Entry Point

How Lighting Infrastructure is Accelerating the Evolution of Smart Buildings

By Chuck Piccirillo

When the internet was fully commercialized in 1995, it was both exciting and overwhelming. The possibilities were endless. Who could imagine back then that we’d soon toss aside the folded maps we needed to reach an unfamiliar destination; envelopes and stamps to pay our bills; big, bulky phone books to look up a telephone number; or that we could have instant real-time face-to-face communication with people all over the world? 

Now, everything we need is at our fingertips – in fact, we don’t even need a computer to look up this information anymore. All we need is a smartphone, which can be found in just about every hand at any given time. 

Still, it was daunting to imagine the way the internet would change the way we live.

The internet of things (IoT) can be similarly intimidating – and equally beneficial. And whether you are ready to embrace it or not, it’s headed your way. But change isn’t always a bad thing, and in this case, it can make your life easier, make your building smarter and therefore more efficient, and make the workday more productive and enjoyable for your building occupants. And the cool part is that it’s easy for you to implement, particularly using lighting as the entry point. After all, every building has light fixtures so why not put them to smarter use?

The notion of turning an existing structure into a smart building may seem like a herculean task, but much of the infrastructure already exists – and, in fact, has been in place for decades. Just as existing cable TV lines evolved into a formidable delivery system for the internet, so too can existing lighting fixtures evolve into the skeletal network for smart buildings. 

Think about this: Fire and security alarms communicate over a network to notify first responders to an incident, so why can’t lights do something similar? After all, LEDs are based on digital technology, which means they can send information and receive commands from software or other digital devices that are on the lighting system network. There are more lights, and therefore more opportunity for sensors or nodes in a facility than there are fire alarms, allowing for the collection and sharing of significant amounts of data. 

The data ranges from how we currently use the facility, to how we can more optimally use it for productivity, efficiency, sustainability and more. This is exactly why lighting is rapidly emerging as the entry-point-of-choice for IoT applications in both existing and new buildings.

IoT/Connected Lighting

Billions of devices are connected to the internet, collecting and sharing data. This connectivity enables devices to analyze, generate and communicate content in the form of data without requiring input from a human being. And the rise of edge and fog computing have enabled data processing to occur much closer to the source, enabling the rapid analysis required for applications like autonomous driving, access control, emergency response and beyond.

More than just monitoring, this real-time data communication and processing results in actionable insights, advice, and new ideas to get the most out of the work we do, and the space we do it in. 

For instance, connected thermostats don’t simply allow us to control the temperature via our smartphones, they also learn your family’s schedule and preferences or can auto-adjust based on your geo-location – triggering a temperature change as you are leaving or returning home. 

Previously, lighting and IoT operated in separate silos: one revolving around facilities management, while the other around the IT network. Well, times are changing and those worlds are coming together. 

IoT Brought to Light

As we turn to office buildings, retail stores, warehouses and other structures, smart lighting is playing a pivotal role in unlocking the true power of IoT. All luminaires are connected to a source of power, and when sensors are embedded into these luminaires – predominately located overhead – they become the perfect solution to “oversee” the activity in a building at any given time.

That may lead some to wonder: Just because it could be done, does that mean it should be done? The answer is simple: Yes. While the connected lighting systems, which are made up of a network of luminaires and controls, are collecting data, it’s all anonymous. The goal is to maximize efficiency in every sense of the word, while respecting and maintaining privacy. Here are just a few benefits that smart buildings are poised to deliver:

• Energy and Operational Savings – Connected lighting systems identify where you are overspending on day-to-day operations. By accessing patterns and movements within a building, this technology infrastructure supports lighting control strategies that reduce energy usage and the related expenses.
• Occupant Health and Well-Being – Connected lighting systems help improve the health and wellbeing of workers by applying light characteristics such as color, intensity and timing to artificial lighting that mimic natural light. This form of biomimicry, known as Human Centric Lighting (HCL), emulates the body’s natural circadian rhythm. It can enhance performance and productivity as well as lead to a workforce that is healthier and happier.
• Space Optimization – A connected lighting system serving as infrastructure for smart building IoT enables space optimization applications that transform commercial spaces into modern workplaces. Smart lighting infrastructure can help identify what building amenities and spaces are being over- and underutilized. This can result in cutting real estate costs, enriching the workplace experience, and facilitating a modern workplace design that is sought after by workers, particularly millennials.

Integrated Sensors in Luminaires 

Today, lighting system data is used to implement simple control strategies such as adjusting light levels in response to daylight, as well as dimming and switching lighting depending on occupancy status. In the future, this treasure trove of data from each wireless integrated sensor in each luminaire will be used for a range of operational activities including emerging smart building applications such as space optimization, wayfinding, asset tracking and more.

So what happens when we add a wireless integrated sensor into every luminaire? The benefits are many from both a current and future perspective, such as:

• Precision – With integrated sensors in every light fixture, you can precisely implement and fine-tune flexible lighting control strategies such as daylight harvesting, which reduces lighting use by utilizing the ambient light present in a space. Task tuning can also be implemented, tailoring light in a space to the task and preference of the occupants. These lighting control strategies can easily save a significant amount of energy and are used to avoid over-lighting a space.
• Accessible Power – Because these sensors are integrated in luminaires during the manufacturing process, they are powered directly off the auxiliary port of an LED driver in the fixture. Direct access to power eliminates concerns about battery lifespan and required replacement schedules, as well as associated labor costs.
• Simplify Installation & Reduce Costs – By integrating multiple functions in one device – for sensing, individual/zonal control of fixtures, and wireless communication – the manufacturing, design layout and installation activities are greatly simplified. Lighting designers don’t need to determine the optimum placement of sensors within their floorplan layout, eliminating this time-consuming task. For contractors, on-site installation is simplified, translating into lower overall project costs for the end customer. 
• More Value – A network of intelligent, sensor-laden lighting acts like a central nervous system of a building, continually collecting data about the space and how it is being used. As a result, we gain better insights and can match building characteristics with occupant needs beyond lighting.

IoT On-Site

Creating a modern workplace can have a tremendous impact on an organization and its workforce. Here are a few examples that provide measurable value:

• Conference Room Availability – Connected lighting can help identify when spaces are in use. When this technology is applied to conference rooms, it can be used to identify whether a booked room is actually occupied. It also can keep track of how many people use the space in each meeting, leading to potential reconfigurations. For example, if you have a 12-person space that is usually used for meetings of four to six people, and your conference rooms are at a premium, you may want to divide it into two conference rooms. 

• Enabling a Flexible Workplace – Why are solutions like WeWork so successful? They provide an efficient workspace that is flexible to the needs of their customers. The workspace is not optimized to have a space for each customer every day of the week. Rather, the solution chooses to adapt to flexible work schedules. And the key is connected lighting, which can alert occupants to which spaces are available for the day, or for certain tasks. This not only provides greater efficiency for the building owner, but most employees prefer a workplace that is flexible to their needs as well.
• Wayfinding and Asset Tracking – Many of us anxiously await a viable GPS for interior spaces to help us navigate office buildings and shopping malls as smoothly as the roadways. In offices, hospitals and warehouses, connected lighting using beacon technology also can be used to track equipment – for instance, wheelchairs are always in demand but often lost or misplaced throughout healthcare facilities, sometimes ending up blocks away from a hospital campus. Beacon technology can be used to complement connected lighting solutions, enabling the implementation of location-based services. However, beacons are used primarily for such location services, and are not required for all connected lighting applications. 
• Improving Mood Through Light – Smart lighting can help adjust office lighting to best serve an office community. Accounting for weather conditions, time of day, and other indicators, appropriate lighting can improve the health, well-being and the mood of an office.

Implementing a Successful Plan

Any innovation initiative presents a set of risks, and despite the promise of potential financial and productivity gains, nobody wants to be on the hook for an investment mistake. Here are five fundamental tips for greater success in choosing an intelligent lighting system infrastructure as your platform for IoT:

• Be Prepared to Scale – Choose a software-based, scalable infrastructure that can grow in size and scope, protecting and extending the value of your investment. Software is easy and cost-effective to upgrade, and you will not need to rip out and replace expensive hardware as you grow. 
• Stay Flexible and Agile – Choose an infrastructure that not only supports change, but can facilitate change quickly. Most office spaces are reconfigured regularly to accommodate people movement and space adjustments. As this happens, you will need to adjust lighting and other smart building applications as well. Select an infrastructure solution that offers great flexibility independent of any hard-wired electrical circuitry. You’ll want to adjust luminaires and control zones quickly with a few mouse clicks, without re-wiring or moving fixtures. 
• Go Wireless – Select a wireless system or, at very least, a hybrid system. Wireless is the connectivity of choice because it costs less, is more flexible than pure hard-wired systems, and can be deployed quickly.  
• Stick with Non-Proprietary – A standards-based, non-proprietary platform is key to enabling the variety and number of potential IoT applications that you will want and need for your organization. Access to a broad ecosystem fundamentally conflicts with a proprietary platform strategy. You don’t want your options to be limited when considering specific IoT applications, whether they’re from big brands or disruptive startups. Stick with a platform that is vendor agnostic.
• Make the Experience User-Friendly – Choose a system that is easy-to-use for both the facility manager as well as occupants. Additional features and functionality should not translate into additional complexity. As smart systems evolve, facility managers will be putting more control of the environment into the hands of occupants to support their preferences in their workspaces. A simple user experience is crucial to making the facility team’s tasks easier, and occupants happier.

In summary, lighting serves as an ideal entry point for building owners and facilities managers to enter the age of the Internet of Things. By integrating sensors in luminaires, an intelligent lighting system becomes an infrastructure platform for smart building IoT applications with numerous tangible benefits to building managers, owners and occupants. 

Smart building IoT applications create spaces that can continue to improve for years to come.  Following some simple guidelines, enabling the buildings of the future through lighting can be cost-effective, efficient and bring significant value to your property. IoT soon will be coming to your door, so do yourself a favor and leave the light on. 

Chuck Piccirillo is head of product for lighting networks and services at OSRAM.