The DesignLights Consortium’s (DLC) new report, Energy Savings from Networked Lighting Control (NLC) Systems, estimates average lighting energy savings of 47% resulting from installation of networked lighting control systems. The report indicates high potential energy savings for networked controls, supports layered control strategies as a means to maximize savings, and may be used to justify new and larger utility rebates. Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP breaks it down in this month’s featured article.

Most commercial building energy codes require automatic lighting shutoff. This common-sense strategy also adds value to lighting upgrades in existing buildings. Remote switching is one method, with an option being switches residing in a metal cabinet-type enclosure called a panel. This panel can serve as the backbone for a complete energy code-compliant control system that responds to a wide range of control inputs for indoor and outdoor lighting control. It is typically sold as a new complete unit, though panelboard retrofit assemblies are available.

This article describes common panel-based lighting control systems.

In “Connectivity is The Key,” LD+A lighting control columnists Gary Meshberg, LC (chair, Lighting Controls Association) and Craig DiLouie, LC (education director) describe the revolution in lighting controls occurring in the area of connectivity and what this means for the future of lighting. The authors write: While basic connected lighting capabilities have been available for […]

Guest post by Steve Mesh, LC A relatively recent trend in the industry is to embed “luminaire-integrated” (embedded) controls into each fixture. This can be done in different ways, with different types of components, and with different types of control systems. The most basic version of “luminaire-integrated” controls consists of on-board sensors that tell the […]

Guest post by Steve Mesh, LC Networked lighting control systems are all the rage these days. Rightfully so, given their enormous capability to control luminaires, energy use – and potentially much more. But what are the major elements that define a networked lighting control system? Understanding that will help the specifier to decide which system […]

The 2017 DOE Connected Lighting Systems Workshop was held June 7–8, 2017, in Santa Clara, CA. Now you can download the presentations from the DOE SSL website and discover what the speakers had to say about key issues in connected lighting and what actions are needed to move it forward. Click here to get the […]