Bacnet, KNX Association, OCF, Thread Group and the Zigbee Alliance are working together to align commercial buildings with users’ connectivity needs and improve the integration of smart building products.
 
The organisations are collaborating on an initiative called IP Building & Lighting Standards (IP-Blis).
 
“The advent of the internet of things has progressively required more and more collaboration between manufacturers, ecosystems and global standards organisations to unlock the evolving potential offered by connected devices,” said Tobin Richardson, CEO of the Zigbee Alliance. “Through IP-Blis, we’re looking forward to helping facilitate more efficiencies for users across commercial settings through secure, all-IP-based standards for better lighting control and building management.”
 
Together, the organisations are promoting a secure multi-standard IP-based infrastructure as a backbone in building automation to replace the inefficient, still-widespread use of siloed products. For this, the operation of technology standards is to be harmonised, the fragmentation in smart building connectivity reduced and a broad acceptance of coexistence promoted.
 
“The Bacnet community is collaborative by nature and we welcome the opportunity to promote fully integrated building systems through IP-Blis,” said Andy McMillan, president of Bacnet International. “IP-Blis is a powerful platform for communicating the value of IP in addressing the complexity and dynamic requirements of building information and control systems.”
 
Currently, there is no automation technology available that covers all the use-cases required to automate a commercial building fully. From elevators and energy management, to lighting, water supply and air conditioning, to access control and surveillance systems, there are countless applications for technologies in smart buildings. However, some individual building systems still use a wide variety of proprietary systems that often require separate hardware-based gateways and infrastructures.
 
This fragmentation results in higher costs for planning, installation, maintenance and administration of smart building projects. In addition, synergistic opportunities over the long-term remain unused.
 
To overcome these barriers, the members of IP-Blis plan to combine light control and building management with IT networks by using a secure all IP-based configuration while harmonising the operation of their technical standards. This will allow data from a wide variety of building systems to be accessible via a single IP address.
 
There are several advantages to this approach. Hardware-based gateways become unnecessary, as various devices across some of the most diverse systems can communicate via a single secure IP connection, and it should be easier to integrate IoT products seamlessly into existing smart buildings. Furthermore, an IP-based approach should reduce effort and costs while increasing security, allowing smart building projects to become more scalable.
 
“We are proud to be a part of IP-Blis,” said Franz Kammerl, president at KNX Association. “This initiative is a real game changer for building automation that will further accelerate the growth of the market thanks to its added values in terms of integration, scalability and security.”
 
Through worldwide marketing and communication measures, IP-Blis aims to enlighten the building automation market about the use of IP-based products, identify the security requirements that will be necessary for different regions and influence legislation to increase adoption. Companies wishing to support the goals of IP-Blis can participate by becoming a member of one of the participating organisations.
 
“Collaboration and cooperation are key to allowing the IoT to reach its full potential,” said David McCall, president of the Open Connectivity Foundation. “IP-Blis is the perfect platform for OCF and other key industry players to join forces and address the issues that face light and building automation today by removing connectivity roadblocks to create truly smart buildings.”
 
Grant Erickson, president of Thread Group, added: “Thread Group is excited to be a part of such a prestigious initiative. Our low-power wireless mesh networking protocol is based on IP because it allows for so many disparate applications to work together seamlessly. We believe that IP-Blis will provide a crucial standard that smart buildings need to improve interoperability and reduce costs, improving the efficiency, functionality, automation and safety of buildings such as offices, healthcare facilities, hotels and schools.”