We Brits know a thing or two when it comes to developing new technology. After all, Michael Faraday in 1831 discovered electromagnetic induction, the principle behind the electric transformer and generator. Then on 18 December 1878 Joseph Swan demonstrated his incandescent electric light bulb to an audience at the Newcastle Chemical Society. A pedigree such as 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. Barry Bilclough of JUNG UK offers his opinion
The KNX protocol is said to be the world’s first truly open protocol and allows specifiers to select the electrical and mechanical products they are familiar with, safe in the knowledge they will be fully interoperable when integrated by any KNX-certified system integrator. The protocol is now almost 20 years old and there are more than a hundred manufacturers with a combined catalogue of over 7,000 KNX components, this means the contractor or building services engineer has a large pool of interoperable technology from which to choose, knowing that the integrator can build a total control solution for the project by bringing together a variety of off-the-shelf components which are truly interoperable. These products have all been thoroughly tested and certified to be KNX compliant and all operate seamlessly together, programmed by the integrator using one common software tool. And because they all ‘speak the same language’, they can operate together across the same network, resulting in much less cabling and higher functionality.
It’s a tried and tested system that has revolutionised the way commercial buildings are specified in our great economic rival countries like Germany and Spain, yet the UK is about 13 years behind the rest of Europe when it comes to use of the system. The result means many of the UK’s ‘state-of-the-art’ office spaces are simply being left behind.
So why is that? Is it perhaps because there is no appetite for KNX in the UK? Take up of KNX certification for engineers at training centres such as BRE and East Tyrone College in Northern Ireland along with the increase of KNX systems being installed in the residential market would suggest not. Here, architects and self-builders have been quick to see the advantages of a fully integrated system of building and lighting controls that allows total personalisation of the home environment – the flexibility of the system settings can be quickly changed or additional elements such as communicating with sophisticated audio visual systems that are often a feature of the high end residential sector. The difference in the commercial market is that it is not usually the architects or end users that drive the choice of electrical installation, it is more often than not the M&E consultants. Current market feedback appears to indicate that consultants are less than keen to embrace the ‘new’ technology.
Of course, it’s not unusual for the UK market to be cautious when it comes to changing the way we do things – we are a traditionally conservative nation. The fact remains, however, on this issue we are now even lagging behind other traditionally conservative countries, like The Netherlands and Austria. The headquarters of the KNX association are in Brussels, and the global web site provides the statistics which can be viewed by anyone. In the UK there are 220 certified KNX engineers listed, the Netherlands – a ‘conservative’ country with a population around a third of that of the UK has 294 KNX integrators. Furthermore if we compare the UK to the rest of Europe, the picture is even more damning: there are 7,344 integrators in Germany, 2,086 in Spain, 2,052 in Austria, and 447 in Poland!
Like most countries the UK has its own national group in place to promote and support the integrators, and anyone else who is interested in learning more about the protocol. KNX UK Association aided by the manufacturers has been instrumental in raising the profile of the protocol at trade fairs and in key trade publications which has seen a growth in its acceptance for use in commercial projects, a recent example being Media City in Manchester. Unfortunately, there still seems to be a culture of doing things “the way they have always been done”, whatever the advantages to the developer, the contractor, the end user and the environment of switching to KNX. There is an old guard of building services engineer that continues to specify the same old products in the same old way, seemingly afraid to try something new and apparently seeing the integrator’s skills as some kind of black art.
That’s not to say that there is no-one amongst the M&E consultancy fraternity who would like to pioneer the use of KNX. Those of a younger, more IT-friendly, early adopter disposition can see the advantages – both practical and financial – of using the protocol. The problem appears to be they are unable to convert their enthusiasm for the protocol into actual specifications due to decision making at a senior level. So while it gives me confidence that the sea of change we need will happen eventually, it does little to reassure me that it will happen any time soon.
Of course, in an ideal world one would like to see Cibse (Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers) showing an interest in KNX as part of their remit to drive innovation in the industry. However, they appear to be unaware of what their counterparts in Europe are doing to encourage take up of the protocol, which in turn means that their members are not being kept up to date, something that those of us involved know only too well as when we mention KNX to the majority of Cibse members we are met with a blank expression or at best “oh yes, I’ve heard of it but don’t know anything about it”. Unaware a KNX-based building control system can be used to conserve energy, and help towards achieving Part L compliance.
So perhaps it will simply be a waiting game however, whilst we wait, building services engineers may wish to take advantage of a KNX building controls event that is due to be held at BRE, Watford later this year. If the wait continues it may well be the developers and architects will simply get so frustrated by the fact that our commercial buildings don’t measure up to many of those being specified on mainland Europe that they start to seek out consultants with a more forward-thinking approach….even if they have to travel a little further afield to find them!
