BSEE LIGHTING


fashionable are others including bright, clever, intelligent, adept, active and agile.


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Simon Blazey, Strategic Solution Sales Manager at Tridonic UK Ltd, looks at how lighting and its connectivity is going to change not only buildings but also how the contractors are going to operate.


Is it any surprise then that each organisation, business and futures expert has their own interpretation of a ‘smart’ society or building?


However, one thing is sure; connected living and smarter buildings are no longer in the future. We are going to have to adapt not only the way we in which we live and function, but how we build and configure our buildings. But what does this have to do with lighting and BMS? The answer is that lighting is key for the development and management of connected buildings. We have been in a perfect storm with our hunger to create as many lighting lumens for the least wattage. This has resulted in highly efficient LED lighting that can now be powered by an IT network and more importantly be the catalyst for interoperability and co- existence of systems on one low power mesh network.


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Building Management Systems (BMS) have not lived up to their name of a system that manages the building if one of the core principle systems, i.e. lighting, is not managed or at the least connected to its master time clock!


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Concurrently the Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming the accepted way of running our personal and business lives, it will also be instrumental in managing an ever more complex and diverse society. The key to the success of the IoT is data; gathering it, its analysis and then its effective and efficient use to produce new and hopefully better ways of working, living, and moving through the built environment. The IoT is a massive opportunity for building system solution providers, with 40% of the IoT expected to be in commercial buildings. Estimates are that newly generated revenue streams resulting from new business models will earn up to five times more compared with the initial product sale.


Why is lighting going to be crucial?


Think about your routine and consider which one element is present from the moment of waking to last thing at night. Whether you are in your bedroom, the street, on the bus, train or tube, in the office or the coffee shop, relaxing at the cinema or working out in the gym, there will be illumination. Lighting is ubiquitous, and it is this ubiquity that provides the framework for the connectivity.


Until now lighting has always operated over its own network. The reduced power consumption and higher efficiency of LED modules means that lighting can now operate on an IT infrastructure. Consequently, that valuable, and previously uncatchable data not only from the lighting systems but from other systems that are co- existing or interoperating with lighting devices, can be leveraged. This is the most exciting advancement to impact on lighting since the creation of the light bulb in 1879. In the future, lighting will be the low power mesh network that IoT devices will use to grow, thrive and communicate, both inside the buildings and externally.


12 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER AUGUST 2017


f you look up 'smart' in the dictionary or thesaurus there is a range of definitions and alternative words suggested. Alongside words like stylish, dapper, elegant and


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WHY THE FUTURE IS LOOKING BRIGHT The changing face of lighting connectivity


Extensive opportunities for data gathering and improved management of the environment and facilities exist in the numerous commercial and business premises already built and in those being constructed. However, it is going to need a fresh approach to overcome the complexity of systems that currently exist and to unite them in the 'digital connected ceiling'.


Looking at the ceiling void of any modern office reveals just how complex and congested is the prevailing solution. Alongside smoke detectors and thermostats are presence sensors from different manufacturers for the varied building services.


Simplification is required and this is what lighting can provide, via the many installed luminaires where there is plenty of space for one or other digital sensor or microchip – after all, digital electronics is necessary for modern LEDs. What's more, since the luminaires need electricity, the power supply is already integrated. There are no worries about cabling the individual sensors or changing batteries, a costly and timely process.


Another advantage is that many luminaires will be installed on walls or ceilings and therefore ideally located for including additional sensors. Finally, communication with them and connection to the access points for the internet can be either wireless or via the existing data cabling.


Collaboration will be the way forward


The final ingredient that will enable the digital connected ceiling to become a reality is not technical but a change in human behaviour to deliver innovative ways of collaboration and partnership. Previously, lighting has been left alone as a disparate system in ceiling voids, providing illumination and rarely integrated with other systems. Building Management Systems (BMS) have not lived up to their name of a system that manages the building if one of the core principle systems, i.e. lighting, is not managed or at the least connected to its master time clock! Historically, the lighting and BMS systems have been written in different protocols and always needed additional gateways to communicate. In the past lighting was about aesthetics and lumens, and rightly so, never about data. Whatever the reasons, the emergence of IP lighting changes the landscape and in a digital connected ceiling, lighting is not only the hub for interoperability but also for collaboration. This new infrastructure is a different type of installation that demands an alternative procurement methodology to achieve the desired outcomes. Partnership and collaboration will be necessary not only from the technology suppliers but also from contractors, consultants and clients and will be key to the final success of any project.


Piloting the way forward


One way of overcoming the barriers of collaboration and partnering is through pilot projects at key stages in the overall project scheme and


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tender process. The client is not liable to risk but in effect 'interviews' the solution providers throughout the duration of the pilot project whilst maintaining an eye on the agreed outcomes, at the heart of which are the building’s people. Co-existence, interoperability, integration, cyber security, user experience and costing models can be demonstrated and resolved. New partnerships and unions will become the norm for clients in order to find the solution providers that will help them to accomplish what they want and need to thrive in the development of 21st century smart buildings.


The future’s bright; lighting will be the low power mesh network that IoT devices will use in order for both them and us to grow, thrive and communicate, inside the homes, offices and municipal buildings of the future and outside in the destination spaces that are being designed and built across these ever-expanding urban areas.


www.tridonic.com


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