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Wireless control solutions – a big topic at LIGHTFAIR international

LIGHTFAIR International 2019 made it clear that the connected future is here. What is new, what is next and what are the trends within wireless lighting controls? Take part of Niclas thoughts after coming home from the world’s largest annual architectural and commercial lighting event in Philadelphia, USA.

Lighting and lighting manufacturing is not about light bulbs and fixtures anymore – things like IoT connectivity, human centric lighting (HCL), advanced light control for energy savings and more are now features that are being incorporated into lighting systems, all enabled by wireless connectivity.

It is clear that the luminaires of today must be IoT-ready and connected to be future proof. The technology is already here and it is now just a matter to sort out who will be the receiver of all data and who will take action. At LFI (LIGHTFAIR International) it was quite clear that the decision makers in the smart building/city needs to find the model that breaks the silos so the full vision of the IoT enabled fixture can come  true.

Being IoT ready is crucial but when it comes to retrofitting buildings it is more about implementing advanced lighting controls and saving energy. By adding sensors to the luminaire and unleashing the power of smart phones/ apps the barriers to create smart environments is significantly lowered and done right these actions can be part of future IoT solution. A quick walk around the LFI show floor showed that both big and small manufacturers offer some version of control solution connected to sensors, however they all seem to be slightly different and using different protocols to communicate.

Some of the major trends shown at LFI included wireless lighting control, the continued discussion about pros/cons of bluetooth mesh, color temperature tuning and about emergency lighting and the need for, due to new regulations, automatically test exit signage on a regular basis and last but definitely not least; commissioning and maintenance.

Setting up and maintaining advanced light control system must be cost efficient, otherwise we will not see a massive roll out of the connected smart luminare. Done right, an app will take us a long way but the app in itself is not the answer to everything. A smart and efficient commissioning is more than an app – off site preparations and configurations will be key enablers.

With this heavy focus on commissioning and installation we where especially proud to exhibit our AirGlow product where we really have focused on this problem and have a quite unique solution to the market, for example the possibility for bulk commissioning in factory through NFC following the standard MD-SIG and offsite preparations through a desktop interface.

We received very good feedback from booth visitors regarding the ease by which both manufacturers and installers quickly can have their fixtures be IoT ready and within minutes do both commissioning and set different scenes.

If you want to know more about AirGlows commissioning possibilities or about our flexible business model – where you can start with AirGlow for local light control and when your business is ready you can seamlessly switch over to MiraOS with your own hardware for building wide control – Please contact sales! 

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Lightfair 2019 LumenRadio

A unique multi standard wireless lighting control solution showcased at LIGHTFAIR

LumenRadio, the world’s leading wireless lighting controls manufacturer and connectivity enabler, will exhibit at LIGHTFAIR and present their new AirGlow product – a multi standard wireless lighting control solution suitable for both indoor and outdoor light control.  AirGlow is unique in that it can scale from individual light group control to be used for large scale light control systems with IoT connectivity.

Wireless technology provider LumenRadio offers patented technologies, a unique operating system, state of the art radio modules and “off-the-shelf” products which provide ultra-reliable mesh connectivity for the most business critical applications.

Today, LumenRadio is the market leader within wireless DMX and their patented CRMX technology has become a de-facto standard within both Professional lighting and Film lighting. Using the same ultra-reliable connectivity technology, LumenRadio is now entering the Connected Lighting segment, offering fixture manufacturers their new AirGlow product, thereby enabling a quick time to market for reliable wireless connectivity.

AirGlow
At LIGHTFAIR LumenRadio will present AirGlow – a product platform for both indoor and outdoor light controls that can scale from individual light group control to large scale light control system with IoT connectivity. The product comes packed with powerful and easy-to-use features and is compatible with both Bluetooth and their ultra-reliable Mira Mesh technology.

Due to the small size and versatile interfaces, AirGlow for Indoor usage is ideal for integration both into luminaires as well as integration into standard gang or junction boxes.

AirGlow for outdoor incorporates the LumenRadio’s MWA module, which is tailored for outdoor operation. With a line-of-sight range of up to 500m, AirGlow for outdoor offers performance previously only seen with sub-GHz frequencies.

Enabling Coexistence
AirGlow is built on LumenRadio’s embedded Mira operating system, which enables the world’s most resilient wireless mesh connectivity for business critical applications. The core technology is the Cognitive Coexistence patent that enables your product to coexist along with other wireless technologies, not being interfered and not causing interference.

 

A “one stop shop”
LumenRadio is a one-stop-shop when it comes to wireless lighting control. Whether you need wireless DMX for indoor or outdoor or a multi standard lighting control solution compatible with Bluetooth and the ultra-reliable Mira Mesh technology, LumenRadio is the company to turn to.

Showcased at LIGHTFAIR in Philadelphia. May 21-23
Visit us at LIGHTFAIR to learn more about how AirGlow allows unique scalability. Let AirGlow give you a quick time to market for your smart fixtures. You will find us in the IoT Pavilion booth 4344.

For more information read here or contact:
Robert Larsson, Sales Director, Smart Lighting
robert.larsson@lumenradio.com
+46 709 10 24 20

or

Niclas Norlén, CTO
niclas.norlen@lumenradio.com
+46 766 278 728

 

 

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Become IoT ready with connected fixtures

Today, smart lighting and connected fixtures is on every luminaire manufacturers agenda and a quick time-to-market solution to become “IoT ready” is crucial in order to retain or create your competitive advantage. But how do you get smart and rid yourself of  connectivity panic?

 

10 years ago we discussed how and when the LED was going to be used and adopted by the market and many of us were surprised how fast the LED revolution happened. The revolution we see now is within connected fixtures and not only is smart lighting a strong trend for achieving sustainable buildings and energy efficient cities, but today, luminaires in general are expected to be able to do more than just turn on and off.  But the most pressing question regards how fast these new features can be implemented.

 

The LED revolution happened fast and this coming lighting revolution will progress even more rapidly – there is no time to waste. A quick time-to-market solution, to have your luminaires become IoT ready, is crucial in order to retain or create your competitive advantage. But how do you add value to your fixtures and have them become IoT ready now, without having the in-house capabilities and knowledge it takes to develop your own reliable radio communication solution? The answer to this problem is one of the “ready-made” products for easy integration on the market. But the fact is that an IoT implementation is a big change and it requires future possibilities and business development needs to be weighed in in the decision making. So how do you combine rapid time to market and the option to do future developments?

 

With Lumenradio’s AirGlow®, your fixtures will be IoT ready in a matter of minutes. But the main gain, which separates AirGlow® from other wireless lighting controls, is that AirGlow® has unique scaling abilities; it allows for light control of individual rooms but also the possibility to scale and allow for building wide control – all using the same product. This means that you can have your fixtures IoT ready in an instant, and still keep the options open for future developments and expand your offer further on – enabling even more ways to save energy and creating a better tomorrow.

 

Compared to other solutions, in almost every case, you have to choose between either a ready-made product for light control of individual rooms or an operating system for building wide control. With AirGlow® you don’t have to choose – you get both options!  

 

Want to know more about this unique scalability and how AirGlow® with minimum effort gives you maximum possibilities? Stay tuned for next blogpost or visit us at Lux Live (booth K11) to see AirGlow® in real life and stop by for a “Coffee and connectivity” chat.

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Trend Report from Light + Building 2018

Connectivity, connectivity and connectivity… A trend report from Light + Building 2018

What was the main topics at Light + Building 2018 and what can we learn from historic trends within the lighting industry? Don´t miss our CTOs trend report from the intense Frankfurt week.

10 years ago we discussed how and when the LED was going to be used and adopted by the market and I think many of us was surprised how fast the LED revolution happened. The LED is now commoditized and something we take for granted for sure.

At the 2018 edition of Light + Building, one thing stood clear, there was a massive interest around the “Connected fixture” and I recognize the same excitement and hunger for knowledge as I experienced with the LED, back in the days.

The IoT-revolution

But the connectivity revolution has a main difference from the LED technology revolution. The LED was a direct replacement of the light bulb and therefore a technology quite easy for the lighting manufacturers to understand – Connectivity is not.

With the LED we discussed CRI, color temperature and lumen/W which everyone in the lighting industry understands. But when we now talk about connectivity we use expressions like IPv6, network scaling capabilities and latency. Expression and quality indicators new to the industry.

However we are in the middle of the IoT-revolution, the future for the fixture manufacturer is wireless connectivity on a massive scale. What we see is a business driven requirement that more or less says: “– Connect or die”

Connectivity providers

This means that the lighting business needs to adapt to a technology radically different to any other technologies seen before… and it needs to happen now. The lighting business obviously needs help and there are many connectivity providers trying to get a share of the market.

Unfortunately I see that many of these connectivity providers does not really know the requirements of the lighting business, nor how to deal with them. This reminds me a little bit about the excitement when the HF-ballast for fluorescent lighting was introduced. A great technology indeed, but it attracted suppliers that shouldn’t really have entered the lighting industry. Many of the luminaire manufacturers got a cold shower when lower quality HF ballast literally burned in the field, resulting in huge costs.

Understanding wireless lighting

Connectivity for the lighting business has been LumenRadio’s core focus since the start 10 years ago, and we are today the de-facto standard of wireless lighting controls within professional lighting. Our many years of experience within lighting and IoT has given us a lot of knowledge;

  • We know that in a commercial building the number of luminaires easily scales beyond thousands.
  • We know that when you flick the switch all the lights should turn on instantly, not with a few seconds delay with fixtures turning on randomly like popcorn pops.
  • We understand that scaling also means low maintenance complexity.
  • We also understand that scaling means that the luminaire needs to be integrated in the regular IT infrastructure talking standard IPv6.

At LumenRadio we have the technology for connecting the luminaire from basic room control to massive scaling for building wide control. We know wireless light controls! Interesting times lie ahead and if you want to learn more about connectivity please contact us.

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With AirGlow® LumenRadio brings the future of light controls to Light + Building

PRESS RELEASE: LumenRadio, one of the world’s leaders in reliable wireless technology and developers of Future-Proof Coexistence Connectivity, will showcase a unique wireless lighting control solution at Light + building. The product, called AirGlow®, comes packed with powerful and easy-to-use features and will revolutionize the commissioning of Dali fixtures.  

AirGlow® is a multi-standard lighting control solution with both DALI and 1-10V interface and since it is compatible with both Bluetooth Mesh and LumenRadio’s own ultra-reliable Mira Mesh technology, AirGlow can be used for light control of individual rooms but can also be programmed to be part of a larger meshed network and therefore scalable to allow for full building light control.

“AirGlow® is a small, versatile, and powerful light control product that will allow fixture manufacturers of all sizes having their fixture becoming truly wireless” says Robert Larsson, Sales Director, Smart Lighting at LumenRadio. “With AirGlow’s multi-standard support, ability for sensor input, combined with an app for easy commissioning and configuration, we think AirGlow® is the future of light control.”

“AirGlow® is based on LumenRadio’s many years of wireless experience, both from the professional lighting industry but also from IoT-enabled products within the smart building industry. “ says Niclas Norlén, CTO of LumenRadio. With AirGlow® we will not only help our customers to solve the light controls problems of today but we also offer a solution that,  virtually overnight, will make the luminaire IoT ready.

Sign up for your free pair of AirGlows at Light + Building in Frankfurt, March 18-23

We are showcasing AirGlow® at the Light + Building trade show in Frankfurt on March 18-23 and invite you to sign up for your free pair of AirGlows, when released! Become an “AirGlower” in hall 4.1, booth B71.  

Features:

  • Minimal footprint and extensive interfaces for easy integration into luminaire or gang box.
  • Easy and hassle free commissioning for operation through app
  • Stand alone system, no need for cloud service or gateway for operation
  • Bluetooth Mesh and Mira IPv6 Mesh multi standard support
  • 2 DALI interfaces for control of DALI driver/ballast and DALI sensor input
  • Integrated DALI power supply on both interfaces
  • 1-10V analog control output
  • 2 standard switch inputs for scene select or manual dimming
  • Light control and commissioning through app
  • Live mains switching output

Read more about AirGlow® – Click here:

Or contact Niclas Norlén, CTO, niclas.norlen@lumenradio.com, +46 766 278 728

 

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LumenRadio at Light + Building 2018

Get your free pair of AirGlows – the future of lighting control

Light + Building is the world’s leading trade fair for lighting and building services technology and starts March 18th and this year LumenRadio is there presenting a brand new product.

 

At Light + Building we will be showcasing our brand new wireless lighting control solution called AirGlow® – this is a new multi-standard lighting controller with DALI and 1-10V interface that comes packed with powerful and easy-to-use features. Compatible with both Bluetooth Mesh and our own ultra-reliable Mira Mesh technology, AirGlow® is suitable for light control of individual rooms but also scalable to allow for full building light controls.

 

At Light + Building you can sign up and get your free pair of AirGlows!

Stop by our booth in Hall 4.1 Stand B71 and we will tell you all about the AirGlow® product and how you can get two of your own!

We will also showcase our MiraOS operating system, which enables a large-scale and easy-to-install wireless mesh network. MiraOS is a perfect fit for lighting and, developed with focus on easy scaling, it gives you the option to start with light controls for a single room and later scale to large network lighting control.

Make sure to stop by our booth in Hall 4.1 Stand B71 and we will tell you more!

Read more about AirGlow® – Click here: 

#SmartLighting #ReliableConnectivity

 

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Going from smart buildings to intelligent – trend report from SBC2018

Winston Churchill once said “We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us”. At this year’s Smart Building Conference, SBC, we learned that dramatic changes lie ahead and we need to question that old truth. Smart buildings turn intelligent and we keep on changing them…. to adjust to us. This post will give you an insight in what we discussed at SBC and what inspiring changes lie ahead.  

 

How we plan and build commercial buildings is profoundly changing. The driving forces are people and the focus on enhancing human productivity. The technology of today can improve our wellbeing which naturally leads to an improved productivity, after all we come from nature so why not make the buildings more humancentric?

 

Workspace – as important as the paycheck
Millennials will comprise more than 75 percent of the workforce by 2025, a generation where the Internet revolution and digitalization has been a natural part of life and at SBC we learned that this generation has a different view of the workspace which will have a huge impact on the design of the workplace.

Open workplaces where co-working and creativity come naturally is highly desired by this generation still a personalized workspace is equally important. Studies show that this generation will not have the same loyalty to the employer as previous generations and the workplace environment is as important as the paycheck.

The EDGE building, Amsterdam

A personalized yet open workspace is possible to combine. The EDGE building in Amsterdam is a good example. Their success lies in breaking up the traditional silo thinking that for example light control systems and a HVAC systems only can be used for the original purpose and nothing else.  Thanks to smart use of technology the EDGE building is claimed to be the most sustainable building in the world and probably also the best workplace.

 

Wellbeing leads to increased productivity
The requirements on the modern office is amplified by the increased focus on productivity represented by the $3-$30-$300 rule. That is $3 of the spending in a building is related to energy, $30 to assets and $300 of that spending is related to productivity. One percent increased productivity or one percent savings on assets or energy… what would be most beneficial…? Well you do the math.

Productivity and a good workplace environment goes hand in hand. We come from the nature and bringing in some elements of nature into the commercial building will have a significant impact in the right direction. So how will this effect Light and HVAC controls?

 

The human in focus
The future of humancentric lighting and controlled indoor climate is to break the silo thinking and let the technology serve the humans on a personal level.

Personalized controls is the way forward which means that not only should I as an individual be allowed to adjust the indoor environment up to my preference, it shall also follow me from one work place to another in the building. For example, air temperature, light color temperature and light level should be the same wherever I work in the building. And this must work in the future creative and humancentric open work spaces.

What do we need to require from technology in making smart buildings intelligent? Everything needs to talk standard IP – when things can communicate across the silos, the silos will break!  Edge computing is identified as one of the key technologies for IoT by Gartner and indispensable in an intelligent building.

Thousand and thousands of sensors connected together will resemble the neurons of the human brain….connected with the synapses… making the building intelligent.

Want to know more about these underlying technologies? Keep an eye out for my next blogpost From smart buildings to intelligent – The key technologies.  

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Smart buildings – The gains of adding connectivity to your products

[Smart buildings – part 2 of 2] Right now, there is an opening of exceptional magnitude for you as product manufacturer to revitalize your business and outrun your competitors by adding “smart” to your products and services. The question is no longer when buildings are transitioning from dumb to smart – instead it’s how and with what. This article will guide you through the essentials and help you launch your business into action.

Savings up, costs of entry down

IoT-enhanced solutions that focus on solving real problems for smart buildings is the holy grail for manufacturers wanting to get ahead of the competition. When you digitize your products, you will instantly broaden your present customer focus. Going from selling “just” core-ware to installers, your value-added products and services will instead attract a wider customer base – not just to real estate owners and contractors, but also the end users. To get that first foot in the door you should definitely be able to cut costs for your customers.

The beauty of the IoT and wireless connectivity is that it adds higher flexibility and lower installation costs by, for example, eliminating (or at least lessen) the need for complex cabling.

The business case: increased value for an extended customer-base

To really understand what IoT and wireless connectivity can bring to the table we will take a brief look at the stakeholders in the smart building ecosystem:

  • Construction companies – large-scale multitasking companies that plan and assemble a building. Also responsible for the original sustainability perspective. Overall design together with architects, engineering companies and construction managers
  • Real Estate owners (or entrepreneurs) – the buyers of a property. They invest, repair and improve the property in order to sell it for a profit
  • Installers – license and sell building equipment, material and systems (cables, clamps, connectors, etc.).
  • Building operators and facility managers –  rent out space and are responsible for the day-to-day care of the building
  • Businesses – lease office space
  • Consumers, employees and tenants (surprisingly heavy opinion makers with a strong say-so power)

It’s also important to get an elementary understanding of what the real value of going smart and green is:

  1. Lower operational costs
  2. Energy savings (sustainability)
  3. Increased property value
  4. Building and asset performance (easier maintenance and repairs)
  5. Improved occupant comfort, productivity and health
Lower operational costs

Upgradeable software replaces inflexible, cabled and time-consuming tasks. There will be less need for expensive staff that troubleshoot around the clock.

Energy savings and sustainability

After the installation of an automated building system there is a profound reduction in a building’s energy spend and the carbon footprint of the building literally shrinks with every equipment data sensor.

Increased property value

An improvement in technology and sustainability leads to a higher property value as the building now can be certified on a higher level growing rental rates by up to 24.9% compared to a conventional building.

Building and asset performance (easier maintenance and repairs)

An automated asset management system will pay for itself quickly by measuring different property life-cycles, which in turn will lessen expensive repairs down the road.

Improved occupant comfort, productivity and health

This is a pretty obvious one: when a building can keep its tenants comfortable, healthy, productive and happy, the more likely it is that they’ll thrive – and stay.

Picking the low hanging fruits

The initial steps towards intelligence in buildings are pretty straight-forward; cool the air, turn off the lights, lock the door, alert me when there’s a fire and so on. Upgrades and retrofits of run-of-the-mill systems, like lighting, security, fire detection and HVAC are the true low hanging fruits.

Smart lighting

A smart lighting system retrofitted with very-low-power, short-range wireless technology and non-invasive, low-cost sensors can automatically regulate the energy use by measuring light levels, motion and temperature.

Optimized HVAC Systems

The obvious drawback of older legacy HVAC-systems is that they spend extreme amounts of energy that in many countries come from fossil fuels which, as we know, cause high carbon dioxide emissions.

A retrofitted, demand-controlled HVAC-system will automatically set heating (or cooling) to a minimum when employees aren’t there, for example at night. Consequently, when there are zero people in the building, the energy use is also next-to-zero energy.  With a demand-controlled HVAC-system in place, a real estate owner can save up to 80% in fan electricity and 40% of heating and cooling energy compared to a constant airflow and unfluctuating temperature.

Indoor climate as a service

People is a forceful reason to go green. Occupants’ and company employees comfort, health and productivity is a high priority for most real estate owners. A study by Harvard University says that the indoor environment is affecting cognitive function and that better air quality increases the cognitive function performance of employees, suggesting that the same goes for other tenants.

Building security

Automated intrusion detection systems that are interlinked with other critical building management systems, like fire detection, simplifies security and safety-monitoring of company employees, tenants and building assets.  Another important dimension is that they have the potential to save money by preventing unnecessary energy-waste.

An option-roadmap for smart product manufacturers

Depending on what product business your in – smart commercial- or industrial buildings, healthcare or retail – you may have specific requirements of what your IoT-enabled product should deliver. So, in order not to get lost in the mountain of alternatives to digitize your products, we compiled a handy Q&A available in our final article. It is a checklist that gives you an overview of available options and hopefully an idea where to start.

Learn more by joining our webinar

Adding connectivity to your product offers will definitely give you a competitive edge. As opposed to be “just” an equipment manufacturer you are now a smart buildings supplier and that makes all the difference in the world to your customers. To get more in-depth knowledge, be inspired by the opportunities and learn about the pitfalls, you are welcome to register for our webinar.

This article is part 2 of 2 of our Smart Building series. Read part 1 here.
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