The evolving role of smart lighting in commercial spaces

The definition of smart lighting has changed significantly, as have its capabilities.

Whereas it was previously seen as a tech-driven tool for futuristic designs, smart lighting has become an integral feature of contemporary commercial spaces. Innovations in lighting controls have led to increasingly intelligent systems, while drivers and luminaires have become complete ecosystems in themselves.

Another fundamental shift has come from IoT devices, which create cloud services that can be used for much more than lighting control. The lighting control system has an extensive network of PIR sensors installed for movement detection In a typical building. These sensors already efficiently control the luminaires, and by running analytics on the data and integrating it into other building systems, there are considerable opportunities to increase building efficiency, promote productivity and enhance wellbeing.

Data-driven efficiency

Demand is growing for intelligent control systems, especially in the commercial and health care segments, where employers want to implement best practices and harness valuable data. In terms of overall efficiency, integrating occupancy data (or predictive occupancy data) with the building management system (BMS) can save hundreds of hours of HVAC energy per year. When artificial intelligence is incorporated into systems, they can learn usage patterns and automatically adjust to save more energy; for example, Helvar’s ActiveAhead enables the luminaires to communicate with via a standard Bluetooth mesh network.