by Brianna Crandall — March 16, 2012—Daintree Networks, Inc., provider of intelligent wireless lighting controls for commercial buildings, announced March 14 that its Wireless Area Controller (WAC) has become the first lighting controls product to gain ZigBee Certified product status using the ZigBee Building Automation wireless standard. This certification confirms that the product meets all ZigBee requirements and can interoperate seamlessly with other ZigBee products. ZigBee offers green and global wirelessly networked, sensing and control standards connecting a wide range of devices to work together intelligently in consumer, commercial and industrial areas.
“Daintree Networks is proud to be the first ZigBee Building Automation lighting solution to obtain ZigBee Certified product status, an important milestone in our mission to bring wireless lighting controls to the mass market of commercial buildings,” said Danny Yu, CEO, Daintree Networks. “Throughout our nine-year association with the ZigBee Alliance, Daintree has been a strong advocate for the value of open, interoperable communications standards. Our work and certification with the ZigBee Building Automation standard represent an important step towards building-wide, intelligent wireless control networks.”
The WAC is the core component of Daintree’s ControlScope solution—an intelligent local controller that provides commercial buildings with distributed lighting control and centralized management intelligence. It is now ZigBee Certified for both ZigBee Building Automation and ZigBee Home Automation, enabling the WAC to seamlessly communicate with, and control, a wide variety of wireless light fixtures, fluorescent ballasts, light-emitting diode (LED) drivers, sensors, switches and other devices from leading manufacturers—out of the box. The WAC can easily communicate with non-lighting devices as well, such as wireless thermostats and window blind controllers, notes Daintree.
Most wireless lighting systems on the market today use proprietary wireless communications, which limits customer choice, creates unnecessary lock-in and stifles innovation, says the company. Daintree Networks’ open approach instead follows the proven lead of the information technology (IT) and building management systems industries, where the intelligent use of open and proven industry standards has led to more widespread adoption. Daintree says it demonstrates its commitment to open systems through its certified use of the ZigBee Building Automation standard, and its ControlScope Connected community of wireless partners.
Daintree Networks purposes to lead a new generation of intelligent, wireless and open lighting controls for every building. The company has completed more than 40 commercial installations since the start of 2011, representing close to 3.5 million square feet of floor space. Customers include one of the world’s leading banks, a Northeastern grocery chain, warehouses and cold storage facilities, office buildings, government facilities and more—including several enterprise-wide systems installed in sites across North America. Daintree’s innovative ControlScope Connected partnership program is reportedly the most extensive in the industry, and has grown rapidly to include nearly 20 leading lighting manufacturers committed to open wireless controls.
