Interoperability that can integrate technologies like renewable energy generation and EV charging ecosystems is key for the smartphones and buildings of the future, as the new global connectivity standard ‘Matter’ is announced by the CSA and members including Amazon, Apple, Google, IKEA and Schneider Electric. carries.
Recognized as the world’s most sustainable corporation by Corporate Knights, Schneider Electric is one of the 180 most innovative companies within the Connection Standards Association (CSA) that contributed to the creation and testing of the new Matter standard. This industry unifying standard is based on market proven technologies and best practices. It aims to simplify connectivity experiences and
Matter, a new open source unified connectivity tool formerly known as CHIP (Connected Home over IP), can be applied to many smart home and building solutions, including lighting, locks, speakers, HVAC controls, security systems and routers. Thanks to Matter, homes and buildings will have the option to integrate with the new Matter certified devices that best suit their needs, regardless of brand, rather than being limited to products that can only work with the existing smart system.
Matter is built using IP, the internet’s own local network technology, and is backed by major ecosystem providers. Matter marked products will provide consumers, manufacturers, product designers and developers with enhanced cybersecurity, built-in cloud connectivity and device interoperability. Additionally, with standard definitions for device models and lifecycle events such as allocation/running, extraction, fail recovery, and software update, developers can also rely more on the consistency and quality of their users’ experience across ecosystems.
Giving consumers control in the race to net zero
The long-term benefits of Matter don’t end there. If we continue in the same way, it is predicted that electricity demand will double by 2040. As digitalization becomes the norm, we are witnessing an increase in the desire to produce and use more renewable energy. This is accompanied by greater regulatory pressure to fully electrify cooking, heating and vehicle charging. Electricity is the most efficient form of energy and the best vector for decarbonisation. It also offers unmatched potential to eliminate energy waste when paired with digital.
With smart IoT connected devices being more interoperable in the home ecosystem, home owners and builders can build tomorrow’s homes with a flexible and future-ready architecture that uses Matter-connected devices across ecosystems, with a reliable, consolidated and secure view of energy consumption. This field of view, combined with AI-enabled and software-driven smart energy management solutions, gives consumers control over how energy is produced, stored, distributed and consumed at home. This field of view can also enable smart home systems to prioritize green energy, enabling power-intensive appliances and devices such as Electric Vehicles (EVs) to consume most of their energy in the home from solar or decarbonized energy sources. This is another way that consumers and the world can benefit from this initiative.
Bruno Zerbib, Schneider Electric Director of Technology and Digital, said: “As the World’s Most Sustainable Corporation, selected by Corporation Knights, we firmly believe that the path to a net-zero future is both electric and digital. Thanks to software-based smart energy management solutions, our customers will be able to accelerate their journey to sustainable net zero homes and buildings of the future.”
“Using open and global standards is critical to achieving digital transformation. Organizations like the CSA are key in establishing such standards, and we are pleased to collaborate with other industry leaders to develop IP-based standards such as Matter to increase IoT device interoperability in connected smart building ecosystems.”
Open source standards should not be limited to smart homes and buildings
Schneider Electric is a strong advocate of open source standards. Matter offers adopters and developers of this standard faster time-to-market (using an implementation of the specifications), higher quality (because code is tested early and frequently), and more robust security (because the entire development community is able to detect and undertake patches).