ABB and Zumtobel Group partner to advance smart lighting and building solutions and direct current (DC) industry applications

• The companies will focus on integrating ABB’s building automation solutions with Zumtobel Group’s lighting management systems  
• ABB and Zumtobel Group will also target innovation in the use of direct current (DC) technology in full-scale industrial applications to reduce energy use and lower CO₂ emissions 
• The strategic partnership will support more efficient, sustainable and user-friendly commercial, industrial and institutional buildings 

Global technology leader ABB and Austrian-based Zumtobel Group, a global leader in professional lighting solutions announce their strategic partnership aimed at advancing smart building solutions and direct current (DC) industrial product applications. The collaboration is set to create significant added value for customers in commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors by offering integrated, smart solutions for sustainable buildings.

The collaboration will leverage both companies’ expertise in lighting, building automation, and electrification. It will focus on integrating Zumtobel Group’s advanced lighting management systems with ABB’s comprehensive building automation solutions. The combined expertise is expected to create more efficient, sustainable, and user-friendly smart building environments. The two companies will help to accelerate the adoption of sensor-based lighting solutions that enable businesses to optimize energy efficiency, increase occupant comfort and maximize the effectiveness of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) control.

Both companies aim to drive innovations based on the latest developments in using DC technology in full-scale industrial applications. The use of DC technology is intended to support a resource-saving society by delivering several benefits for a modern industrial power grid: efficient integration of renewable energy, lower resource consumption, reduced feed-in power, stable grids and an open system for users. Both companies are active members of the Open Direct Current Alliance (ODCA), a Working Party of ZVEI e.V.

“Our partnership approach enables us to better address innovation, standardization, and sustainability and continue to pioneer new technologies,” said Lucy Han, Executive Vice President for Building and Home Automation Solutions at ABB. “Standardization, through KNX, Matter and Thread is particularly important in assuring ease of use for customers, because alongside the rapid growth of the sector, we must drive simplicity. Technologies in commercial buildings need to talk to each other and by combining our strengths with partners like the Zumtobel Group, we can offer customers more comprehensive and innovative solutions for smart buildings and industrial applications.”

Key aspects of the partnership include the joint development of integrated smart building solutions, especially around Zumtobel’s LITECOM lighting system and continuous-row TECTON DC luminaire and ABB’s DC protection devices as well as its ABB i-bus® KNX and ABB i-bus® DALI systems.

Oliver Vogler, SVP Corporate Strategy and M&A of the Zumtobel Group, underlines, “Collaborating with ABB allows us to expand our building management offering around sensor-based lighting, especially in DALI and KNX applications. Together, we can drive innovation in the rapidly evolving fields of smart buildings and smart energy solutions.”

The companies will also explore additional cooperation opportunities in prefabricated building solutions and emerging technology standards such as the cross-manufacturer connection standard Matter and the network protocol Thread.