It’s that time of the year! It’s time for our annual prediction list of top commercial lighting trends for the coming year.
Those
that made our top 5 list for 2018 have broad impact across the
commercial lighting industry. Each highlights how technology-driven the
industry has become and indicates the direction we see lighting systems
take as part of the broader smart building and IoT world. It’s going to
be an exciting year!
Human-Centric Lighting
Light
influences our lives in many ways including our health, moods,
productivity, concentration, sleep cycles, decision making and emotions.
With the adoption of smart lighting and IoT, lighting characteristics
such as color, intensity and timing can automatically adjust to meet the
needs of occupants. For example, in this article by Digital Lumens (now OSRAM), the author states, “In your kids’
elementary school, biometric sensors will track students’ alertness,
subtly shifting spectrum to automatically boost their focus any time it
starts to wane.
Smart Lighting Systems Enable IoT Applications
Lighting
is ubiquitous and every fixture has easy and reliable access to power.
Add sensors, LED technology and connectivity and a lighting system
changes the way we view and interact within our workspace. An
intelligent, sensor-laden, connected lighting system becomes a
data-driven network that can be tied into an automated Building
Management System (BMS).
Future-minded building owners and facilities managers will see each
light point as a data node and likely will be the early adopters of
emerging Smart Building and IoT applications. The connected lighting
control system they choose today for lighting and energy management will
become the infrastructure that enables these applications.
Sensors, Sensors and More Sensors
It’s still a bit of the ‘Wild West’ with respect to understanding
what IoT applications will be launched and what sensor data will be
required for those ‘must have’ applications. Preparing a building’s
infrastructure for the unknown has some facility executives hedging
their bets by installing an increased number of sensor technologies
within their connected light management systems.
In addition to daylight and occupancy, sensors for relative humidity,
particulate matter, environmental pollutants and more are being
requested by forward-thinking facility managers. There is a growing
sense (no pun intended) that ‘more is better’. “It’s no surprise that
light fixtures are being seen as an ideal deployment platform for more
than daylight and occupancy sensors”, says Groshart. “Although no one
knows the exact potential of each of these types of sensors, there’s a
general agreement among facility managers of high end design projects in
particular, that the potential is there and you don’t want to be left
behind when reality hits.”
Simplify Daylight Harvesting
Daylight harvesting is not a new lighting control strategy, nor is
the loud cry from the market to simplify the daylighting control
commissioning process. ASHRAE 90.1-2016 has tightened automatic
daylight-responsive control requirements for side-lighting and
top-lighting, adding more situations where daylighting will be required,
and the LEED rating system for certification includes up to 3 credits
for proper daylighting.
With the emphasis on simplicity of installation, expect to address
daylight harvesting more easily with new lighting control systems that
offer easy set up and commissioning tools and support. The desire to
bring as much natural light into a space as possible, meet code and reap
the associated energy savings benefits will become easier.
Daylight harvesting uses a lighting control system to dim artificial
lighting in response to changing daylight availability. Automated
lighting control systems measure the amount of natural light in a space
using light sensors, and dim or switch off artificial light levels when
sufficient ambient light is present. A consistent and optimum level of
light is realized while simultaneously reducing energy consumption.
Energy Consumption and Code Compliance
Although new energy codes have been driving the digitization of
lighting for the last 10 years, we could not drop energy consumption
from our 2018 trends list. In fact, energy consumption continues to
influence many lighting design decisions particularly as codes get
updated and become tighter. Many in the industry anticipate stricter
rules in the 2019 iteration of Title 24 that will go into effect on
January 1, 2020, and facilities managers outside California would do
well to pay attention to this update as the energy mandate could spread
to other states.
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