Electrical Contracting News (ECN) November 2016 | Page 58

SPECIAL
FEATURE

HOME AUTOMATION & INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

THE LIGHT COMBINATION
New technologies provide opportunities to make lighting smarter within ‘intelligent’ buildings, but these
need to be combined with a more user focused approach. Paul Coggins of Zumtobel Group explains.

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spirations to make
buildings more
‘intelligent’ are largely
dependent on the
application of what
might be referred to as
‘smart’ technologies.
Such technologies
are developing rapidly in many areas that
relate to the control and management of
buildings and lighting is clearly one of the
principal areas for attention.
In fact, it is no exaggeration to say
that lighting control is undergoing a
transformation, in terms of both the way
control is achieved and the capability of
doing more than simply controlling the
lighting. As a result, electrical contractors
have an opportunity to provide better, more
tailored solutions that add value for end
clients in a number of ways.
In terms of the way lighting control
is achieved there is now a strong trend
towards using ‘plug and play’ connectivity
to integrate the lighting control network
with other networks and control the
lighting through a PC.
However, this doesn’t mean that
lighting control can become the domain
of general networking companies;
considerable lighting expertise is still
required to achieve acceptable results.
For instance, a company that has
specialised in designing and installing
Ethernet networks will probably not have

the experience or expertise to design a
lighting system. This requires the ability
to calculate lighting levels, design a
scheme that suits each space and how
it is used – and ensure compliance with
appropriate legislation.
The key advantage is that these
developments give lighting specialists the
tools to provide a better solution for the
end user – ensuring the right lighting in the
right place at the right time. Achieving this
also requires a change in focus from ‘how
to control’ to ‘why to control’.

For the building operator a further
benefit is that the ability to reconfigure
their own lighting avoids the need to pay for
an expensive controls specialist every time
minor changes to the lighting are required.

Simplifying infrastructure

Growing integration
A good example of the closer integration
between lighting control and other
networks is the increasing u