Lowes Joins Z-Wave Alliance To Expand Its Line of Smart Home Products

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Move strengthens support of the ZWave wireless IoT standard.

Lowe’s is moving to expand its Iris by Lowe’s smart home solution by joining the Z-Wave Alliance, a global consortium of more than 325 member companies. Iris by Lowe’s is designed to monitor and control virtually everything in the home, anywhere, anytime, from a computer, smart phone, or tablet.

Lowe’s was one of the first companies to target the mass consumer market with a broad home automation solution.  Iris was launched in July 2012, and utilizes a truly open platform backed by Lowe’s customer support.

According to Lowe’s, “Iris helps you manage your home, simplifying your life and making it easier to achieve peace of mind.” It does so by allowing users to control temperature, locks, lights, and more remotely from a smart device.

Alliance membership has expanded 20 percent in the first half of 2015, with 60 new members joining their ranks.  The addition of Irish by Lowe’s is another sign of the Alliance’s growing power.

“Partnering with the Z-Wave Alliance is an important next step in offering an even more expansive array of smart home products and further advancing technology in and around the home,” Mick Koster, vice president and general manager of Iris Home Systems explained. “Together, Iris, the Alliance and its diverse ecosystem of members have a larger opportunity to propel home automation forward, delivering innovative and smarter devices to consumers.”

 “As the awareness of the smart home concept becomes more prevalent among consumers with big players entering the market, the demand for DIY smart home solutions grows,” said Mitchell Klein, executive director for the Z-Wave Alliance. “As with construction and home repair, we need retailers like Lowe’s to offer a combination model of do-it-yourself with knowledgeable staff and education to help consumers get started.”