SAN JOSE, Calif. - LonMark International announced that the voting members of the Joint Technical Committee (JTC 1) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have formally approved LonWorks control networking technology as ISO/IEC 14908, Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4.

First introduced in 1990, LonWorks control networking technology has held American, European, and Chinese national standards designations for several years. Now the ISO/IEC approval gives it international standards recognition.

According to LonMark International, this achievement will enhance the adoption and usage of the technology in the worldwide controls market and specifically in buildings projects.

“This formal, international recognition by ISO/IEC further validates the breadth and pervasiveness of LonWorks technologies,” said Jeremy J. Roberts, technical director of LonMark International. “Already American, European, and Chinese standards, it was the natural progression for LonWorks to be adopted by our larger, global community; paving the way for other nations to more easily specify LonWorks control systems without having to duplicate the standardization efforts within their own countries.”

The four parts of the standard set comprise the core protocol; the twisted-pair, free-topology-wiring transfer medium; the powerline transfer medium; and the use of the Internet Protocol (IP) as a tunneling transfer medium, respectively.

“This is very exciting news for the controls market,” stated Ron Bernstein, executive director of LonMark International. “This announcement reaffirms the validity and strength of LonWorks worldwide and will pave the way for even greater adoption. LonWorks networking technology is used in nearly every aspect of building automation, monitoring, and control, aside from the many other uses of LonWorks technology in transportation, home automation, and various industrial applications. We are pleased to have been able to spearhead this standardization effort for our members and the market, and are looking forward to the opportunities it creates for all end users seeking true, open, interoperable control networks.”

For more information, visit www.lonmark.org.

Publication date: 12/22/2008