Smart lighting systems: Illuminating the path to adaptive smart spaces
Smart lighting systems are revolutionizing the way we think about illumination and building management. By bridging the gap between lighting control and building data analytics, these IoT-based systems are paving the way for truly adaptive smart spaces. The data captured by smart lighting – such as occupancy information – now extends far beyond simple illumination control, opening up a world of possibilities for additional services and unprecedented flexibility in our built environments.
Flexibility through wireless smart lighting
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of agile, adaptable building systems. It showed that smart lighting control systems should not be designed as rigid constructions. Rather, they must function as agile systems that can quickly adapt to new requirements. Smart lighting systems, with their wireless capabilities and data-driven approach, have proven to be invaluable in this context.
The evolution of lighting control in the IoT Era
Lighting control has come a long way from its wired origins. The shift to wireless solutions has dramatically increased flexibility and convenience. By removing fixed connections between sensors and lights, smart lighting systems simplify the repurposing of sensor data for analysis, visualization, and optimization across various applications.
Reasons for investing in smart lighting
The main reasons for investing in smart lighting systems are cost savings and legal requirements, such as ‘Title 24’, for energy optimization. Wireless systems offer decisive advantages here: they are easy to install and meet important requirements such as automatic switch-off, daylight-dependent control and individual light settings.
Data: The foundation of smart spaces
In the realm of smart buildings, data is king. Smart lighting systems serve as a crucial data backbone, capturing and transmitting valuable information via open standards like Bluetooth, Zigbee, or EnOcean. This data becomes the foundation for triggering meaningful actions, either through user interfaces or integration with building automation systems.
Leveraging smart lighting for adaptive solutions
The COVID-19 pandemic showed how adaptable smart lighting systems can be. They made it possible to enforce capacity restrictions, ensure hygiene requirements and contactless controls in smart rooms.
| CLASSIC USE CASE | NEW USE CASE | |
|---|---|---|
| Utilization monitoring | Enforce capacity restrictions | |
| Cleaning on demand | changed to | Ensure hygiene requirements |
| Automated control | Provide touchless control | |
| Asset tracking | Enable contact tracing |
Reality check and lessons for the future
Adapting smart lighting systems to the pandemic situation revealed practical challenges. Systems with remote access and data-driven solutions showed clear advantages. Open ecosystems enabled the rapid integration of new functions such as people counting or room monitoring.
Important conclusions for a flexible future of smart lighting:
- Evolution from single-purpose systems to interoperable, data-driven solutions
- Flexible and expandable design for future, unforeseen use cases
- Accessibility and usability of collected data as the key to success
- Central position of lighting systems as data backbone in smart spaces
Smart lighting systems offer a unique opportunity to monetize investments and create truly smart spaces. Their ability to capture, transport and export data makes them an indispensable element in the development of future-proof smart buildings and IoT infrastructures.
