WebGen Systems and Echelon Team to Improve Energy Management for Comme

    Business Editors/Energy Editors/High-Tech Editors

    SAN JOSE, Calif. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2005--Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ:ELON), the creator of the LonWorks(R) device networking platform for networking everyday devices to each other and the Internet, and WebGen Systems Inc., provider of advanced software for energy conservation and control in commercial buildings, today announced that the companies have collaborated to integrate Internet access and a real-time energy management and monitoring solution that reduces energy consumption in small-to-medium sized commercial and retail buildings.
    "An enterprise with multiple locations has different needs than a single, large commercial building, and a different type of solution is necessary to effectively manage energy costs," said Mark Noyes, WegGen's CEO and president. "Access to real-time information combined with the ability to automate best practices in energy management provides the best tools to minimize energy consumption. Working with Echelon, we've created a solution that simplifies integration into existing and new construction and helps our customers improve operations and lower costs across the enterprise or campus through enterprise energy management."
    Small-to-medium sized commercial buildings typically have limited maintenance staff, and inefficiencies in energy utilization can go unnoticed for extended periods. The new solution utilizes the Web services interface of Echelon's i.LON(R) 100 Internet Server to collect data from energy meters and send it via the Internet to WebGen's IUE advanced system software, which remotely monitors energy conditions and controls on-premise devices to minimize energy use. This combination of Echelon's networking technology and WebGen's software expertise enables the fast deployment of cost-effective energy solutions to large financial institutions, universities and other retail and commercial customers with multiple locations.
    "To meet customers' needs, WebGen's solution must cost-effectively access critical energy data from existing meters and high energy consumption devices, regardless of type," said Anders Axelsson, Echelon's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "Echelon provides a very economical means of managing and controlling devices, and customers will see immediate benefits upon deployment. In those many instances in which a LonWorks device network is already in place, the WebGen solution increases in value exponentially because energy can be managed down to the device level, which of course is one of the key attributes of a LonWorks network."

    About WebGen Systems, Inc.

    Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., WebGen Systems, Inc. provides advanced software for energy conservation and control in commercial buildings. WebGen combines the highest level of industry expertise with a reliable suite of open-protocol software tools, called IUE(TM), to provide real-time command of energy use to generate savings. Its system connects all aspects of building energy management to automatically measure, monitor, and control energy consumption -- building by building, system by system, meter by meter, and device by device. WebGen offers the most effective Enterprise Energy Management solution on the market today. Additional information can be found on the company website: www.webgensystems.com.

    About Echelon Corporation

    Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ:ELON) is the creator of the LonWorks platform, the world's most widely used standard for connecting everyday devices such as appliances, thermostats, air conditioners, electric meters, and lighting systems to each other and to the Internet. Echelon's hardware and software products enable manufacturers and integrators to create smart devices and systems that lower cost, increase convenience, improve service, and enhance productivity, quality, and safety. Thousands of companies have developed and installed LonWorks products and more than 40 million LonWorks devices have been installed in homes, buildings, factories, trains, and other systems worldwide.
    Further information regarding Echelon can be found at http://www.echelon.com.

    Echelon, LonWorks, and the Echelon logo are registered trademarks of Echelon Corporation registered in the United States and other countries. WebGen is a registered trademark of WebGen Systems in the US and other countries. IUE is a trademark of WebGen Systems in the US and other countries.

    This press release may contain statements relating to future plans, events or performance. Such statements may involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties pertaining to the timing and level of customer orders and demand for Echelon products and services, the growth of the LonWorks industry; risks associated with the market acceptance of WebGen's LonWorks based energy solution, continued success of existing customers of WebGen's LonWorks based energy solutions; and other risks identified in Echelon's SEC filings. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Echelon undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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CONTACT: Echelon Steve Nguyen, 408-938-5272 qnguyen@echelon.com or Roeder-Johnson Corporation Abigail Johnson or Paul Michelson, 650-802-1850 http://email.roeder-johnson.com or WebGen Systems, Inc. Selly Kruthoffer, 617-349-0724 skruthoffer@webgensystems.com

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA MASSACHUSETTS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HARDWARE REAL ESTATE BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION UTILITIES MANUFACTURING PRODUCT MARKETING AGREEMENTS SOURCE: Echelon Corporation

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