Lighting Controls Association

The Lighting Controls Authority

Study Finds Large Untapped Potential to Reduce Building Energy Consumption Through Wider Use of Networked Lighting Controls

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The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) and the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) recently released results of a new study that strengthens the case for expanding use of networked lighting controls (NLC) to significantly drive energy savings in commercial and industrial buildings. The report found that energy savings possible by adding NLCs to LED lighting projects approach 70 percent for some building types, with savings across various categories of buildings averaging 49 percent.

NEEA Studies Luminaire Level Lighting Controls

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The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) recently published a study seeking to compare one-for-one luminaire level lighting control (LLLC) retrofits with a comprehensive networked lighting controls (NLC) redesign. Conducted by the University of Oregon, the study found that a one-for-one LLLC upgrade produced comparable energy savings and lighting quality at a competitive cost.

C. Webster Marsh on Contact Tracing Using Controls

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“In my latest education express course, Integration and Building Automation, I discuss basic uses for a Building Automation System (BAS). One use not mentioned is Contact Tracing, which has been brought to the foreground primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic (also known as Coronavirus). Contact tracing is potentially an essential part of safely re-opening businesses during Coronavirus and since lighting fixtures and lighting controls are necessary wherever people occupy a building, building management can make use of intelligent lighting control systems to improve their contact tracing methods to ensure their occupants are safe.”

Lighting Control and BAS Integration

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With increasing frequency, lighting control systems are tasked to interoperate with other building systems such as building automation systems (BAS) to share information and automate building functionality. Ensuring communication and smooth interoperability is called integration, a potentially challenging undertaking during a project. This is the topic of a new Education Express course developed for the Lighting Controls Association by C. Webster Marsh, HLB Lighting Design.

Steve Mesh on the Building Blocks of Tunable White, Part 2

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The previous post on Tunable-White Building Blocks talked about differences between using low-level analog control technology as opposed to networked lighting control (NLC) systems that employ digital communication between components. Analog technology such as 0-10V dimmers can in fact be used to control certain color-changing luminaires. Let’s be specific about which types. There are actually three main types of color-changing lighting systems – “dim-to-warm”, “tunable-white”, and “RGB.”

Steve Mesh on the Building Blocks of Tunable White, Part 1

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“Tunable-white and other forms of color-changing lighting have added an extra dimension of capability, flexibility, and complexity to the lighting industry,” writes Mesh. “It’s almost as though we’ve gone from a 2-dimensional world to a 3-dimensional world based on the added complexity of controlling the luminaire’s coloration (typically measured by Correlated Color Temperature ) separately from the luminaire’s lumen output. Don’t be scared! Even though this has exponentially increased the complexity of the equipment and technology, you still don’t need a PhD in lighting to understand this new landscape.”