ESSENTIAL CEDIA

GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY

Tas Kyriacou from CEDIA Member IDS, takes a look at the challenges facing the industry in order to tackle climate change.

Buildings and construction play a major part in climate change, accounting for nearly 40% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions - whilst also having a significant impact on our natural habitats. The whole premise of home automation products are to help conserve energy.

The smart home solutions that we install can integrate renewable energy sources and pave the way for; more energy efficient equipment operation, faster and more accurate appliance repairs, and a reduction in product waste. Just by looking at lighting and heating controls alone, there are significant savings to be made.

The Energy Savings Trust states that homeowners can save 320Kg of carbon dioxide a year by installing and correctly using home temperature controls1 .

Additionally, switching or dimming lights in response to presence detection and daylight levels, for instance, can save between 20% and 60% of lighting energy. – Lutron.

But what about the products themselves, including materials and packaging?

From April 2022, the UK Government will be introducing a new tax that will affect UK producers of plastic packaging, importers of plastic packaging, business customers of producers and importers of plastic packaging, and consumers who buy goods in plastic packaging in the UK2 .

This tax will provide a clear economic incentive for businesses in our industry to use recycled material in the production of plastic packaging. This will create greater demand for this material and in turn stimulate increased levels of recycling and collection of plastic waste, diverting it away from landfill or incineration. But what happens once the products themselves reach end of life?

The UN predicts that in 2021 we will create 52.2 million metric tons of E-waste (one of the fastest-growing streams of waste). Many smart devices contain precious resources that could be recycled, if designs allow.

We would like to see more home automation manufacturers follow the examples set by lighting manufacturers, where several ‘take back’ and recycling schemes have been initiated, such as ‘Recolight’ and ‘the Green Light Alliance’.

There are no white papers, statistics, or a clear path on tackling this issue at the moment. However, we at IDS are keen to push this agenda and demonstrate the importance of working together to create a cleaner environment for our industry, partners, and clients.

WHAT ARE WE DOING?

In response to the industry’s situation, IDS has devised a process for 2021 to move from linear thinking to a more circular approach.

For refurbishment projects, where we cannot update hardware via software upgrades, we will aim to wipe, reset, and remove old equipment. Where we can, we will upcycle to ensure these products can be utilised, wherever possible, donating proceeds to organisations that help create awareness for a circular economy. If equipment is no longer serviceable, then we have partnered with an innovative recycling company LITTA.

They recycle 93% of the goods they collect. Our on-site engineers can snap a picture of the old equipment and packaging that needs disposing of and upload it to the LITTA app to arrange collections within the day, who will professionally recycle.

We’re joining forces with Seven Integration and CEDIA to drive this agenda forwards. We’d welcome like-minded integrators, distributors and manufacturers to join us and help our industry change its practices and behaviours for the better – email info@idsgroup.uk.com to find out how you can get involved.

1. Based on typical savings for a three-bedroom semi-detached home heated by gas. Figures are based on fuel prices as of May 2020. 2. More information on the Plastic Packaging Tax can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introductionof-plastic-packaging-tax

WELLNESS WONDERS

Hugo Fitzjohn, Chief Solutions Architect at innovative lighting manufacturer Light Walls, looks at the present and future of intelligent and human centric lighting.

Electric lighting has been around for well over a century now, but in that all that time development of the technology has been relatively slow. The main benefits from the outset were clear, it was convenient, instant and negated the need to set fire to things indoors to create light. Those major selling points haven’t ever really gone away. For all these years the de facto standard for control has been the perhaps not so humble light switch, which from a user experience point of view is almost perfect. You can find a light switch in the dark and everyone understands how it works, this (ironically) has probably hindered the development of the technology over the decades. The main focus of lighting development has on the whole been to strive for greater efficiency, early light bulbs were great at being heaters with light merely as a by-product. As the years have progressed, our ability to turn electricity into electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum has improved with leaps and bounds, yet still mostly turn on and off with a light switch.

Then along came diming which a lot of people said was ‘pretty cool’, as for the first time it was easy to create an ambience. Initially this was rheostat merrily turning more electricity into heat than light. Diming technology has moved on a great deal in modern times, trailing edge diming chops the back off the sinusoidal waves of electricity and energy is actually saved by dimming. The story of dimming gets murky again with the introduction of LED lighting. The best way to dim LED is using pulse width modulation (PWM) where we flash the LED off and on incredibly quickly, faster than the human can perceive. But to transform AC electricity which has been ‘chopped’ by a modern dimmer to PWM control of an LED is nothing short of miraculous and a convoluted step to allow two technologies to be shoe-horned together. There is a better way and with it follows a whole explosion of possibilities.

EXPERIENCE LIGHTING AS NEVER BEFORE

Dynamic Lighting Fixtures / Dynamic Lighting Control / Direct View LED

www.lightwalls.co.uk

Rather than controlling the electrical power to effect control of lamps and fixtures we can send control signals alongside constant power. This is not a new concept, DALI - which works this way has been around since the 90s, however it’s inception was before the LED revolution so the design isn’t optimised to control them. More modern electronics now allow us to have control drivers so tiny that they can be embedded in LED chips, this is where a new chapter of an exciting story begins.

A 5mm x 5mm RGBW LED with embedded driver may not sound like a big deal, but the ability to mix Red, Green, Blue and White light with on - board control is a tiny building block of something massive. Suddenly dynamic lighting is eminently possible. We now have thousands of lighting circuits at our fingertips to control in a room or space without masses of cumbersome control gear. Light itself isn’t just a set colour temperature of white at a fixed brightness, step outside and light is alive constantly but subtly changing in both colour and brightness. We can bring that very sense of living light into our homes and workspaces. In our industry, wellness is the hot topic of the day and biophilic design intent is coming to the fore front, but why? It turns out humans were hard wired to be outside and our

man-made caves may keep out the rain, the cold and predators but they create a disconnect from the natural environment. Mimicking elements of the natural world in our homes definitely makes us feel better, however claiming health benefits and healing properties of light is something that we should probably steer clear of. The main thing is that it’s a really nice experience. I use biorhythmic/human centric/circadian coded lighting (as with much early technology no one seems to have really settled on a name for it) at home so I can personally attest to the fact that it cheers me up in the depths of winter and makes the house feel bright an airy in the day and cosy in the evenings. It’s something that only a small percentage of people are able to experience right now because it’s only starting to enter our psyche that it’s either A: possible and B: people would pay for the experience. As an industry we should never lose sight of the fact that what we actually sell to clients is experiences and when it comes to selling lighting experiences things are shifting up a gear with the new possibilities. With control of thousands of RGBW lighting circuits we can create a giant canvas to paint onto with light. In a home cinema we can really up the ante and create exciting viewing experiences, bringing the colours of the video to life in the room, the effect of which is a more immersive viewing experience. The same LED pixels can be set as the static lighting for the space or perhaps with some subtle movement. As the film is about to start a dynamic lighting scene can be triggered adding to the theatre of the movie experience, after all let’s be honest - most home cinemas are more than a little bit about showing off! There are so many other spaces in the home that can befit from dynamic lighting too. Take a gym, traditionally; a box with a subtle infusion of sweat, doubtless devoid of windows. With dynamic lighting we can make that space a chameleon, you want high energy to compete in an online cycling race, easy dynamic lighting can take you there. After a long day of conference calls when you need to unwind and relax, the same gym space can transform into your wellness space by triggering a scene. Dynamic lighting can mimic being outside with dappled moving light or conjure up calming patterns. If being locked up in our homes for the last year has taught us anything its that we need to look of out mental fitness too.

Wellness and circadian coded lighting (which is achieved by changing the colour temperature and brightness throughout the day) is undoubtedly a great evolution of existing technologies. However, being able to create subtle texture and movement - which creates living light to further mimic the natural world is next logical step, dynamic lighting technologies can deliver this right now, it’s time to get on board and join the new lighting revolution and start delivering exceptional experience for clients.

Light Walls lightwalls.co.uk

EXPERIENCE LIGHTING AS NEVER BEFORE

Dynamic Lighting Fixtures / Dynamic Lighting Control / Direct View LED

www.lightwalls.co.uk

MOOD LIGHTING

Smart home manufacturer Basalte offers its opinion on how the lighting landscape has changed and how it will continue to, as part of fully smart home.

Homes are changing and lighting needs to as well

Lighting has long evolved from being a functional requirement of a home to a true interior design feature. Just like finishes and fabrics, the lighting chosen for a property reflects a unique aesthetic and personality. The ability to control ambient and artificial light is one of the best and most effective ways to create a comfortable and efficient home environment. Smart home technology has had a huge impact on this of course effecting both development within the lighting sector as well as heating systems and music.

When lights are integrated into a smart home system using for example KNX, DALI or even Philips Hue; almost everything is possible. The intensity of the lights can easily be adjusted, or they can of course be integrated into different scenes, one of the most impactful ways to show how lighting can change a home to the uninitiated. But don’t forget how lighting can also be part of a larger mood setting macro, mixing it with music for instance can make the impact doubly felt by the homeowner. App control of lighting for a wide range of systems also offers more options these days, so if the user is not near a wall controller, they can turn those lights of downstairs they forgot to via their smartphone whilst in bed or even when they are not home at all. Access to the lighting systems no matter where the person is a real key advancement. For our part Basalte has enabled remote access and programming for KNX projects over the secured and encrypted Basalte cloud.

Integration into a fully smart home via a system like KNX also of course opens up the availability of partnering with motion sensors so occupancy-based activation not only promotes ease of use, but also efficiency too. With environmental concerns increasing amongst consumers and better efficiency increasing seen in building regulations of all types, getting to grips with making everything in a smart home work ‘smarter’ will continue to be a major selling point.

The innovative use of light keeps evolving. It is now common knowledge that the light of the sun is crucial for our health and well-being. Therefore, every artificial light source should match the qualities of sunlight as closely as possible. Our physiological response to light depends on things like colour spectrum, intensity and timing. The quality of light in our environment is therefore of great importance, particularly when we spend a long time in closed rooms with few or even no windows. Especially in times when so many people are working from home, this aspect becomes more relevant than ever before. Light can effect our ability to do all sorts of tasks well, relaxing, concentrating and everything in between is enhanced by lighting that promotes those activities.

The colour temperature can be controlled using our Basalte Home system. As well as helping people in a given task, colour temperature has a direct impact on a person’s bio-rhythm, so by controlling it as part of an intelligent lighting system, it is possible to influence the mood and behaviour of those in the room. So again we are back to create scenes for customers and their specific use case scenarios for different times of the day and different tasks. Activate ‘Home Office’, the lights dim up with a cold colour temperature (using bluer frequencies), this kind of light will increase awareness, productivity and well-being during the day. When ‘Relax’ is activated, the lights will change to a warmer colour temperature (using amber and red frequencies). This kind of light is used to relax people at night to ensure the body is refreshed, revitalised and reset properly. One option here is to partner Philips Hue with Basalte Home which work natively with each other another option would be Dali which offers various dimmable options.

Clearly, the demand for smart home technology will continue to rise and evolve, especially as the office and the home converge. Both employees and employers will need to focus on optimising the home office in order to support productivity and employee wellbeing. The integration of smart home systems together with smart lights can play a major role in achieving this.

EXPERIENCE LIGHTING AS NEVER BEFORE

Dynamic Lighting Fixtures / Dynamic Lighting Control / Direct View LED

www.lightwalls.co.uk

A RAY OF LIGHT!

Every single living thing under the sun, from plants to plankton, is, quite literally powered by light.

Dr Shelley James is a consultant and international expert on light and well-being, a passionate advocate for public engagement with science. She is also Founder and Managing Director of the Age of Light Innovations, an initiative with a vision to build communities and ignite an enthusiasm for light and wellbeing in the new digital age. EI was keen to draw on Dr Shelley’s knowledge and experience of humans and light to examine some key issues affecting our sector.

What is happening in the body that makes exposure to positive light sources important?

Every single living thing under the sun, from plants to plankton, are, quite literally powered by light. Photosynthesis, (the use of light energy, to release sugars from carbon dioxide and water), was the spark that gave rise to the first life forms around 3.4 billion years ago. Cyanobacteria - descendants of those ancient green shoots are still the most successful life form on earth today. In humans, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye is called the retina. It is actually an outcrop of the brain. Early astronauts were able to track how their brains were coping with space travel and the zero-gravity environment by looking at the health of their retina’s.

The light we ‘see’ is processed through two related, but parallel pathways. The first is known as the ‘visual’ pathway. That allows us to see what things are and where. There are four different kinds of cell - three types of ‘cone’ and one type of ‘rod’. Each is sensitive to a slightly different wavelength, or colour of light. The brain adds up the signals from these cells to create our perception of colour.

Around 20 years ago, scientists trying to work out how people who were blind could ‘tell’ what time to go to sleep and when to wake up, discovered a special set of cells in the retina. These cells were nestled in the layer of nerve cells that gather up signals from the rods and cones and send them back to the brain. But these cells not only worked as a relay station, they also responded to light all by themselves - particularly blue wavelengths of the kind that you get in bright morning light (around 480nanometers). The scientists called these retinal ganglion cells intrinsically photosensitive - because these cells were photosensitive, all by themselves. They called them IPRGC’s for short.

EXPERIENCE LIGHTING AS NEVER BEFORE

Dynamic Lighting Fixtures / Dynamic Lighting Control / Direct View LED

www.lightwalls.co.uk

We initially thought these cells were only involved in setting the amount of melatonin in your body (the hormone that makes you feel sleepy). But it turns out that not only is this daynight cycle vital for the smooth running of 88% of the cells in your body and brain. They also do a whole lot more, including triggering a cascade of hormones that make you feel happy or sad and help you to concentrate.

When scientists first saw the powerful effect of the IPRGC’s, they thought that you could control those reactions simply by changing the amount of the 480nm ‘blue’ wavelength in the light source (lots more blue = lots more effect, no blue = no effect).

But it turns out that it’s a whole lot more interesting and complicated than that. For a start, those IPRGC cells are relay stations for the other rods and cones. So when the rods and cones are responding to bright light, the IPRGC’s get to work too. That means that the bright light of any wavelength is likely to affect this ‘non-visual’ response too.

That may be one reason that what is known as ‘full spectrum’ light sources that closely mirror the even distribution curve of wavelengths in natural sunlight - seems to help the body and brain to run smoothly. Interestingly, these full spectrum technologies come from the horticulture industry: growers discovered that, while you can get plants to grow bigger and faster with blasts of specific wavelengths, the crops taste better and are more resistant to disease if you give them a diet of light that is as close to natural sunlight as possible. And there is growing evidence that plants need times in complete darkness to be healthy too.

Unlike plants, the human brain is exquisitely sensitive to very fast movement - it makes sense when you think of how vital it is to be able to spot a lurking predator. New imaging technologies allow us to see just how fast that is (up to 12,000 cycles per second for some people) particularly those with learning difficulties and autism. That’s hundreds of times faster than the ‘conscious’ brain can process. But that alertness response causes eye strain and headaches in one in ten people. And for some, flicker triggers epilepsy and photosensitive migraine. All lights flicker to some extent, simply because of the flow of electrical current. But some flicker more than others.

Glare and reflections are related problems in artificial lights, especially when reflective surfaces like screens are involved. It makes sense if you think that the eye, like the camera on your smart phone, is trying to focus on a task to gather information to send to the brain. When light shines directly into the lens - especially if it’s a bit cloudy as older peoples’ eyes are - think of taking a picture after you’ve touched the lens with greasy fingers. The signals bounce around and get confused. It’s tiring and stressful.

Finally, we used to think that eye conditions like myopia were simply genetic - if your mum and dad wore glasses, you will too. But it turns out that light has a crucial effect on the healthy growth of the eye. Studies in Korea where up to 97% of young men are short sighted have shown that just 80 minutes outside per day can cut a child’s likelihood of needing glasses by up to 40%.

You should be able to see that exposure to the right kind of light at the right time of day is vital to our ability to be productive, healthy and happy. Vulnerable groups such as children and older people are especially sensitive to the quality and quantity of light and yet, we invest less in our schools homes and hospitals than we do on greenhouses for cash crops.

Tell us more about what in your view the real keys are in terms of human-centric design when it comes to lighting, intelligent lighting and the control of ambient light. What should designers of lighting systems actually be trying to do?

The clue really is in the name. It is all about putting the human at the centre of the design.

This is an incredibly exciting time to be working with light. Not only are we discovering how our brains and bodies respond to light in real time, but a new generation of innovative and affordable solutions are coming to market with the potential to support those vital visual and non-visual pathways. Low-energy light sources mean that it’s possible to install controls that run on low-energy networks - saving materials and money.

In the past there was a trade-off between energy, efficiency or qualities such as the range of colours or wavelengths and the brightness. But new optics make it possible to direct light where it’s needed most. And the sensing and controls that your readers are so brilliant at designing make it possible to adjust artificial light levels in response to natural light and to the presence of different users in the space. So intelligent fittings and controls make it possible to make the most of every single photon - to use smaller quantities of higher quality light - reducing energy consumption overall and cutting light pollution in the process.

In terms of what designers should actually be doing? Designing for people means creating an environment that matches the subtle shifts in brightness and colour temperature that we see in the natural world, as closely as current artificial

EXPERIENCE LIGHTING AS NEVER BEFORE

Dynamic Lighting Fixtures / Dynamic Lighting Control / Direct View LED

www.lightwalls.co.uk

lighting systems allow. Essentially, we evolved to be active in bright, cool light from the sky. And to wind down with gentle, dim, warm light in the evening (below eye level) think camp fire. It also means being aware of the special needs of more vulnerable user groups such as the elderly: their eyes don’t adjust as young people’s do when moving from light to dark areas. So ensuring an even distribution of light in corridors and on stairs is especially important. And those suffering from conditions such as dementia are more sensitive to high-contrast edges and glare. So careful control of direct sunlight to manage shadows is especially important for this group.

Amid all the technical talks it is worth remembering that we all thrive on variety and delight, and that light has a unique power to transform a space - from professional workspace, to family time, to romantic dinner with the flip of a switch. This is more important than ever as we work from home.

What insights, or tips can you offer lighting designers and installers to help them create genuinely human centric lighting?

In practical terms, I believe that the most important aspect of any intelligent system is to consider the user. Not only their lighting needs, but also their technical expertise and interest.

I have spent some time on site with electrical installers and testing teams in schools. We were often called in by frustrated staff members wrestling with elaborate and expensive digital systems that were installed by enthusiastic and well-meaning technical teams. There was little or no hand-over, training or ongoing support with staff changes beyond a ring binder with laminated sheets of diagrams and codes.

Sympathetic lighting systems should feel perfectly natural, both in terms of the lighting they deliver, and the way they are used. They should encourage a relaxed awareness of the subtle shifts in light and shade from day into evening - with the changing patterns of the seasons. Lighting systems should also be sympathetic to the types of activity in different areas of the space at different times of the day - from listening to interaction, engaging to relaxing. And finally, they should celebrate the forms and materials in the space: bringing the play of light through stairwells and doorways, washes and focused beams on matt and smooth materials for example.

What are some of the most exciting nextgeneration lighting innovations that we will see coming through in the next few years?

I hope we will see a shift from technology (for its own sake) to solutions that truly go back to what it means to be human.

It is easy to get lost in a heated argument about numbers— and miss the point in the process.

Human-centred lighting simply means respecting our universal and fundamental need for bright days with spaces that offer as much natural light as possible, supplemented by flicker-free, full-spectrum light sources that shift from cool to warm and from bright to dim over the course of the day. And for truly dark nights without the physical and environmental harm inflicted by light pollution.

Human-centred lighting also means designing systems that offer each of us simple, intuitive and reliable control over the light sources in our world. This will become more important as we learn more about the vital role of working patterns, age, health and chronotype (‘morningness’ or ‘eveningness’) in our response to light. For example, a 45 year old’s eyes will only receive around 50% of the light received by a ten year old’s because of the yellowing of our lenses. We’ve known for some time that shift workers suffer disproportionately from a range of health conditions - prolonged shift work has been described as ‘probably carcinogenic’ by the WHO - and recent studies in the States have demonstrated the potential to transform adolescent students’ academic performance - and reduce road accidents - by shifting school start times to reflect their delayed body clock. Wearable light tracking devices similar to the ‘fit bit’ - such as Lys technology - will bring the concept of a personalised ‘light diet’ within reach of all.

Another exciting area is in the sustainable design of the light fittings themselves - both in terms of the materials they use but the potential to upgrade and retrofit specific elements such as the chip or the driver.

I hope I have given you some reasons to be as excited as I am by the immense potential of human-centred lighting to transform not only human health and happiness, but to respect the planet and the animals we share it with.

The retina is actually an extension of the human brain Age of Light Innovations ageoflightinnovations.com

EXPERIENCE LIGHTING AS NEVER BEFORE

Dynamic Lighting Fixtures / Dynamic Lighting Control / Direct View LED

www.lightwalls.co.uk

RELIABILITY AND SIMPLICITY

Peter Broome, Director at UK smart lighting controls manufacturer, Rako, argues that keeping things simple and delivering strong reliability are the vital factors in modern lighting as the sector looks to mimic what happens in nature.

For any integrated home, there are three critical sub-systems that absolutely have to work for your client. Heating, security and lighting.

It may be annoying if the projector fails or if your client is unable to play the music they want at any particular time, but it’s not a potential risk to their health and safety. That’s why getting these three areas right is so important for integrators. And it’s why rock-solid system reliability matters.

The best way to achieve this is to ensure that, whilst they may be integrated and accessed on a single control platform, each of these three sub-systems is still capable of functioning independently, irrespective of any broader system issues or control platform failures.

For lighting control, a system that is built on distributed intelligence that’s independent of the network wins out over those that are IP-based or one that uses a centralised processor as its brains. Even if the router locks up or a circuit breaker trips, the lighting system still needs to be able to function without any problems.

Our next advice would be to keep it simple. Despite the complex technology behind a control system, the user controls have to be simple to access, straightforward to integrate and easy to use. Every client now expects to be able to use their phone to control everything, and the recently enhanced Rako HUB interface is a key, feature-rich enabler of that benefit.

For the integrator, this kind of interface also offers simplified programming and integration. You can take any Rako NFC (Near Field Communication) wireless device and place it on the HUB’s pad for simple programming and connection to the system. A simple software upgrade via the web interface will enable this feature in all Rako HUBs.

New drivers for Elan and Crestron Home makes connection to third party devices and control more efficient and powerful. Native control of Silent Gliss and QMotion automated blinds and curtain tracks is embedded within the Rako HUB and SONOS audio systems can be seamlessly added into a system now. This integration, flexibility and openness saves considerable time and hassle for integrators.

As it connects with cloud services, the device also supports all major branded smart home speakers, including Alexa, Apple Home kit and Google Home. This voice command integration helps to democratise the appeal of lighting control, making it easier to implement in projects where budgets are tighter and creating new business and upgrade opportunities for installers.

Speaking of new market opportunities, we see the increasing awareness around human health and well-being likely to drive growth in human-centric lighting for the home. The capability for a control system to adjust colour temperature without dimming is, of course, dependent on the availability of high quality, colour-changing RGBCW fittings. In workspace settings, we are seeing more of these fittings and carrying out more of these HCL applications, which we believe will carry over into the residential space in the future.

So, make it reliable, keep it simple and recognise those opportunities for growth that lighting control provides. It’s a bright future ahead.

EXPERIENCE LIGHTING AS NEVER BEFORE

Dynamic Lighting Fixtures / Dynamic Lighting Control / Direct View LED

www.lightwalls.co.uk

THE TOMORROW PEOPLE

Mark Booth, Managing Director, Gira UK, asks if it is possible to future-proof today’s lighting schemes so they can cope with tomorrow’s demands.

Given that lighting design is an essential area, which at times can be taken for granted, as a premium manufacturer of building technology, we are delighted to see end users are taking a more considered approach here and urge them to maintain this momentum, especially as ‘future-proof’ lighting technology is a huge growth area next year.

Integration is the key word for 2021 as consumers come to understand that welldesigned lighting systems can enhance their quality of life as well as helping to save energy and contribute to a more sustainable future. The remarkable ability of lighting to change and elevate the ambience of the home will become even more important for those who are spending more time working from home and want to designate different zones of an openplan space for business and for leisure.

A significant consumer of electricity in your own home is the lights. Automated systems that switch off the light automatically after a set period of time are far more efficient - ideal for new builds and retrofitting. This level of saving is extremely advantageous in rooms which are less used, like utility rooms, hallways and bedrooms, which is why we recommend presence and motion detectors as a great solution. In fact, there are many variants of intelligent lighting systems used for energy management, however it is important to be conscious of energy use and so being able to view the level of energy being consumed is a massive benefit.

As home owners and building managers discover the benefits of automating lighting and linking it to different devices, as the Internet of Things takes off, end users will become accustomed to a uniquely tailored environment. Multiple options to control lighting such as voice control or via app is set to be very important – especially as more and more people are investing in smart home technology.

Smart lighting will be a core staple of the interiors market in 2021 and will accelerate throughout the decade so that controlling the home remotely will become an everyday norm. We have seen considerable interest in lighting, entertaining and security solutions which support whole house living.

There are also more opportunities at the top of the market for combining the best of traditional push button control with the latest sensor technology indoors so that lighting and other functions can be easily managed from a control panel, which is ideal for a busy family kitchen. For example, it is now possible to operate lighting and blinds, moderate the temperature and humidity via sensor technology and, thanks to an external temperature sensor, underfloor heating will automatically begin to function on a chilly evening or frosty morning.

When up to eight functions can be effortlessly controlled from one clever combination switch and sensor, this demonstrates the rising demand for premium design with intuitive control and operation – giving end users more time to focus on relaxing or working in comfort and empowering designers to create practical and aesthetical schemes.

Gira is well-prepared for the increasing sophistication in electrical accessories and control systems and is set to launch an exciting new range of colours and metallic finishes in 2021. These options will elevate the desirability of its award-winning and iconic Design Lines, which have the ability to accommodate up to more than 300 functions in today’s smart homes. A great example of this is the Gira Pushbutton sensor 4 that allows greater control at the touch of a button, so the end user can operate various functions from one clever switch like lighting and blinds, moderating the temperature and humidity all via sensor technology.

EXPERIENCE LIGHTING AS NEVER BEFORE

Dynamic Lighting Fixtures / Dynamic Lighting Control / Direct View LED

www.lightwalls.co.uk

SMART AND AMBITIOUS ABB

EI spoke with Dr Thorsten Müller, Head of Global Product Group Building and Home Automation Solutions at ABB, to discover what the company’s plans are in the smart building/ smart home sector.

At the 2019 IFA show, ABB announced a major push into the smart home/building sector. So EI was keen to speak with the principals and find out what the company has planned next. We began by looking at the home, a sector that has had its relationship to the commercial world changed by COVID-19 and the rise of working from home.

Thorsten argues that, “Working from home will vary a lot around the world, but it is obvious that many more companies will be supporting their workers at home. Perhaps the ‘office’ will become a place for meetings and creativity and people’s homes the space to work on other tasks that don’t require interaction.”

Regardless of the degree of this change happens to, ABB believes that workers will spend more time at home. This could trigger increased spending from users themselves and from companies looking to provide the equipment their workers need.

This is not the only consequence of people being at home more, Thorsten explains, “Being at home has definitely increased people’s interest in the smart home. People want to make their homes more efficient and pleasant to be in at all times of the day. It is a definite growing trend. With a KNX backbone and our Free@Home as well as Free@Home Flex, we can offer a broad range of options to cater to these people. The current focus for ABB is delivering control of blinds, lights, heating, air conditioning, door communication and security.

“We have worked hard to simplify our offering, reducing the number of wall controls needed – in some cases to just one. Our whole approach is based on offering easy to install, easy to use, plug and play systems.”

Other improvements in the company’s offering include compatibility with DALI lighting and the launch of ABB-secure@home.

This alarm system protects against burglary and theft, as well as damage from other sources of danger such as fire or water. This product is, of course, fully compatible with the company’s whole-home automation platform, ABB-free@home.

Free@Home Flex is a simplified system designed to deliver smart home control of a single room. However, users will be able to build upon this, room-by-room, to encompass their full whole house when the system is updated in the near future. This system will come fully online later this year.

Thorsten also underlined the company’s improvements to the ABB-free@home Next app, which gives homeowners control of their smart home solutions from a mobile device. The latest version provides greater speed and a more intuitive interface. The app also enables users to configure the system with options such as daily routines, timers, scenes and filters for each room, all with just one click.

The company has also launched a weather station solution for MDU projects and a home appliance connection that interfaces with products from Bosch, Gaggenau, Neff and Miele. For added convenience, ABB-free@ home now works with ‘Hey Google’ so users can voice control their connected devices.

THE COMMERCIAL WORLD

Estimates suggest that up to 60% of CO2 emissions come from buildings, so ABB is keen to make buildings more efficient via intelligent and automatic lighting, security systems, airconditioning, heating and movement detection.

ABB is looking to achieve ambitious efficiency goals by leveraging the HVAC control expertise brought in last year with the purchase of Ireland-based global operator Cylon. The company also seeks to offer increasing amounts of remote control and system assessment to off-site managers to make it simple to manage multiple buildings.

When taking on his new role, one of the first things that Thorsten insisted on was that ABB opened up its APIs. This initiative has also seen the company use its open API approach to introduce compatibility with third-party players such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Apple. A further benefit of the Cylon acquisition has been the ability to offer cloud-based energy analytic tools so companies can gain real insight into the areas where they can achieve improvements and save money.

Thorsten underlines that by integrating the company’s systems HVAC, lighting, room and shading control, the building can intelligently adjust to factors such as weather conditions and occupancy levels.

To underline its commitment in this area, the company underwent a dramatic reduction in its own emissions. As Thorsten explains, “Our ‘Mission to Zero’ initiative at our production plant in Luedenscheid was the proving ground for much of what we are now offering the market. We proved you could make a significant commercial site net carbon neutral. This mission is rolling out across many of our sites and the aim is to have completely carbon neutral operations by 2030.”

As Thorsten sees it, beside energy efficiency there are three more key areas the company wants to deliver in for the commercial built environment: safety and security, health and well-being and process efficiency.

One recent development in these areas is the company’s increased focus on emergency lighting.

Thorsten says, “Because of their location, emergency exit fittings are perfectly placed to increase what they offer. For example, one potential use is to count people, not just for safety reasons, but also to know how many people are in the building for efficiency reasons. Our current portfolio of smart exit fittings also have abilities such as self-testing and reporting, cutting the number of people required to keep everything working.”

As for health and well-being, particularly after the global experience with Covid-19, better, more efficient air filtering and circulation are a priority for many businesses. This again keys into ABB’s offering to significantly improve HVAC and air circulation efficiency.

As for process efficiency, Thorsten underlines that the people inside a building are always the most valuable and expensive factor that any company must deal with. Making them more efficient in what they are doing can deliver some real low hanging fruit in terms of cutting costs and driving efficiency.

OPPORTUNITIES

Thorsten has some thoughts on what areas might offer some opportunities in the next phase of the market. “We see EV charging at home and at work as a big opportunity. This practice is only going to grow in popularity, so creating smart ways to integrate this need into homes and buildings presents an opportunity. Legislation to make rental properties more efficient and hit given targets will also have an impact, and systems that can deliver there will be in demand. As we mentioned earlier, the home office has big potential and if people are spending longer periods at home, this expands opportunity out to the whole home as well.”

Opportunities to work with the ABB portfolio begin with gaining an understanding of KNX. Thorsten recommends getting in touch with KNX UK to begin that process. However, the company has also worked hard on its own training platforms, including increasing its webinar provision. ABB is also moving lots of its product documentation away from PDFs and webpages to short, instructive how-to videos. Thorsten points to the importance and usefulness of the Virtual Innovation Shows as an example. These were introduced partly because of Covid-19, but they have been a big success and the company will continue them beyond the pandemic.

Ease of install is something that comes up time and time again when speaking with ABB. Thorsten explains, “We see a big opportunity to make our systems as easy to fit as another type of electrical infrastructure going into a building. This has obvious benefits for everyone involved, but it will also help us target the retrofit market, which has huge potential. The percentage of existing homes and commercial buildings compared to new build is obviously a huge gap, and the industry should see this as a major goal for both sales and meeting environmental targets.”

ABB global.abb

100’’ MODEL SHOWN

FLIGHT CASE SOLD SEPARATELY