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Echelon's LonWorks® Network Powers First Commercially Available "Internet Home" in France

(Sunnyvale, CA - May 7, 2001) - Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) announced today that the company�s LonWorks® device networking platform is providing the home automation infrastructure for Ma M@isonnet, an Internet enabled home built by Kaufman & Broad in partnership with Cisco Systems and France Telecom. Located in Etiolles (Essonne) in the Paris suburbs, Ma M@isonnet is the first commercial Internet-enabled home available on the French market. Kaufman & Broad will offer network cabling, Internet connections and smart appliances as an option in their new homes. The concept will be made available for the majority of Kaufman & Broad's new homes throughout France, and Kaufman & Broad expects that 10 percent of its homes will be equipped similarly to Ma M@isonnet in the next year.

"The worldwide residential automation market is on the verge of explosive growth," said Tricia Parks, president of Parks Associates, an analyst firm that specializes in residential systems and access technologies. "Manufacturers are looking for technology that is robust and flexible enough to be able to meet the continuously changing needs of an evolving market, yet is a usable platform on a worldwide basis. LonWorks networks provide the end-to-end device networking infrastructure that is a low-cost and completely interoperable solution for the residential automation market worldwide."

The Ma M@isonnet show-home includes LonWorks products from Echelon (LonMaker™ Integration Tool, LNS™ Network Operating System, and the i.LON™ 1000 Internet Server); CIAC (security system); Honeywell (zoned heating); Merloni (major home appliances); Philips (lighting); and Somfy (window blinds) that connect and control all of the home's major systems. The home's built-in "domestic Intranet" provides secure Web access to the home from both the outside and inside, enabling homeowners to monitor and control their appliances, lighting, heating and other systems locally and remotely. Rather than being a smart home built simply to showcase technology, Ma M@isonnet is a connected home designed around comfort, communication, savings, security and leisure < the five core attributes that most consumers desire in their homes.

"We believe that this year promises to be the beginning of the mass market for home networking in Europe," said Frits Bruggink, Echelon's vice president of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. "Echelon has announced the availability of LonWorks appliances and other home products as well as deployments of nationwide LonWorks enabled service delivery infrastructures. Now, with Ma M@isonnet, we are seeing the availability of LonWorks enabled homes. Ma M@isonnet is an example of the value Echelon's end-to-end networking infrastructure brings to the home market, from our products embedded in home appliances and other home devices to our infrastructure hardware and management software that connects smart devices to the Web and to service providers."

The elegant Ma M@isonnet show-home has over 1,800 square feet of living space and a quarter acre garden and is open for touring by the general public and professionals by reservation only from April 27 to July 15, 2001. Reservations can be made over the Web at www.mamaisonnet.com or toll free by telephone at 011-0800-68-39-29.

About Echelon Corporation
Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) is the world leader in networking everyday devices. The company offers a comprehensive line of hardware and software products for automating building, home, industrial, transportation, and utility applications using LonWorks® networks, an international, cross-industry, open standard for interoperable device networks. Echelon is Bringing the Internet to Life™ by linking the millions of everyday devices connected with LonWorks networks to the Internet.

Echelon is based in Sunnyvale, California with international offices in China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Further information can be found at http://www.echelon.com.

From October 23-24, Echelon and Messe Frankfurt GmbH are holding LonWorld 2001, the world's premier event devoted solely to LonWorks industry, in Frankfurt, Germany. LonWorld 2001 promises to be the largest-ever gathering of LonWorks developers, integrators, end-users, and other participants in the LonWorks industry. Interested parties should visit http://www.LonWorldexpo.com for further details.

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Echelon, LonWorks, LonMark, the LonMark logo, and the Echelon logo are trademarks of Echelon Corporation registered in the United States and other countries. Bringing the Internet to Life is a trademark of Echelon Corporation. Other marks belong to their respective holders.

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, demand for products and services, development of markets for Echelon's products and services, acceptance of Echelon�s products for use in home networks, 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.

Contact Information

Press Contacts:

 

Lyn Balistreri
Echelon Corporation
408-938-5202
lbalistreri@echelon.com

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