savings Conference
Wednesday, 01 October 2008 – 09:00 - 17:00
A full conference day with a targeted exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of the opportunities in home control and showcases Z-Wave solutions and DEST wireless visions.

Original article:

 http://hces-conference.com/modules/ConferenceInfo/

English forum added to www.z-wave-europe.org

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Logitech Harmony 895 Advanced Universal Remote review added

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The SmartPower element from Innovus added to reviews

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Copenhagen / Frankfurt/Main – Today, Z-Wave announced that Parks Associates, the internationally recognized market research and consulting firm will present new research findings at the upcoming European Home Control Summit, to be held April 8-9, in Frankfurt/Main, Germany.

Bill Ablondi, top expert and Director of Home Systems Research at Parks Associates, will present “Home Control: Trends and Opportunities,” and address various controls in the home, remote home monitoring and consumer interest, and the evolution of the universal remove control. These and other key questions, market trends, plus associated technology platforms will be discussed at the European Home Control Summit.

“The time for manufacturers of home appliances and control systems to take advantage of recent technological advancement in wireless controls is now,” says Bill Ablondi. “Consumers are more comfortable with digital technology, industry giants are looking for the ‘Next Big Thing’, and communications protocols with low implementation costs and high reliability have become reality.”

Home networks as “the backbone” for home control systems
Parks Associates forecasts that the number of worldwide households with residential gateways facilitating broadband sharing, remote management and service provisioning, and/or value-added services will grow to 72 million by year-end 2012. Europe’s increasingly competitive broadband and pay television market makes it a prime market for home networking.

According to Parks Associates, home networks are poised to become the backbone of connected home systems. In addition to the distribution of audio and video content as well as sharing broadband access, printers and storage devices, RF based control networks such as Z-Wave that can accommodate multi-year battery operation of devices will be a means for communicating with a variety of systems in the home – including energy management, security, lighting and entertainment systems.

“We remain bullish on the growth of the wireless home control market and view the efforts of members of the Z-Wave Alliance as excellent examples of marrying technological advancements with distinct needs of the consumer”, states Bill Ablondi. “Awareness and acceptance of the capabilities of Z-Wave have been growing over the past year as shown in the results of our surveys that monitor the home systems integration and installation channels.”

Additional topics at the European Home Control Summit Conference:
· Home control in Europe – an OEM perspective
· The trend to Unified Home Control™
· “Green homes” – Public programs to conserve energy via home control
· Control and management of energy consumption
· The smart home in your pocket – opportunity for service provider
· Comfort and convenience – how does home control improve our lives?
· Safety and security – piece of mind as a driver for consumer adoption
· The Z-Wave ecosystem – benefits for OEMs and consumers alike

… and many more. You will find the complete agenda – along with the registration page –

resource: http://www.z-wave.com/modules/iaCM-ZW-PR/readMore.php?id=297795584

Copenhagen/Frankfurt - The first European Wireless Home Control Summit on 9 April 2008, taking place parallel to Light + Building, features leading companies such as Merten, Horstmann, Danfoss, and market researcher Parks Associates as well as publicly funded organizations like the Danish Energy Saving Trust (DEST) presenting the newest trends, products and market strategies pertaining to home control. The European Home Control Summit is organized by the Z-Wave Alliance, an open consortium of the world’s leading providers of home control using Z-Wave, the international industrial standard for wireless home control.

The European home control market will more than double in less than 12 months according to renowned market researchers. This development is driven among other things by the availability of interoperable and inexpensive home control technologies like Z-Wave and their strong acceptance by leading international and European manufacturers. Today there are more than 225 Z-Wave based home control products which are internationally available – with the product offerings set to double by the end of 2008. On the occasion of the European Home Control Summit, leading European companies are showing how home control solutions can be successfully used and what an enormous market potential they have.

Under the title “Home Control in Europe – Perspectives from OEMs-Merten will discuss why home control is important for OEMs today, what it takes to turn it in into a profitable business, and what should be considered in choosing the right technology for success.

How energy savings can be reached through the use of modern home control solutions focused on energy management functions will be explained by Horstmann Control Ltd.

In the scope of the presentation "How will home control influence our lives?" Danfoss will show the possibilities of how we will communicate with our home in the future and thus be able to reach a new plateau in comfort and convenience.

One of the leaders in home control market research, Parks Associates, will introduce the latest market trends at the event. Parks sketches out and differentiates between the development of the American and the European home control markets and discusses the unique requirements of the consumers for home control products or solutions, based on their studies.

The Danish Energy Saving Trust (DEST), a state run non-profit organization, presents their findings on how consumer behavior pertaining to saving energy can be changed by promoting the use of home control and which technologies are best suited to these programs and initiatives. In addition DEST will deliver an overview of which European co-operations are currently being developed in order to create a European market for home automation. These activities are sponsored by the publicly financed DEST to promote qualitatively valuable, energy saving techniques and to increase environmental consciousness.

Further topics of the conference are:
- Interoperability – the success factor for home control
- TCP/IP convergence – home control and the internet
- Which home control standard is in the race?
- The Z-Wave “Eco System” – Advantages for OEMs and consumers

resource: http://www.z-wave.com/modules/iaCM-ZW-PR/readMore.php?id=298844160

INNOVUS RAOne smartdimmer review added

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Wiehl/Kruidenbuurt – Merten's innovative CONNECT system is bringing Z-Wave convenience and connectivity to 200 new Dutch apartments. Lucky future residents will enjoy a modern, modular, expandable wireless control system that offers wireless control of lights, room climate, energy management, multimedia and home safety. In the first deployment phase, the residential units will be equipped with radio-based light control from Merten.

With the CONNECT wireless system, the apartments will enjoy a modern, future-ready home control platform, which along with the wireless light control capabilities, also offers optional home automation applications. The keys of the CONNECT radio system are available in a variety of designs suitable for glued assembly on masonry or glass, as well as for screwed assembly on masonry or flush mounted sockets. In each Kruidenbuurt apartment, 16 Z-Wave radio buttons and 20 actuators such as dimmers and switches are installed, providing comfortable lighting control available in each room.

The installed radio buttons are a component of the CONNECT radio system from Merten, which combines the functions of the "radio world" and the "IP world" in a single control unit. The radio central CONNECT functions as a link and is equipped with a graphical user interface (merten@home). In this way, today's residents can take advantage of numerous home control applications tomorrow, including control of shutters, room temperature, timer switch functions and more.

The system is also compliant with optional multi-media applications such as:

· Integration with Microsoft Vista and Multimedia Center Edition
· Multimedia control of streaming clients, as well as volume control
· Display of news based on RSS feeds
· Signaling of received e-mails
· Display of photo slide shows
· Digital clock as screensaver
· Recording of history data (alarms / reports etc.) which can be passed on via email to the user.

Control That's Location Independent
Even if the residents are not at home, they can access many control functions, because the CONNECT radio center offers an additional Ethernet connection controlled through merten@home. Even if they're not at home, the residents can use the radio center and control their building functions remotely, as from a hotspot at the airport or a mobile phone to turn up the heating before arriving home.

Interference Free and Reliable Operation – And a High Degree of Comfort
Thanks to its 868 MHz operating frequency, the Merten radio system is especially suited for short distance radio and therefore is extremely robust. The system's structured addressing ensures faultless operation of multiple radio systems, even when next to each other. The installation and configuration are extremely flexible and can be expanded at any time. The range of the radio system in the house is approx. 30 meters, depending on where it is assembled and general construction characteristics like thickness of the walls. The radio system under which Merten transmits is based on extremely short execution times of well under 50 milliseconds for a command. Only for this short time, radio transmitters are being activated. This makes Merten's system extremely efficient regarding power consumption, and also harmless in terms of RF emissions. In comparison to a GSM mobile telephone, the emissions of the CONNECT radio system are by a factor of over 10,000 lower.

Thanks to the use of the Z-Wave standard, the radio system is compatible with solutions from other providers, and thus offers an optimal ecosystem of lighting control, room climate, multi-media and safety applications among other tasks. More than 160 companies, among them the industry giants such as Cooper Industries, Danfoss, Intel, Intermatic, Leviton, Monster, Universal Electronics (UEI) and Wayne-Dalton, are members of the Z-Wave Alliance and have committed to Z-Wave as a home control technology. More than 225 Z-Wave based products are available on the international market.

Picture material can be downloaded at the following address:
http://www.merten.de/html/de/9513.html

Nordborg - Danfoss, a vendor of thermal and refrigeration engineering, has with RA PLUS-w introduced a Z-Wave based radiator thermostat into the market providing for location and time independent heating control for the entire house. Using this innovative device home and apartment owners can also „remotely“ control the temperature in their rooms and by doing so save on energy costs. The thermostat can be linked into a whole home control network by means of Z-Wave enabling it to be controlled, via PCs, PDAs, remote controls, mobile phones, or over the Internet. The RA-Plus-w is sold as part of home automation solutions from manufacturers such as Merten, Innovus, Electronic Housekeeper and others.

Heating is one of the biggest energy consumers while also an essential part of living comfort. However, the rapidly increasing energy prices are compelling house and flat owners to carry out saving measures particularly in older buildings. According to the heating index in Germany the cost of fuel oil has, increased by 44.3 per cent and the cost of gas by 57.8 per cent since the year 2000. Energy conservation has become a financial imperative for most homeowners.

Same comfort at reduced heat output
Even reducing the room temperature by 1 degree saves as much as 6 per cent of the energy costs. The radiator heating thermostat developed by Danfoss provides for reducing the room temperature by 3 degrees at fixed intervals during the day. The Z-Wave chip integrated into the thermostats additionally provides for linking the device into the home control network. Using Z-Wave RF, technology the RA PLUS-w can communicate with other Z-Wave devices enabling remote management of heating control, via a centralized web interface. Since this can be applied via the Internet users can take control from outside the home and manage their home energy usage based on their changing schedules or remotely adjust the thermostat to ensure that their vacation home is comfortable when they arrive. A living room can, for instance, remain warm over the day while the bedroom is heated to a pleasant temperature just before going to bed and again at the time to get up. The RA PLUS-w can be mounted with old as well as with new radiator heating valves. The device features a mechanical freeze-protection mechanism preventing the „freezing“ of a room, even if the battery ever ran down. Given that there are more than one billion radiator heater thermostats currently installed, upgrading to the RA PLUS-w would provide energy-saving on a significant scale.

resource: http://www.z-wavealliance.org/modules/iaCM-ZW-PR/readMore.php?id=286261248

Seluxit, premier Danish vendor of intelligent energy saving solutions, announces the launch of the ViaSens home controller. The product based on the Z-Wave standard offers users an overview of the status of all devices within a household’s home control network. The ViaSens Home Controller connects to a computer via USB connection for transmitting data. The free software, especially developed for the controller by Seluxit, retrieves information via sensors connected to the devices and provides a comprehensive, easy-to view analysis of it. Using the ViaSens controller, homeowners can continually monitor the power consumption of their household and can optimize energy consumption by adjusting their device settings.

The controller collects data on all devices within the home control network equipped with radio sensors such as light switches and dimmers, thermostats and power meters. The sensors, developed by Seluxit using Z-Wave wireless technology, will measure values such as temperature, air humidity, brightness, movements, power consumption, or charge capacities. The software accompanying the controller processes the read-out values and displays the status of each device on a clear and intuitive graphical software interface. The values are edited in the form of graphs and diagrams. The combination of the Seluxit ViaSens Home Controller, sensors, and software provides for installing, configuring, and tracking a complete Z-Wave mesh network of wireless home control

Z-Wave: Strong growth in Europe
The ViaSens Home Controller broadens the European Z-Wave market with an important product category, energy management. Seluxit is part of the Z-Wave Alliance, a consortium of 160 companies world-wide dedicated to establishing Z-Wave as the standard for wireless home control and automation. As part of the Alliance, Seluxit is committed to continuing to develop devices using the Z-Wave standard making them compatible with the over 170 products based on Z-Wave.currently available.

Further information on the Seluxit products under: www.seluxit.dk.
Graphical Material is available under: www.seluxit.dk/VS_Controllers.html

Resource: http://www.z-wavealliance.org/modules/iaCM-ZW-PR/readMore.php?id=247463936

Copenhagen [EUROPE] - Taiwanese Everspring Industry Co. Ltd. has introduced several products for low-cost home automation based on the Z-Wave standard for wireless home control. Initial products include a dimmer, on/off switch and PIR as well as magnetic door and window sensors that are sold in Europe by established brand vendors together with Everspring distribution partners. With these products the company addresses house and flat owners as well as tenants who want to control their homes remotely, lower energy consumption, increase security or generally extend comfort and convenience. As the company additionally states, the products only mark the beginning of a complete product family of products for home control based on Z-Wave that they will introduce to the European market during the next few months.

Everspring is the first Far East vendor to enter the EU market for home control products based on the international Z-Wave standard. With AD130 the company introduces a dimmer system for conveniently operating all lighting in the house, and includes the ability to adjust the levels of illumination, for example in children’s rooms or in corridors or in the sitting-room when watching television. Thanks to the interoperability of all Z-Wave products, the dimmer systems can also be controlled and operated via Z-Wave based remote controls from third-party vendors such as Logitech, Monster, Intermatic, Sirius and so on.

The on/off modules of the AN 135 product line provide for the convenient operation, via remote or directly through the module, provide for module, of devices that previously could only be manually switched on or off. In addition to the convenience it can also increase comfort and reduce energy consumption as devices in stand-by mode can be independently switched off with one single key stroke where ever they are in the house.

The battery-driven PIR sensors of the SP103 product line substantially increases security and comfort within houses and flats. These movement sensors equipped with Z-Wave technology can, for instance, always automatically switch lights on and off. The movement sensors can be additionally connected to alarm systems triggering via Z-Wave complete partial alarms (silent alarm), comprehensive alarms or also a number of alarm processes (switching on the lighting, locking doors or windows, alerting the security staff or police). The sensors can be used in-house or outdoors.

Combined with the magnetic door/windows sensors of Everspring´s SM103 product line, also equipped with Z-Wave, user security convenience can be further increased. These window-attached sensors can, for example, trigger alarms or switch heating or air conditioning on and off should a window be open or closed. The sensors also provide for the monitoring of the closure of all windows leaving the house or flat empty.

All Everspring devices are compatible with the products of other companies within the Z-Wave Alliance such as Merten, Danfoss, Logitech, Monster, Innovus, or ACT etc. - all use the Z-Wave standard in their solutions. More than 170 Z-Wave based products are currently already available in the international market.


IMAGES: relating to this press release see:
http://www.everspring.com/Products/ProductsList.asp?parentUID=83&CateUIDList=0,83

Reference: http://www.z-wavealliance.org/modules/iaCM-ZW-PR/readMore.php?id=244318208

INNOVUS has announced a complete home control product family based on the Z-Wave standard for wireless control in the home. The products include a PC-based home control management system, dimmers, light as well as multi-functional switches, energy saving modules, PIR sensors and a sophisticated remote control. Through the use of these products the company addresses the needs of both home and apartment owners and tenants who want to control their homes remotely, enjoy lower energy consumption, increase security, or generally advance comfort and convenience. All products will be available from September 2007 and the INNOVUS starter package will be offered at a very reasonable cost – 199,-- Euro.

With MYHOME, INNOVUS is introducing a GUI (graphical user interface) based dwelling control system that can easily configure any of the Z-Wave devices and control of processes via PC or laptop computer. After connecting the HOUSE CONTROL BOX to a WLAN (wireless local area network - which is just the linking of one or two computers without using wires) or LAN (local area network) router different Z-Wave devices can be configured or commands defined. Thus, the user is provided with a comfortable and intuitive home management system, supporting different settings such as light, heating, air conditioning, multimedia, energy saving, and security devices. An integrated calendar function also provides for easy adjustment of settings. And in combination with the battery operated radiator thermostats from Danfoss, a significant reduction of heating costs can be achieved.

The INNOVUS RAone Smart Dimmer, which includes a finger touch panel supporting many different light scenarios, can be used for numerous applications. For example time-controlled, incremental reduction of light intensity in a child’s bedroom or in hallways The Smart Dimmer can be operated from different remotes such as Bang & Olufsen, Logitech 895, or INNOVUS’ SmoothRemote. It features an integrated power meter that measures the energy consumption of the lamps thereby helping to reduce energy bills.

The INNOVUS Smart Switch multi-functional controller offers a compact mini distribution center for the home. This switch can also be configured via MYHOME and provides for the operation of up to16 functions or processes.

All configurations can be simply set, changed or added to via MYHOME. This wireless, battery operated multi-functional controller can be located anywhere in the house and can be fixed via and adhesive backing on to brickwork, wood and even glass surfaces.

INNOVUS RAone SmartPower also enables further reduction of energy consumption. This model is an on/off switch, designed to reduce consumption in devices consuming energy in standby mode and features a finger touch panel for local control. Like the RAone SmartDimmer it is also equipped with an internal power meter, enabling measurement of energy consumption of those devices connected to the switch.

In order to further increase home security and comfort, INNOVUS has developed a Z-Wave based advanced battery operated movement sensor. By integrating the movement sensor into the Z-Wave system and thereby exchanging information directly with the home control system, this PIR sensor can not only be used in security related applications, but also help to decrease energy usage and increase comfort and convenience in the home.

The Z-Wave product portfolio of the company is completed with the INNOVUS SmoothRemote which enables easy operation - from the sofa - of all features of all INNOVUS devices as well as other Z-Wave devices offered by third-party vendors. Potential applications are unlimited. For example, lights in the entire house can be switched on or off from the living room when watching TV; unnecessary standby usage of devices eliminated by switching them off, or room temperature can be lowered or increased based on the room's occupation. All processes are easily and comfortably controlled via the INNOVUS House Control System.

All INNOVUS devices are compatible with products of other companies within the Z-Wave Alliance including Merten, Danfoss, Logitech, or ACT who use the Z-Wave standard within their solutions. Currently more than 170 Z-Wave based products are already available on the international market. INNOVUS is deeply involved in energy saving initiatives of the Danish Energy Saving Trust (DEST – Elsparefonden) and other prestigious international programs.

Reference: http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/New-Products/Comprehensive-Z-Wave-Range-Introduced-in-Europe.html