»Lighting Control in Smart Buildings«

With voice-activated virtual assistants such as Alexa, Google Home, Siri and co. it is now easy for amateurs to control lighting within their own four walls. Terms such as ‚Smart Home‘ or ‚Smart Building‘ are now firmly embedded in the marketing of such services. But what exactly is the difference between these terms? Carsten Schulz, trainer at DIAL, gives us an overview.

Mr Schulz, what is the difference between Smart Home and Smart Building applications in the field of lighting control?
Smart Home applications are mainly used in private homes. Often these are merely retrofits which can be set up easily using an app. This could be a link between a voice-activated assistant such as Alexa and smart light sources which makes it possible to set lighting scenes or adjust the colour temperature. Frequently, these systems actually produce good and useful results for a private household, but they cannot be put on a par with lighting control which is fully integrated into building automation. This is usually found in functional buildings and, therefore, in smart buildings. Lighting control is integrated from the very beginning within the building automation system and is taken into account during lighting design and planning. Actuators and sensors in the building are linked to each other and provide valuable information and ideally adapt the light to the user's needs and requirements. Including lighting control in building automation also has decisive benefits for maintenance. For example, a notification is triggered if a lamp has to be exchanged or a lighting circuit provides too little light.

What is it important to consider with regard to lighting control in Smart Buildings?
When planning lighting control, the lighting designer must, first of all, ask himself the following basic questions: How is the building going to be used and what are the user's requirements? Often a distinction must be made between pure efficiency control and comfort control. In my experience good lighting control is only possible if the lighting designer is closely involved from the very beginning. Dialogue is important for planning. For example, is it enough to control all the luminaires in a seminar room at the same time within one power circuit? Should the luminaires be dimmable? Is simple brightness control of the circuits the better solution because it is simpler or is integration into building automation required? Should luminaires be individually controllable, is a bus system going to be used, will this be wired or wireless? All the electrotechnical equipment is dependent on these decisions. When this has been installed, it is no longer easy to make changes. It is also important to ensure all the components work together well. Many systems use DALI as an interface to the luminaire. DALI stands for ‚Digital Addressable Lighting Interface‘ and is a communication system developed exclusively for lighting technology. Two systems will not necessarily automatically function together just because both are based on DALI.

Which is the best way for the user to proceed?
The market is full of activity at present. This is why experts are especially important when it comes to installing complex systems. For example, the so-called DALI2 Standard for control devices has now been published. DALI 2 is an extension of the IEC 62386 norm. The different lighting control systems based on this standard have therefore become more compatible. This standardization also has the advantage that systems can be tested and controlled more easily for interoperability. However, complex knowledge is necessary to do this.The user must know how to plan and programme DALI systems. It is important to be familiar with the different automation and control systems of a building and to compare different transmission media. For example, will the user have to operate the system manually or will lighting control be completely automated? With what degree of complexity does it become necessary to integrate the systems into building automation? Here it is always important to consider individual application cases. The user can learn about all these topics in our seminars. We pass on what we have learned during our practical experience and are independent of any manufacturer bias.
Further information about our in-service training programme in the field of smart buildings is available at sbdt.dial.de