What is ZigBee?

ZigBee is a wireless transmission standard, operating at a signal strength between Bluetooth and WiFi, which enables technology to be developed to provide smart, low-cost, low-power and low-maintenance, wire-free monitoring and remote control solutions for buildings management. 

It can be utilised in a variety of end devices, such as switches, sensors, door locks, lighting, energy controls, and meters.  These can be linked over a mesh network by way of concealed wireless routers, to facilitate the online management of an entire building.

ZigBee has been under development globally since the millennium. It is now recognised to be a standard which will revolutionise how we construct, retrofit and manage buildings around the world. The benefits it delivers include:

• ZigBee protects and increases building value by supporting state-of-the-art, operationally-efficient platforms

• It simplifies design while increasing flexibility; wireless environments easily adapt to changing needs

• It reduces disruption to on-going activities in a building during refurbishment since wire-free installation is much less intrusive than traditional building methods

• Costs and constraints associated with re-wiring are eliminated

• Building occupants enjoy a more comfortable experience since wireless devices can be located more conveniently for better control and increased sensitivity to changing conditions

• ZigBee provides the ability for devices in buildings to run for years on inexpensive primary batteries

• Sustainable solutions. As the world’s energy resources decline, ZigBee technology can dramatically reduce usage and cut carbon emissions

The ZigBee Alliance is a rapidly growing, non-profit industry consortium of leading manufacturers, technology providers and end-users worldwide that are together defining a new era in building automation. For more information about the organisation, visit www.zigbee.org.