Winner KNX innovation award 2017
Domotechnology has won the KNX innovation award 2017.
The automation of this luxury home with outbuildings was all about comfort and experience. Naturally, the residents also wanted carefree and efficient operation. With the systems that Domotechnology realized here, all these conditions have been met. The result is a project with an enormous diversity of KNX products, from no fewer than 19 KNX manufacturers, and various integration highlights. In this beautiful home, practically all standard functions have been integrated, such as lighting, screens, heating and cooling, atmospheres but also a bi-directional multi-room audio system. It did not stop there because the TVs and home cinemas are also included in the system, as well as a bi-directional connection to swimming pools, jacuzzi, hammam and the alarm system. This means that almost all technology is integrated under one KNX automation system. This also makes it possible to optimize energy consumption, bundle error messages from the various systems and show visualization on technical pages in the iPad.
Advanced lighting control
he lighting control in this project is more advanced than you might expect at first glance. Due to the different types, such as regular halogen spots but also a lot of LED lighting, these are controlled via LED dimmers, current dimmers (350 or 700mA), PWM dimmers and 0-10V dimmers. And we see that same complexity in the heating too, with a Dimplex heat pump for underfloor heating and cooling, controlled by KNX thermostats. There is also a high-efficiency central heating boiler. In an advanced control, the heat pump heats the rooms as sustainably as possible, but also the swimming pool, and the central heating boiler jumps in when necessary. The gas fireplaces can also be operated via the KNX installation and switched off centrally. For the ventilation system, a connection to KNX has been made via a Modbus RTU gateway.
Extensive AV installation
The AV installation in the home uses Speakercraft and RTi multi-room amplifiers that serve 56 zones. The TVs and other sources are also centrally controlled via a KNX-Atlona gateway. Because the television and projector lifts are also connected, the resident can switch on the TV, select the desired source, control the lift and set the multi-room amplifier to the correct source with one push of a button. Of course, a home theater is not missing in this project, where the system and the indirect RGB lighting and starry sky can all be controlled via KNX.
Integration of alarm within KNX
To create maximum safety, the alarm system is integrated within KNX. All zones and their status can be seen on the visualisation. To reassure the customer, various water detections are provided, including detection of defects in the pumps and sensors. Not an unnecessary luxury, because this house has swimming pools, for which KNX is responsible for the operation and statuses of roller shutters, lighting, desired temperature, fountains, jets, RGB lighting, waterfalls, water level and the heating system.
KNX controls the preheating, waterfalls, RGB lighting and, after use, dehumidification in the wellness area, for example in the hammam.
All control within one app.
This complex but above all integral and complete automation requires simple and clear operation. Domotechnology created this via one app, the iViewer 4 app from commandfusion, with a self-developed gateway to KNX. Three visualisation gateways are provided in the entire installation that are strategically distributed over the buildings so that they can work independently of each other if necessary. This is not visible to the customer because the visualization switches to the correct gateway of the building where he wants to operate something. At the customer's request, he can operate his home automation and camera installation via a secure connection anywhere in the world.
