ecobee Becomes First Thermostat Company to Receive OpenADR 2.0b Certification

New certification provides homeowners and businesses with improved energy savings

Toronto, CANADA, April 17, 2014 – Today, ecobee, makers of the world’s first smart thermostat, announced it has received OpenADR 2.0b certification from the OpenADR Alliance, a nonprofit corporation created to foster the development, adoption, and compliance of the OpenADR smart grid standard. ecobee is the first company to have a 2.0b certified  thermostat  which provides standard-based communication between utilities and its customers to help improve energy savings and ease of participation in demand response (DR) programs.

The market for smart thermostats is experiencing widespread adoption. According to Navigant Research, nearly 32 million smart thermostats will be installed worldwide by the year 2020. As dramatic growth occurs, standardization is crucial to simplify DR programs and increase participation so homeowners and businesses can easily save energy during high peak times.

“ecobee’s mission is to empower homeowners to achieve meaningful energy savings without sacrificing comfort,” said Stuart Lombard, CEO, ecobee. “OpenADR provides standards to simplify communication between the utility and the customer delivering peak load reduction for utilities, savings and reliability for homeowners, and sustainability for the community.

Designed for more sophisticated devices, OpenADR 2.0b supports most DR services and markets including commercial, industrial and residential environments which enables broad-based and completely automated participation in DR events. It includes flexible reporting capabilities for past, current and future data reports.

"There is growing demand among utilities for OpenADR certified thermostats to support automated demand response programs for both residential and commercial customers," said Barry Haaser, managing director, OpenADR Alliance. “It is exciting to see the innovative smart thermostat from ecobee enable new utility programs and a better customer experience through open standards.”

ecobee’s certification of OpenADR 2.0b was sponsored by the Ministry of Energy and funded in part through the Ontario Smart Grid Fund initiative.

About ecobee

ecobee—maker of the world’s first smart thermostat—delivers intelligent energy management solutions to homeowners, commercial, HVAC, and Utility markets. With hundreds of thousands of installs across North America, ecobee’s award-winning smart thermostats and Open Energy Management Platform are the easiest way for customers to understand, manage, and reduce their energy consumption. ecobee’s pioneering work with Open APIs is accelerating the adoption of the Internet of Things and leading to a more connected home.

ecobee’s line of Wi-Fi enabled smart thermostats, online web portals and mobile apps are the products of choice for ease of use, energy efficiency and demand response programs. www.ecobee.com