Ivory Egg, specialists in KNX intelligent building technology solutions, review the market and its current offering on training courses that apply the KNX standard.

Mark Warburton, Technical Director, Ivory Egg says “As energy costs continue to rise, so has society’s agenda to be more careful in terms of tangible energy use and wastage. Consequently, the construction industry has shown a growing desire and need for ‘smart’ solutions that optimize building convenience, security and energy management.”

“By utilizing the KNX standard, system integrators are able to integrate all intelligent building applications into one single installation: whatever the space. This allows for a wide range of functionality and cost savings throughout the initial project and also over the lifetime of the building. The nature of KNX means we can achieve a truly connected building where all services operate on a single platform allowing intelligent decisions on the use of energy to be made by the system.”

“So, what is KNX? Put simply, KNX is an open specification that was developed to allow products from numerous manufacturers to work seamlessly together. The system operates on a standardised bus cable with a common language, allowing different products to work together to control all aspects of residential or commercial buildings”

The benefits of KNX:

• Future-proof technology thanks to the protocol being an ISO standard.
• Endless flexibility and scalability – from 2 to 60,000 devices!
• Safe and secure at its core
• Robust and fail safe thanks to the decentralised products and system architecture
• Functionally modular – endless possibilities of product and solutions
• Integrated solution making considerable energy savings possible
• A truly international community

KNX Statistics:

• 466 KNX Members
• 7000 Products
• 458 KNX Training Centres
• 81,000 KNX Partners in 164 countries

So, if you’re an electrician exploring the world of ‘smart home’ technology, where do you start? Introducing the KNX Association who are focussed on the continued development and promotion of the KNX standard. One of their key tasks is to expand the international network of trained partners who can install, program and support KNX commercial and residential installations

The KNX Association undertake a Certification Scheme for Training Centres and Tutors ensuring that whichever international training centre you choose, you can be safe in the knowledge that the content and practical skill relayed will be consistent and uniform. However, not comfortable resting on their laurels, the KNX association have recently overhauled the training program to ensure it remains relevant for the ever-evolving intelligent building market.

Although still fitting in the same structure, individual chapters have been updated, added and moved to ensure the courses are focussed, relevant and given attendees the best start with KNX

There are two main courses-

• KNX Basic course – minimum 30 hours:

Starting with the history and benefits of KNX the course quickly moves into how to design and specify the KNX infrastructure and how to use the ETS programming tool to commission, configure and support a KNX installation. The theory elements of the course can be taught online however most training centres prefer to intersperse the practical and theory content ensuring attendees get the best outcomes on the practical and theory exams. On successful completion of the course you will be recognised as a KNX Partner and can be listed on the KNX website.

• KNX Advanced course – minimum 30 hours:

This course follows the Basic Course and focus on what you can achieve with KNX in the real world along with some of the more advanced aspects of KNX system design and programming. With new content on DALI lighting control, BACnet Systems, KNX IP Communication and new chapter planned on KNX secure, this is a very wide-ranging course that will take your KNX system understanding to a new level. Again, the course is finished with a theory and practical exam and you will be further recognised on the KNX website.

Ivory Egg are the UK’s longest running KNX Training centre and are very excited to be offering the new course format after being one of the Training Centres pushing for change for many years. They believe these updates will help integrators to strong base level of knowledge, on which they can continue to develop with confidence. Mark Warburton, Technical Director, Ivory Egg concludes “Empowered and supported by Ivory Egg, you will be in the strongest position to win more business and gain on-going referrals.”