In this article, Gary Meshberg, Market Development Specialist, Building Control Systems for Legrand North America and Chair of the Lighting Controls Association, describes the growing opportunity for integration between lighting control and other building systems, notably the BAS. Originally published as the Controls Column in LD+A Magazine in May 2024. Reprinted with permission.
Today, lighting control systems work side by side with and may communicate with many other building systems. For example, the lighting and HVAC system may use the same occupancy sensors in various spaces to reduce the overall number of devices, or the lighting, A/V, and automated window shades in a conference room may use the same touchscreen interface. By default, many lighting control systems possess the ability to be networked with other systems. With today’s connected LED lighting loads being much smaller, integrating lighting with other systems offers tremendous opportunities to not only save energy but enhance the functionality and occupant experience.
Ensuring all systems work together to satisfy the owner and users is called integration. Integration may be local (device-to-device), multisystem, and/or across the building or enterprise. Examples of local integration include luminaire-level lighting controls and occupancy sensor-controlled relays for variable air volume control. Examples of multisystem integration include networked occupancy sensors for controlling lighting and HVAC or enabling the control system to be overridden by a security, fire alarm, or other emergency signal. An example of a building-level integration is multiple systems working together within a building automation system (BAS), potentially with monitoring, IoT, and software.
Regardless of the application’s type or scale, good integration ensures a well-coordinated solution. It is essential for BAS projects and is often required for lighting projects with open protocols. As system integration becomes more common in commercial buildings, designers need to be able to identify the integration process, team stakeholders, and specific needs as early as possible. They need to know how to satisfy them, communicate requirements to team members, specify integration, and adhere to best practices such as developing a clear owner project requirements and controls narrative.
For particularly complex projects, a specialist role may be required, what we call an integrator, which may be a professional able to provide the desired integration and guidance across many systems. Generally, integrators may be manufacturer technicians, lighting control systems integrators, or multisystem integration (MSI) consultants. If required, the role of the integrator should be written into the specifications.
Lighting integrators are often important in projects where different control manufacturers are mixed and matched into a total system solution, such as one using an open protocol. MSI consultants, often third-party subcontractors who may work under the electrical contractor, may also be able to do lighting integration which can be very valuable for larger BAS projects. For example, the MSI consultant might install low-voltage components, review submittals, review changes with and provide other support to the electrical contractor, potentially communicate with specifiers, coordinate site visits, conduct functional testing, and/or train the owner.
The construction process begins with the design team producing a detailed Owner Project Requirements (OPR). The designer should seek to define functional expectations (including monitoring and IoT applications), performance criteria, sustainability objectives, cost considerations, and maintenance expectations. The designer should also identify the systems involved, how they might need to integrate, and the points of interaction. Will any lighting control devices provide triggers to other systems? Will the lighting control devices need to directly control other devices? Will the devices accept signals from other systems?
Moving into the design phase of the project, the designer will produce a control narrative, which expresses the design intent and serves as a roadmap for the entire project team. It might include code requirements, building rating system objectives, user needs and expectations, training, and descriptions of and required interactions with a BAS. This should include one or more protocols, a vital part of integration as it defines how devices communicate, which necessitates different systems sharing the same protocol (such as BACnet) or bridging the two via some type of functionality. The wheels of the control narrative then meet the road with the paired document sequence of operations (SOO), which details what each control point in the system will do in response to various inputs.
These design documents are important in any project involving lighting control systems, but they become vital in projects requiring high-level integration. Similarly, coordination with other disciplines, also important, becomes critical, particularly in BAS projects, where systems may share devices and zoning. Additionally, the designer should gain a firm understanding of who “owns” the integration—individual party or team—and in particular who will specify the BAS, if present. While it’s not the BAS designer’s responsibility to specify everything, it is their responsibility to ensure all disciplines can connect to the BAS.
What we want to avoid in an integration project: unclear requirements and expression of design intent, guessed or default system settings that fail to satisfy users, disciplines bidding without allowing for additional integration work, and systems not working as desired to take full advantage of the integration.
A significant question here is where integration belongs in the specifications. In the CSI MasterFormat, lighting controls are covered under Electrical (Division 26), but a BAS may be specified under multiple divisions. If the lighting control system is specified with the BAS design in a division other than 26, identify the new division and number in a location where the electrical contractor will see it and be able to communicate which other system(s) contractor(s) are responsible for that scope.
Like good design documentation, commissioning grows in importance in tandem with the complexity of the project. Commissioning involves a professional who ensures the finished installation satisfies the OPR and SOO, with the electrical contractor and/or integrator conducting functional testing and corrections. Owner staff will then be trained on system use and maintenance, and post-occupancy reviews should be scheduled to address any issues and regularly re-commission the system in the future to ensure it continuously satisfies current owner requirements.
Overall, integration is not necessarily complex, though it is associated with more complex projects. This complexity requires that designers more diligently adhere to design best practices, ensure integration is built into the process and given its due, and coordinate closely with other project team members, including integrators. It’s more work, but it’s worth it. The result can be a building that streamlines hardware, is highly responsive and energy-saving, maximizes convenience and comfort for users, and potentially generates useful analytics.
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