Rainforest Automation is a private corporation based in Vancouver, BC. We make products that allow utilities and homeowners to manage residential energy usage. Our primary product focus is on the ZigBee® wireless HAN (Home Area Network), and connecting the smart meter data stream to the home and the cloud. Our open, standards-based devices enable “plug and play” access to the smart meter data stream – not only for utilities and end consumers, but also for third-parties, such as suppliers of home automation equipment, home energy management system makers, and providers of value-added cloud services.
History
The company was founded in 2004 by an experienced team of technology professionals with a strong background in communications and IT – the cornerstones of smart grid deployments and HAN technology. The company’s early efforts were directed towards the home automation market, but it readily became apparent that home energy management was the killer application for the ZigBee® wireless technology we had developed. So we set our sights on the HAN, and have never looked back.
Our first product, the EMU™ (Energy Monitoring Unit), was initially developed as a proof of concept for local utility BC Hydro during preliminary discussions about their proposed Smart Meter & Infrastructure (SMI) program in 2008. They needed a simple, very inexpensive in-home display that could communicate directly with a smart meter in real time to show the energy consumption of the home. Based on this concept, product development began in late 2008. Three generations of prototypes and a number of product samples were produced over the course of 2009. In December of 2009, the EMU™ was granted ZigBee® Smart Energy 1.0 certification, and the product began shipping to utilities.
A number of other products followed, and were well received by customers and partners. Our products have been tested with many of the major domestic meters, including those made by Itron, Landis+Gyr, Silver Spring Networks, Elster, Aclara, and SmartSynch. We currently have products being evaluated in end user trials and lab evaluations by over 40 companies across the US and in Canada, Australia, and the UK.
Our technical team is actively involved in helping write and refine the ZigBee® Smart Energy standard. We are an active, voting member of the ZigBee® Alliance, with sitting members on the Technical and Marketing Working Groups, as well as the SGIP (Smart Grid Interoperability Panel) PAP (Priority Action Plan) 18 committee for NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Members of the Rainforest Automation team are recognized as leading experts in ZigBee® technology.
