The Official Echelon Blog

LonWorks Technology Is Green Technology

People often ask us if we're a green company.  By some measurements, we're not.  Although there are many green things about us, like we recycle, our corporate headquarters is within two blocks of a CalTrans lightrail stop, we have a bus stop in front of our building, and we have showers for bike commuters and even indoor storage for bikes, many would argue that we're not a green company. 

I would argue that we're more than a green company, we're a green tech company.

We make a control networking technology, LonWorks(r), that is truly green.  Not directly like solar or bio-fuels, but in a more subtle and real-world useable way.  This is because our technology is embedded in the devices and machines that are used in a lot of places: lighting, heating, venting, air conditioning, street lights, hot water systems, gas monitoring, blind controls, parking lights, sprinkler systems, electricity meters, and more.  Companies install LonWorks based systems because they need to automation, control or monitoring functions and LonWorks based systems and components offer the advantages that all end-users owners look for: open purchasing environments, open service contracts, choices in suppliers (even after the initial installation), extreme reliability, thousands of product choices, and bottom-line savings. 

But what makes our control technology green?  Well, dimming office lights automatically when the sun is providing enough illumination takes control.  So does letting the building temperature rise 2 degrees (F) to drop your energy consumption when your utility sends a message that the grid is under so much stress that it might have to fire up a coal burning power plant.  So does dimming streetlights when there's no traffic or even when there is, to subliminally slow it down to safer speeds.  And so does making your clothes washer turn on only when electricity is inexpensive.  Without control networks and the energy saving applications they enable, none of these things would be economically possible.

We also know through first hand experience that our technology is green, in more ways than one.  Our headquarters uses control systems to save 30% on electricity use year after year.  If you use what was the accepted model for energy consumption at the time our building was built, we're using 70% (not a typo) less energy then a comparably sized Class A office building in our area.  And on a quarterly basis we sit down with our facility manager and try to find new ways to save energy through our smart building system.  We have good reason to do so in addition to the environmental benefits, we save $30,000 in energy costs per year.

All of them, from smart washing machines to smart buildings to smart energy grids, are available on the market today, using our technology.  Collectively, adding all of the electricty savings in the thousands of LonWorks equipped commercial buildings; in the streetlighting applications up and running in Sweden, China, Canada and France; in homes in Korea and Europe; and in smart metering systems in Italy, Sweden, The Netherlands, Australia, and most recently Austria...well, that's a lot of green.

And that's why Echelon is truly a green tech company.

Why we do what we do...

Echelon started with a vision – one built on the belief that if we could put some intelligence in everything electronic, and then network them together, anything would be possible.  So we went about creating a networking platform for what we called “control networks”, and later, networks of everyday devices.  The simple idea was to make such mundane things as dishwashers, lights, doors, air-conditioners, motors, really anything, work together to do something.  Sensing, monitoring and automation are the basis of control networks, but it wasn’t about what we wanted you to do, rather it was about what you wanted do.  In effect, the question we asked of you was, “What will you create now that you can make all things electronic communicate and work together?”

A decade and a half later, we know at least part of the answer – what you already do – but cheaper, faster, more reliably, better and more profitably.  However, making better elevator systems, air-conditioning, lighting systems, more reliable trains, or more effective security systems is not everything we had in mind.  You see, it wasn’t the technology that energized us, but the possibilities of what that technology enabled.  What we wanted to build was an enduring platform – the infrastructure – for any number of devices to work together.  And we did that.

Now that the technology has reached a mature state in many markets, we’re beginning to see evidence of the fundamental changes - the possibilities - that were part of our vision.  For instance, there’s a system called Hugs that uses RFID tags to make sure new born babies don’t get moved far from their mothers.  From a clinical, technology perspective, that’s an asset monitoring and management application.  For families, it’s much more – it’s an invisible safety net that helps ensure their safety and happiness.

We’re also beginning to see smart electricity grids deployed to homes in Europe (27.2 million is the largest one).  We didn’t start with a vision of smart grids, someone else thought of that.  But one of the benefits of such systems–reduced needs for backup electricity generation, particularly from coal fired plants–is environmentally huge.  And from an everyday perspective, a smart grid also reduces the need for additional generation as our demand for electricity grows – again, a huge environmental and economic benefit.

Today, the control systems that are used in commercial buildings are being enrolled in demand response programs that are designed to conserve energy exactly when we, all of us, demand it most.  Such programs are extending (hopefully) to homes as well.  The benefit is straightforward – reduce energy need by 10% to reduce energy production by 10%, which is the equivalent of eliminating the pollution generated by burning billions of gallons of gasoline.

Here’s one that never came to be but that is a pretty amazing idea.  Imagine smart, automated wheel chairs that can become part of a building control system just by being near the building.  Joysticks or tongue controllers could call elevators, open doors or ‘pull’ fire alarms.  If it had actually happened, the Americans with Disabilities Act would now be about action, not legislation.

It’s these types of things that keep us going.  These applications, the betterment of what we already do, using what we’ve already built in new and innovative ways, and the entirely new ones that have a real impact on society – all enabled by the simple idea of making things work together - are what drive our company.