GridPoint Joins ZigBee Alliance to Promote Wireless Mesh Networking Standard for Home Automation Monitoring and Control
GridPoint to Integrate ZigBee Technology into Products to Allow Them to Communicate With Other Devices and Offer Customers More Flexibility, Ease of Use and Control
WASHINGTON - December 19, 2005 - GridPoint, Inc., a provider of intelligent energy management (IEM) appliances, today announced that it has joined the ZigBee Alliance, an international association of companies working together to enable and promote ZigBee's wireless low-power mesh networking technology as an open standard for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications to control applications in light commercial and residential markets. By joining the alliance at the adopter level, GridPoint will participate in the development of ZigBee standardized applications and increase flexibility for customers who integrate its products with other devices and systems.
"We are happy to welcome GridPoint to the growing ZigBee Alliance of trend-setting companies," said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "GridPoint's focus on automatic energy reliability and efficiency perfectly complements our expertise in the areas of energy conservation and home automation, and we look forward to working together."
GridPoint IEM appliances provide protection from power outages, manage energy efficiency, reduce energy costs as well as integrate renewable energy sources, if desired. Next quarter GridPoint's products will offer the ZigBee capability, which will enhance the ability of GridPoint appliances to communicate with advanced thermostats, energy monitoring and control devices, and home automation systems. For instance, based on pre-defined user preferences, GridPoint appliances will automatically turn off major electrical loads such as air conditioning and water heating during periods when the home or business is unoccupied.
The goal of the ZigBee Alliance is to provide the consumer with ultimate flexibility, mobility, and ease of use by building wireless intelligence and capabilities into every day devices. ZigBee technology will be embedded in a wide range of products and applications across consumer, commercial, industrial and government markets worldwide. For the first time, companies will have a standards-based wireless platform optimized for the unique needs of remote monitoring and control applications, including simplicity, reliability, low-cost and low-power.
"ZigBee is an innovative, reliable technology that is easy to install. By joining this alliance we ensure GridPoint products are industry compatible, which gives our customers more options and control to intelligently manage their energy," said Peter L. Corsell, President and CEO of GridPoint.
Unlike any other residential energy technology, GridPoint products uniquely incorporate advanced software coupled with communication technologies and network controls that allow the appliance to automatically execute intelligent decisions to improve power reliability and management. In addition to providing backup power during outages, GridPoint appliances enable users to sell excess energy back to the utility. The single cabinet, "plug-and-play" appliances are easy to install and monitored by GridPoint's network operations center to ensure maximum efficiency and early detection of maintenance needs.
About the ZigBee Alliance
The ZigBee Alliance is an association of companies working together to enable reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly networked, monitoring and control products based on an open global standard. The ZigBee Alliance is a rapidly growing, non-profit, industry consortium of leading semiconductor manufacturers, technology providers, OEMs, and end-users worldwide. Additional information can be found at www.zigbee.org
About GridPoint
GridPoint builds intelligent energy management (IEM) products to provide protection from power outages, reduce energy costs and manage energy efficiency for the home and business. GridPoint IEM appliances provide traditional and renewable energy users with instant, automatic backup power based on clean, high-capacity, battery-based technology. GridPoint products also offer the renewable energy user a superior way to integrate alternative energy sources. GridPoint's single cabinet, "plug-and-play" appliances are easy to install and sold through a network of premium home builders, utilities, retail chains and government entities as well as installers and contractors of electrical, heating, air-conditioning, home automation and renewable energy systems.
On the Net: www.gridpoint.com
Contact Information
Suzanne Lauer
703.862.3137 or slauer@gridpoint.com
Media Contact
Suzanne Lauer
(703) 862-3137 or
slauer@gridpoint.com