ZigBee Alliance Establishes New European Headquarters

SAN RAMON, Calif., Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The ZigBee® Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions supporting energy management in residential, commercial and consumer electronics applications, today announced Larry Taylor as director of European standards development and the head of its new European office located in Cambridge, United Kingdom.  Taylor, who has more than 20 years of experience with International Standards, will lead a team responsible for expanding the Alliance's efforts in addressing the European Union (EU)'s specific needs in energy management standards and Smart Grid activities.  The European HQ will also focus on supporting its growing European-based membership and expanding its growing role in EU implementations of ZigBee Smart Energy in wireless advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and home area networks (HAN).

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More than 150 Alliance members, or 40 percent of the Alliance's membership, have European operations focused on ZigBee-related projects. The European HQ will help foster new partnerships with energy-related EU organizations while bolstering efforts with existing collaborations with the European Smart Metering Industry Group (ESMIG) and the Device Language Message Specification (DLMS) User Association.  The European HQ will expedite ZigBee's growing emergence as the leading choice for wireless EU Smart Grid projects and promote greater adoption of other innovative ZigBee standards offering solutions for consumer electronics, home automation, health care and telecom.  

"ZigBee is committed to playing an active role in EU Smart Grid standardization efforts by sharing our expertise with ZigBee Smart Energy implementations already underway around the world," said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance.  "Our new European HQ is a testament to placing Europe as a priority so we can continue helping our strong and growing European membership base continue to benefit from ZigBee."

Growth in EU Smart Grid initiatives is being fuelled by government energy and environmental policies, plus rising consumer interest in energy conservation.  The European Parliament's passage of the 3rd Energy Package last year requires the outfitting of 80 percent of EU electricity customers with smart meters by 2020.  In addition, according to analyst firm Berg Insight, the installed base of smart electricity meters in Europe will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17.9 percent between 2009 and 2015 to reach 111.4 million.  The European HQ will help ZigBee Alliance members understand and address EU specific needs as developments within the EU market unfold.  

"There is a growing need among consumers for more control over household devices through easy-to-use and green wireless automation systems to conserve energy, and our European members are working to incorporate innovative ZigBee standards wherever possible to meet this growing need," said Taylor.  "The ZigBee Alliance European HQ will help members leverage and address changing market needs, and work with EU standards bodies to ensure ZigBee Smart Energy contributes to evolving EU Smart Grid requirements."

ZigBee Smart Energy – The Standard for Home Area Networks

ZigBee Smart Energy enables wireless communication between energy service providers, utilities and common household devices such as smart thermostats and appliances. It improves energy efficiency by allowing consumers to choose interoperable energy saving products from different manufacturers and link them together, giving the consumer the means to manage their energy consumption more precisely using automation and near real-time information. It also helps utilities and energy providers implement new advanced metering and demand response programs to drive greater energy management and efficiency, while responding to changing government requirements. For more information and a list of ZigBee Certified products, visit: www.ZigBee.org/SmartEnergy.  

ZigBee: Control your world

ZigBee offers green and global wireless standards connecting the widest range of devices to work together intelligently and help you control your world. The ZigBee Alliance is an open, non-profit association of approximately 400 members driving development of innovative, reliable and easy-to-use ZigBee standards.  The Alliance promotes worldwide adoption of ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for use in consumer, commercial and industrial areas. For more information, visit:  www.ZigBee.org.

SOURCE ZigBee Alliance