Q1 2009

So far, 2009 has ushered in many significant opportunities of which you should be made aware. Along with a challenging economy and a new governing team in the US – which certainly will change some economic policies – we are also seeing a focus on improved efficiency. Recently, I read a speech by President Elect Obama stating the new administration will have to become more efficient; starting with all government buildings. Buildings will have to run more efficiently; beginning with the heating, air conditioning, and lighting. While the US military has already started upgrading their bases using the open, LonWorks specification developed by the Army Corps of Engineers, there is a new opportunity emerging to provide a similar objective to the GSA. Several meetings with key contacts have begun as we work to support them.

For LonMark and the LonWorks community, the recent announcements of our successful ISO/IEC standardization efforts will pave the way for more specifications declaring LonWorks as the open-control system of choice. Inside this issue of the LonMark Magazine, there are several articles discussing the importance of the ISO/IEC designation and how this will affect all of us worldwide. However, I would like to recognize here a few key individuals who have been instrumental in ensuring LonWorks and LonMark International were successful in reaching this goal:

• Jeremy J. Roberts – LonMark’s Technical Director – Jeremy has acted as co-editor and LonMark’s leader for this effort since the early stages of development. Jeremy has been working with volunteers, working groups, standards bodies, committees, and directly with ISO/ IEC to ensure all efforts were well coordinated. I personally extend my sincere thanks to Jeremy for seeing this project through to success.
• Vijay Dhingra – Echelon VP Product Marketing – Vijay, also a co-editor, has been the key person within Echelon driving this effort and working very closely with LonMark and the volunteers. Vijay’s tenacity and perseverance have been outstanding as he has been working with the countless “players” and national bodies to achieve a successful vote. Vijay was intimately involved in the document preparation, comment resolution, and he spearheaded the process we used to achieve a successful outcome. Vijay’s ambassadorship and skillful communication efforts have been invaluable.
• Jan Brissman – LonMark Board Member, TAC Technology Manager – Jan has volunteered his time on several key committees; the primary one being the CEN TC 247 committee, which has been a very active team working towards European adoption of LonWorks. Jan coordinated efforts with many of the European national standards bodies and was instrumental in ensuring efficient and successful communication with all of the involved parties.
• Chris Brönnimann – LonMark International Board Member, LonMark Switzerland Chair, and CEO of IBT – Chris is the chair of the LonMark Technical Committee and was instrumental in coordinating efforts, both technical and political, within the European community. Chris’s leadership and dedication have been exemplary.
• The Supporters – Many of our members, associates, and friends have helped encourage their local standards bodies to support LonWorks becoming an ISO/ IEC standard including: Hans- Jörg Schweinzer and Ernst Eder (Austria), Robert Bothe (Belgium), Jürgen Hertel (Germany), Roberto Pietra (Italy), Jae-Gun Wee (Korea), Henny van de Bovenkamp and Mark Ossel ( N e t h e r l a n d s ) , Nariman Fakhraee and Knut Løe (Norway), Pawel Kwasnowski (Poland), Miha Erklavec (Slovenia), Peter Palensky (South Africa), Rene Quirighetti (Switzerland), Mark Buckland and Peter Colebrook (UK), Barry Haaser and Kenneth P. Wacks (US), and the many hardworking participants of CEN TC 247, without whom this technology may not have become European, and then international, standards. We are very grateful to these people and the many others that have helped the process along the way. Our sincere thanks and gratitude towards you.
• The Creators Part 1 – No note of appreciation would be complete without recognizing the key people responsible for creation of the LonTalk® protocol. Bob Dolin, Glen Riley, Robert Einkauf, and Marek Friedrick first put pen to paper and later code to computer and created what we now commonly refer to as LonTalk. Their effort started in the 1980s and their work to enhance, improve, and expand the protocol goes on today. Recently, I had a chance to congratulate several of them individually on this tremendous personal and professional accomplishment.
• The Creators Part 2 – In addition to the protocol, there are three other parts to the ISO/IEC 14908 suite of standards: The twisted-pair channel, powerline channel, and IPtunneling specification. I would also like to recognize the key individuals responsible for these technologies, as they are examples of simple ideas benefiting the world in a huge way.
  • The twisted-pair transceiver we refer to as FTT – Free Topology Transceiver used in more than 90% of all open, LonWorks projects was developed by Rod Sinks, Mike Berke, Don Baumann, Kurt Stoll, and Bob Dolin in the early 1990s.
  • The Powerline transceiver technology, a rather complex signaling challenge, was developed by Phil Sutterlin, Walter Downey, Mark Stewart, and Amy Hurlbut; and they continue to improve and expand the usage of powerline signaling today.
  • Finally, the IP-852 technology, part 4 of the ISO/IEC suite for LonWorks, was developed by a team of people including Samuel Smith, Stefan Soucek, Darrell Duffy, Fremont Bainbridge, and Bob Dolin. We congratulate all of them on their accomplishments – and having the world recognize this in the form of issuing an International Standard based on their efforts makes us very proud indeed.

We honor them and offer our sincere appreciation and recognition.

In other recent news…
In early November, the LonMark International Board of Directors Meeting was held in Dubai, UAE, where we met with various local individuals to discuss the usage of LonWorks in projects in the area. Our meeting was co-located with a real estate show and hosted key individuals from the entire Middle East region. The board had the opportunity to tour the city of Dubai and learn first hand about the building projects underway in the city. Several of the famous projects we visited are using LonWorks for their control systems, an added benefit to our tour. The meetings confirmed our view that there are tremendous opportunities in the region for open LonWorks systems. Discussions are underway to explore increasing the awareness of LonWorks through an educational outreach program.

LonMark’s Technical Director, Jeremy J. Roberts, recently met with key members of the NAFEM (North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers) trade association and McDonald’s Corporation to discuss how LonMark International can support their efforts to develop and deploy smart restaurant equipment. The meeting opened the door for additional discussions, such as profile development, equipment testing and certification, industry education, and ongoing collaboration. The QSR (Quick Serve Restaurant) market, through McDonald’s stewardship, is potentially a very large, new market for LonWorks technology.

The Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR) honored LonMark with a plaque of recognition for their energy conservation project with the Government of Kuwait. We are quite honored to have received this recognition for supporting their ongoing efforts. KISR’s Dr. Ahmad Al Mula and his team have implemented a LonWorks solution in a pilot project for Demand Response load limiting for a variety of buildings in Kuwait as they address a power distribution limitation. The remotely accessed and activated system uses a combination of LonWorks technology- based products as the first phase of what has the potential to be a very large implementation. We hope to have a case study on this project later this year. Additionally, we are working with KISR to develop educational programs in the region.

2009 will be a year of growth and opportunity for our members. On the technical front: the efforts of the working groups developing new open specifications, new profiles, and LonMark Guideline enhancements. We have our work cut out for us. On the marketing, promotion, and educational fronts: we are working on a variety of projects including a new job board for professional job placement, a new educational Web-based seminar program, and we are investigating a new series of community networking and educational events called LonMark Connection – Building Community. More information will come via email and on our website.

Not yet a member of LonMark International? Joining LonMark International is simple and valuable. Our objectives are simply to support our membership and the market through a variety of technical, educational, and promotional efforts. Consider supporting these efforts and gain exceptional value while helping fund our ongoing activities.

Ron Bernstein
Executive Director

 

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