Controls

  The lighting industry has become comfortable with the idea of internet connected (IoT) lighting that contains a computer chip in a luminaire for control, storing data, and communications. Buckle up, because “the edge” (computing within IoT devices) is about to get more complex with the addition of artificial intelligence (AI) computer chips at the [...]

  At LightFair, I was part of a panel presenting the impacts of electrification on the lighting industry. This article is Part 6 of the series. In Part 3 of this series, the drivers of deeper energy efficiency retrofits were discussed, including: Rapid rises in electric utility rates that will likely continue for some time. [...]

  The TALQ Consortium, which developed the Smart City Protocol, a global OpenAPI interface standard for smart city device networks, has published version 2.5.0 of the protocol. Version 2.5.0 introduces a new Lighting Asset Management profile, which addresses a long-standing demand from cities to be able to manage and track their street lighting assets more effectively. [...]

An increasing number of manufacturers of Bluetooth® wireless lighting control components have recently released long-range / outdoor components. Some examples include: LiteTrace Casambi McWong in partnership with Silvair These long-range components can include: fixture controllers, sensors, and signal boosters. Most of these manufacturers utilize external antennas to achieve ranges between 500 to 1,000 feet between [...]

There are many Matter-compatible smart lighting products beginning to hit the market. Matter is a smart home standard developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (formerly the Zigbee Alliance) in collaboration with other leading companies in the smart home industry. Matter is designed to provide greater interoperability between smart home devices, allowing them to work seamlessly [...]

Two weeks ago, inside.lighting ran a one-paragraph mention about a new lighting controls trade show and conference being launched, called NYControLED. The preliminary date is November 14th, 2023, to be held at Metropolitan Pavillion, in Manhattan, NYC. The show is being launched by IESNYC and DLFNY, which manages LEDucation. As of 4/9/23, no website nor [...]

  The commercial real estate market is adopting smart building technologies and in many cases, wants third-party certifications to prove that they have done it well. Below are short summaries of seven smart building certification programs that are gaining traction. Certification name:               Living Building Challenge (LBC) Run by:                                  International Living Future Institute Description:  All [...]

Both Forbes and the E-commerce site Houzz have recently published about the growing adoption of residential smart lighting. According to Houzz smart lighting grew from 14% of Houzz lighting purchases in 2021 to 17% in 2022. The March 31, 2023 Forbes article interviewed designers and found ever greater adoption rates. Designers around the country shared [...]

  In January, the Design Lights Consortium (DLC) published a new report about quantifying the non-energy benefits (NEB) of networked lighting controls (NLC). The most valued non-energy benefits varied by stakeholders, but included: extending the life of lighting equipment improved safety and security reduced maintenance improved light quality The top three takeaways of the report are: [...]