lightnews volume 13

LightnewsVolume 13

LightnewsOdds stacked in favour of Lighting Control Solutionpage 16

Where versatility compliments grandeurpage 10

Lighting the best of world fashionpage 23

Vodacom’s dynamic controls displaypage 32

Segment innovation brings results on a global scaleIn reviewing this issue of Lightnews, our business and the value we deliver to you as customers, I was amazed again at some of the major differences between the possibilities that a lighting controls lead approach (including integration possibilities) presents, versus a building management system only approach. The need for a deep understanding about users, operators and owners and the architectural space they occupy, requires great care and balance in the approach to any solution rather than just the efficient control of a buildings services.

That fine balance of maximising comfort and minimising energy usage – the context of which needs to be addressed differently depending upon the type of building space we control – is much more than just considering a set of plans in two dimensions. Or calculating areas to be controlled and providing a bill of materials or a list of components as a solution.

This issue of Lightnews showcases the capabilities and successes in our lighting controls lead approach by our own resources and those of our chosen partners and customers on a global basis.

In South Africa we review two office segment projects including a ground breaking building “lightwall” innovation for a telco facility and 50000m2 of floor space under control for a major financial institution. In the UK a historic property is converted to a major multi-functional hospitality facility and is building their brand, maximising energy savings and getting operational efficiencies through a facility-wide approach. Also in the UK, a new luxury residence in the very heart of London, gets a sophisticated home automation control system that provides it’s enthusiastic owner with unrivalled performance, controllability and energy-efficiency.

As part of their Middle East brand expansion plans, Marks and Spencer are enhancing revenues and giving shoppers a better in-store experience. Heading further East we see the results of an even clearer understanding our customers unique needs in upgrading and retrofitting existing facilities, whilst they remain fully operational. The

whole race track lighting control system was completely changed at the Singapore Turf Club with no interruption to one of the world’s busiest race track programs. And in Sydney, extensions and refurbishments to the Sydney Star Casino complex were achieved by replacing existing systems, installing new ones and giving the operators one central control point to maximise their returns and their guest’s experience. Whilst in the US we review our developments for one of the world’s largest energy users in providing proof points of our controls solutions.

The Philips Dynalite offer is continuing to grow in all regional markets around the globe. This growth is being achieved in large due to a decision to take a market segment, rather than a purely product technology based approach. This ensures that in each region and country we have the right people, with the right ideas, the right contacts and the right approach to the considerations required to get the best lighting controls result we can for our customers.

Now with a clear focus on the requirements for Office & Industry, Hospitality, Retail, Entertainment, Healthcare, High-end residential and custom install users – our platform development decisions can be maximised for differing segment customer needs, whilst ongoing investments in the portfolio can be prioritised and leveraged to the benefit and continued growth of our business.

This focus means we’re all about getting a better result for our customers because we understand the needs of key stakeholders in these different segments on a granular level – what’s important to a Facilities Manager in an Office looking to maximise energy-savings can be completely different to those of the Facility Manager of a large Entertainment Centre that has mixed use requirements including events such as Exhibitions, Conferences and Ballroom functions, as well as the odd Concert thrown in.

Being the Global Centre of Competence for Indoor Networked Controls, we have continued our heavy investment in Research and Development and we are able to see the results in some of our new innovations and technologies featured in the Product Spotlight and

Message from the GM

Lightnews Vol 13 | 1

Bert Verschuren, Philips Dynalite General Manager

Industry Insight sections of this issue. In fact we’ve also included some of the great innovations other Philips Controls teams are making around the world which will be of value to you – including true “standalone” solutions as well as “basic integration devices” that maximise energy saving and comfort for users. These Industry insights are provided to you by our marketing and technical experts here at Philips Dynalite’ Global centre of Competence in conjunction with other Controls Group competence centres and our regional teams. This is to make sure that not only are the solutions we provide ‘segment focused’ but also adjusted for ‘regional geographic differences – either practice, standard, regulatory or user defined’.

By utilising occupancy sensor and daylight sensing technology, the Philips Controls OccuSwitch and our alliance partner Somfy’s blind motor controllers, work together to maximise energy-efficiency and enhance office and classroom comfort. The OccuSwitch product range is currently being developed further to work with our Philips Dynalite networked DALI solutions to provide enhanced group lighting control and the possibility for faster commissioning.

Finally we look at the use of systems integration to streamline building management from a lighting controls lead position. This is important for example in providing the perfect meeting room and the best way to manage projectors, audio-visual, HVAC, blinds and lighting. The key to this offering is discussed to give the expected result when operated.

As you can see we can continue to leverage the resources we and those of our partners and parent company bring, to achieve our vision of a lighting controls lead approach to getting a better result in the solutions we provide.

02 In touchVivid lighting controlHigh water mark for CEDIA displayInnovative “light balancing” solution unveiled

04 In touchProject wins around the globe

07 In touchBound to provide latest information

08 In touchTraining Academy goes platinumSimplifying online presence

14Industry insightIntegrating for a streamlined BMSBalancing Light with Philips and Somfy

20 Industry insightManaging meetings for comfort and productivity

21Light in actionGreen oasis in central London

25Product spotlightMastering native DALI

26 Product spotlightGet a better result for your project

28 Product spotlightBalancing light and energy usageUltrasonics – costs down, efficiency up

16 Light in actionOdds stacked in favour of Lighting Control Solution

23 Light in actionLighting the best of world fashion

12 Light in actionOne horse race when it comes to lighting control

18 Light in actionGreen Defence

10 Light in actionWhere versatility complements grandeur

30 Light in actionBanking on an above Standard solution gets 50% in savings

32 Light in actionVodacom’s dynamic controls display

Contents

2 | Lightnews Vol 13

Many of the iconic buildings and landmarks of Sydney became the canvas for spectacular light displays as part of the 2011 Vivid Festival recently. Combining illumination with live and recorded music, the city was transformed with creative and inspiring projections engaging and entertaining visitors and locals alike.

A free outdoor exhibition of light sculptures on display at multiple locations throughout the city was a significant part of the festival. According to Philips Dynalite Product Manager, Daniel Walker, the company provided the control systems for three of the dynamic, animated sculptures. One in particular, entitled Artificial Light Form and located in First Fleet Park on Sydney Harbour, had changing lighting effects that also responded when members of the public walked past or touched the sculpture.

A range of collaborations involving painters, lighting designers, sculptors and electricians, were developed to present the diverse art installations. Members of the public could interact with the sculptures in a wide variety of ways. Special ‘motion capture dots’ on a person’s body, linked to a standard gaming console, made it seem that paint was being thrown over the façade of a building as they threw their hands in the air. Other controls included strumming a series of clear, illuminated ropes or touching the surface of a sculpture.

The façades of several buildings continually changed colour and appearance as different textures were played over them. One of the most obvious canvasses was the roof of the Sydney Opera House. Projectors mounted on the cruise terminal building on the opposite side of Circular Quay showed light

patterns and movies, one of which made it look like a fish was swimming amongst the ‘sails’ of the Opera House.

The Old Customs House building façade light sculpture dynamically changed between multiple images. Designed to resemble a ‘block puzzle’, sections of the image would fold up, rotate or slide away to the left or right, to be replaced by a section of the next picture.

Walker added that the festival illustrated the need for architects, designers and builders to take into consideration all the research that has been done to better understand how people interact with light, especially in and around the places they live and work. n

Vivid lighting control

In touch

Co-ordinated lighting across three façades.

“Painting” the facade of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The Philips Dynalite controlled ‘Artificial Light Form’ in First Fleet Park.


The CEDIA 2011 technology exhibition came to the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in May, giving Philips Dynalite an opportunity to present to custom install and home automation specifiers, dealers and end-users our lighting automation and control solutions, all displayed on our new stand.

The stand needed to be re-built as a result of damage incurred by the devastating 2011 Queensland floods, as our exhibition partner’s premises literally went under water. In rebuilding the stand we were also able to help our partner get back on their feet following this big hit to their business which saw a lot of other affected companies “go under”. The stand featured the latest Philips Dynalite branding elements and corporate information. Floor-length panels in each corner of the stand displayed products operating, allowing visitors to both visualise the interaction of different automation control components and make changes.

The stand was also fitted with iColour Cove luminaires from Philips Lighting CK group. To demonstrate the colour range and dynamic sequencing of the iColour Cove, the stand incorporated DMX drivers sending commands to the Colour Kinetics (CK) control box.

According to Philip Hardy, the ANZ Dimension Channel Manager, there were a number of people looking at what home automation companies had on offer. A substantial number had not heard of Philips Dynalite before so there were many opportunities to represent the company to

prospective customers. “Like all exhibitions, there was a good mix of potential clients and specifiers such as consultants, builders and custom installers,” he said.

The exhibition was also an opportunity for dealers from around the country, including those that have received Dimension Dealer accreditation, to meet each other and share experiences and

advice. Some of the R & D staff from the Philips Dynalite Global Competence Centre based in Sydney, were also on the stand receiving first hand feedback on our system from key stakeholders.

Detailed information about the Dimension Dealer programme in Australia can be found at the dedicated web site: www.philips.com/dynalitedimension n

High-water mark for CEDIA display

The display panel at Lightfair 2011 demonstrating the first fully integrated ‘light balancing’ solution from Philips Dynalite and Somfy.

Innovative “light balancing” solution unveiledThe first ‘light balancing’ solution developed in conjunction with the global market leader for automatic control of openings in commercial and residential buildings – Somfy, was unveiled at Lightfair 2011 in Philadelphia, USA. The solution comprised Philips Dynalite controls integrated with the Somfy Digital Network for motorised window coverings, enabling multiple sets of Somfy blind “super quiet” motors to be controlled via a Philips Dynalite multipurpose gateway. The collaboration combines the respective strengths of the two companies, leveraging global leadership in lighting management and proven expertise in dynamically-controlled building façade applications, such as sunshades and blinds.

The innovative solutions developed by the two companies targeted initially at the commercial office sector enable owners, employers and property owners to provide workplaces which minimise energy usage in the building and maximise comfort for the occupants. In this regard, Philips Dynalite and Somfy share a belief in the dynamic control of artificial and natural lighting, to obtain the best “balance” for all.

Lighting accounts for a significant part of an office building’s energy consumption. Intelligent lighting management can reduce this energy use by up 50%. By co-developing intelligent and integrated solutions for controlling artificial light and natural light entering a space, Philips and Somfy anticipate helping building managers achieve even greater energy savings.

This collaboration takes the lead in creating next-generation, comfortable, sustainable work environments. It also demonstrates how it is possible to integrate building services engineering and simplify automation for building operators. n

To learn more about the Philips and Somfy solution, please see page 15.


Project wins around the globeGreen light for Mumbai Airport

The responsiveness of our development team, coupled with the flexibility of Philips Dynalite products, contributed to the company winning the lighting control contract for the prestigious new Mumbai Airport in India. The new airport is a Private Public Partnership (PPP) project with phase one due to open in early 2012. It will have two parallel runways each 3700 metres long. The cost of the project is estimated at between US$710 million US$890. The airport will have a terminal area of 250,000m2 and a cargo area of 100,000m2 and will handle around 50-55 million passengers annually.

A combination of advanced functionality and the need for cost conscious design due to the size of the project, development of a new product to meet the customer’s requirements. Indian electrical regulations stipulate all equipment in switchboards must be DIN-rail mounted. Philips Dynalite was able to take features of two existing controllers and by thinking through a sustainable design, put this into a reduced product footprint size, maximising the space within the electrical enclosures.

The Mumbai unit is an open-protocol, fluorescent ballast controller and has an in-built DALI universe of 64 addresses as well as support for other standard ballasts. A special feature of the controller is that it incorporates five 16-amp power relays. To reduce energy consumption in the airport, these relays open to remove standby consumption when a lighting circuit is dimmed below a specified level. This has several benefits: no stand-by current is being consumed by the ballasts when the lighting is off, the components do not suffer thermal wear from being energised at all times and because they no longer generate unnecessary heat, the airconditioning system does not need to use extra energy compensating for the extra heat being generated by the ballasts on stand-by. All adding up to a great sustainable design that will save significant energy usage throughout the life of the airport for it’s operators.

The newly developed product has been installed in the airport complex to control more than 5000 lamps throughout the building. Our EnvisionManager software running on a single PC controls all the scheduling and monitoring of lamp activity, in addition to generating notional power usage reports and lamp failure reports.

Open protocol manages

lighting balance

Winning the contract to install the lighting management system in the prestigious 22-storey Churchill Building in Rijswijk in the Netherlands allowed us to showcase our Philips Controls LightMaster Modular (LMM) system.

LMM was used in the building so that the benefits of its open source protocols could be used to allow the lighting management system to communicate directly with the Somfy controllers for the external blinds. This facilitated coordinating the balance between the amount of natural light and heat entering the building and the level of artificial illumination required. More than 500 controllers were installed, linking the lights and occupancy sensors in the offices, corridors and meeting rooms throughout the building.

Several automation overrides were also incorporated into the Churchill Building. Daylight sensors switch off the artificial lights when the natural light levels exceed a particular level. A second override isolates the controls for the Somfy blinds so that when the window cleaners are working the external sun shades do not close.

The Churchill Building – Rijswijk, the Netherlands.

Mumbai Airport – Mumbai, India. Photo by Alex Graves

In touch


The Avenues Mall – Kuwait City, Kuwait. Photo by Steve & Gem Copley

By running standard cabling throughout the structure and the latest Wieland push-fit connectors instead of screw terminals, the electrical contractor was able to reduce the installation and commissioning time by nearly 50 per cent.

Philips continues to develop controls that interface with the rapidly expanding and developing open source building management systems, from basic integration devices through to fully featured system solutions that minimise energy usage for the building operators and maximise comfort for occupants.

Walls of light in Avenues Mall

Philips Dynalite has secured the contract for the lighting control system in the third phase of construction of the Avenues Mall in Kuwait. The shopping centre is the largest in Kuwait and continues to expand. The challenge encountered in this latest phase required that all lighting controls use both DALI control and the DMX communication protocol, but also interface with the existing control system.

An easier challenge for the Philips Dynalite team was meeting the client’s requirement that all lighting had to be

controlled and monitored from a central location. As mentioned, earlier phases of construction had used another company’s lighting controls so the Philips team had to demonstrate both that the proposed management system was more energy-efficient and provided the required illumination and comfort, in addition to being able to interface with the existing controls. The Philips team used our standard KNX gateway devices to connect the new DALI enabled network to the system in the older part of the shopping centre.

According to Darwish Seinullabdeen, Philips Dynalite Regional Manager for UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, a great deal of effort was put into the project to convince the client that the whole control network met its needs. “There was a lot of cooperation between the Philips team and the DMX suppliers in the region in order to implement the appropriate scheduling and integration to achieve the requested dynamic light displays on the many large LED ‘colour walls’ throughout Avenues Mall.”

continued over

Philips continues to develop controls that interface with the rapidly expanding and developing open source building management systems, from basic integration devices through to fully featured system solutions that minimise energy usage for the building operators and maximise comfort for occupants.

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Lighting up for Louis Vuitton

Against heavy competition, Philips Dynalite was delighted to be selected to provide the lighting control for the flagship store of another major luxury brand recently. The latest Louis Vuitton Australian flagship store in Sydney’s King Street is built over two levels, with one level comprising the sales salon and the second containing staff offices.

The tender won was for the installation of a lighting management system controlling the illumination of the sales display area and the offices. The main requirements were for the capability to easily change the lighting effect in different areas of the shop floor depending on the type of product on the display. This enables Louis Vuitton to enhance revenue by providing the right amount and tone of light for customers to view their goods, whilst also minimising energy consumption. Both of these features give the retailer a better bottom line result.

Lighting scenes and scheduling were developed using the EnvisionProject commissioning tool. Two Revolution series DTP170 touchscreen panels in the display area and individual pushbutton wall panels in the offices access allow staff to implement the scenes and schedules. The Hong Kong-based lighting designer for the project selected the touchscreen interfaces because the aesthetics of the devices complemented

the quality of the goods on display in the store and made it easy for staff to control the lighting within set parameters of the designers selected scenes.

While the requirement was not part of the original specification, the system installed and commissioned within the Louis Vuitton store has the capability to be controlled remotely by the addition of an appropriate Philips Dynalite network gateway device, giving the retailer the capability to gain better results from the system in the future if desired.

Prestige hotel receives illuminating

makeover

The Philips Dynalite design team worked closely with the electrical contractor for the Park Hyatt hotel refurbishment in The Rocks area of Sydney in order to design the most efficient lighting management system for the iconic luxury hotel nestled at the foot of the Harbour Bridge.

According to Reece Davis, NSW Sales Engineer at Philips Dynalite, the lighting brief was for the control of all the lighting in the public “front-of-house” areas as well as all staff offices. The tender stated that there was a requirement for the system to integrate with the audio-visual control systems in the three main function areas of the hotel so that the appropriate

ambiance for a particular event could be set in terms of sight and sound. A third level of integration required was with the fire detection and alarm system of the hotel’s building management system (BMS) whereby in the event of a fire, a special lighting scheme would be automatically implemented ensuring safe evacuation of all guests and staff.

Davis stated that the client had indicated it was important to be able to control the system from one location. All aspects of the lighting management system were networked via a single ‘head-end’ computer running the application software. An added feature with the Philips Dynalite system is that all intelligence once programmed, is fully distributed in the system, meaning it is not reliant on a head-end PC being available to communicate with every device to implement tasks etc.

Davis added that the competition for the tender was strong and involved international specifiers. The US based lighting design company, Bar Studios, has worked with Hyatt hotels around the world and was also familiar with Philips Dynalite equipment which “offered an intuitive and simple way of implementing the required lighting effects and integration requirements.” n

In touch

Project wins around the globe continued

Louis Vuitton store.

The Park Hyatt hotel – The Rocks, Sydney.


In order to provide technical specifiers, dealers, distributors and customers with easily accessible and up-to-date information about the rapidly expanding range of products, Philips Dynalite has revised and re-written its Technical Binder from cover-to-cover and is available via the website as a download. The latest issue is a complete compilation of Technical Datasheets, Application Guides and Technical Guides relevant to the specifier market. The binder provides technical information on individual components of the Philips Dynalite system and examples of how the system comes together to form a solution.

As technical specifications for a product change or new products are added to a range, the specification sheets can be readily replaced or added to the binder. Philips Dynalite aims to create the one ‘go to’ document that contains all the necessary information to allow custom install engineers and lighting designers to select the right product for their project.

Products are continually being refined and modified in order to take advantage

of changes in technology, that’s why the information about what changes have been made or how they have been improved needs to be readily available to customers. This resource has been fully revised and with the R&D team releasing two or three products each month, this major revision was a necessity. The complete redesign and revision includes consistent presentation of the specifications. Similar information is in the same place on every page.

In addition to the detailed two-page technical data sheet specifications for every Philips Dynalite product, the technical binder also has sections featuring application guides. These guides explain which products are typically used in certain applications, such as an open office, a meeting room, a showroom or lecture hall and how they can be connected to minimise energy usage and maximise comfort and the desired lighting effects.

The Technical Binder is available as a download from Philips Dynalite web site.

If required, customers can request a physical copy to be printed through their local office. n

Bound to provide latest information


Philips Dynalite Training Academy has won the Platinum award for “Best Training Team” in the LearnX Asia Pacific 2011 E-Learning & Training Awards.

According to the Philips Indoor Controls Global Training Manager, Kym Price, “The LearnX award is a great way to benchmark our learning activities against other well known organisations. It is a proud achievement that the Philips Dynalite Training Academy has won external recognition for the best training team.”

For the past two years the training team have gained internal Philips “Leadership Breakthrough” awards as part of very successful projects. In 2011, the award was for their part in the training for the new EnvisionProject software. “Our trainers learnt the new software and then trained all the commissioning engineers and sales staff,” Price added. “The improved training has

effectively cut commissioning time by 50 per cent and greatly reduced ongoing support costs.”

The Philips Dynalite Training Academy has been set up like a university, with a range of course modules that must be completed before a person can be assessed and accredited. The training team hires professional trainers who then learn the product or technology they will be teaching to others. “Our trainers all have at least Certificate IV qualification in training and assessment,” Price said. “Trainers go out and speak to the engineers and then we create all the content ourselves; the curriculum, course materials and all the assessments.”

During the past four years LearnX Asia Pacific has become the premier learning event in the region. The conference provides delegates with the opportunity to hear the latest technical content from learning

professionals on multi-faceted approaches to workplace learning.

The LearnX Awards include 50 categories recognising excellence in the areas of Best Talent, Best Practices, Best Services and also Green Training, which was the first award of its type in the world. Philips Dynalite joins a distinguished group of previous Platinum award winners including, The Salvation Army Employment Plus, Commonwealth Bank, Adobe, Siemens and Optus.

The LearnX Foundation, which organises and presents the awards, is a non-profit organisation promoting innovative workforce learning and supporting technologies. All profits from LearnX go to the Humour Foundation Clown Doctor program in children’s hospitals around Australia. n

Well designed, professionally presented, small group training sessions helped the Philips Dynalite Training Academy win external recognition as the best training team.

Training Academy goes platinum

In touch


The full re-design of the Philips Dynalite portfolio web site went live in August and adopted the look and feel of the Philips Lighting site and the functionality of the platform on which it was built. According to Anna Giorgianni, Marketing Communications Manager at Philips Dynalite, the relaunch is a fresh start which ties in with the theme of “sense and simplicity” that is at the heart of all Philips communications. “The new site is easier to navigate,” Giorgianni said, “and we have tried to present visitors with the information they are looking for using a maximum of three mouse-clicks.”

The previous web site had developed and grown over many years, with articles and

information added to areas that were not always logical. The material is now uploaded in the appropriate mark-up language for display and dissemination rather than its original format. Giorgianni added “The new layout is also less cluttered and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.”

Product information has been grouped online in the same categories as the latest Philips Dynalite Product Catalogue. The latest technical datasheets, installation manuals, images and firmware for each product can be found in the appropriate directory. The Library section contains downloadable versions of all product brochures, catalogues and copies of past issues of Lightnews, as well as general

literature. All the technical documentation and information sheets can be found in the Technical Support section. “Training is very important to us,” Giorgianni stated, “so the link to the Training Academy section containing course syllabi and information on the global training team, is now accessible from the homepage.”

The web site homepage showcases projects and has direct links to the Distributor and Dealer sites. In the Media and PR section, customers can access copies of any articles recently published about Philips Dynalite in the media. Links to web sites reporting research in the fields of lighting, building automation and related fields has also been incorporated.

Development of the new Philips Dynalite web site was a collaboration between the Philips Dynalite Marketing team, the Philips Asia Pacific Philips Lighting web team and an external development agency Adspert, based in Hong Kong. The new site will be a more dynamic one and information will be regularly updated so that it is always current.

The new site is now live and located at www.philips.com/dynalite. n

Simplifying online presence


Light in action

Built in the 1700s, Rockliffe Hall near Darlington in England, has been carefully restored and extended to create a luxury hotel, spa and golf course while retaining the grandeur of its heritage. Steeped in grand North Eastern history, Rockliffe Hall is set on a magnificent 152 hectares on the banks of the River Tees. It is a destination in itself and was designed to be a five-star home away from home.

The original building was designed by Alfred Waterhouse, the architect responsible for the Natural History Museum in London. Rockliffe Hall has 61 spacious guestrooms and suites, two bars, a gourmet restaurant, 12 meeting and event rooms, an 18 hole championship golf course, an extensive 4,500 square metre spa and wellness centre, as well as a 20 metre indoor swimming pool.

The project to refurbish and extend Rockliffe Hall to create a luxury hotel made extensive use of a Philips Dynalite lighting management system, for highly flexible scene-setting and energy management. Using the digital addressable lighting interface

(DALI) protocol, a single control system is used to manage and manipulate all the lighting in five separate buildings.

Lighting plays a key role in establishing the required ambience in a hotel that blends heritage features with contemporary furnishings. At the same time, the hotel required a high level of flexibility in its lighting controls so that different lighting scenes could be easily selected to suit different activities. For example, lighting for a wedding reception can be selected to complement a particular colour theme.

“There were key criteria for the lighting controls,” explained Rockliffe Hall Chairman, Warwick Brindle. “We wanted to ensure ease-of-use for both guests and staff, have the capacity for substantial variation in scenes and achieve economical and energy-efficient operation of the lighting,” he added.

The level of flexibility required of the system, considerably more than in most projects, presented a major design challenge, as lighting designer Kristina Simpson of consultancy KLS

Where versatility complements grandeurPhilips Dynalite has provided a flexible and adaptable energy-saving solution for superior lighting control in the refurbishment of Rockliffe Hall, to create an ambience suited to the grandeur of the setting and to rival that offered by any other luxury resort.

Main bar of the championship golf course clubhouse.


Lighting Design recalled: “When designing the lighting to meet the hotel’s requirements, it became clear that a conventional system would require a lot of cabling. Not only would this be costly, it would also present installation problems, particularly in the older parts of the building.”

The design team – comprising KLS, consulting engineers White Young Green and contractors Shepherd Engineering Services – worked closely with the hotel in considering a number of options. It was quickly recognised that a DALI-based system would reduce costs and simplify wiring requirements and the Philips Dynalite system was selected as offering the required functionality and technical support.

“Using the DALI system enabled us to make each individual luminaire addressable, so there are no circuit constraints and the possibilities are almost limitless,” Simpson enthused. “Rather than having to plan everything months in advance before the cabling began, we were able to fine-tune the lighting scenes on site,” she added.

It was also vital that the lighting management system could control a range of different light sources, including LEDs, fluorescent, tungsten halogen and metal halide. In some cases this

required special combinations of control gear or drivers and DALI interfaces, which required mock-ups in the site hut to test different solutions before installation.

Control of the lighting scenes is through master control panels in management locations and key staff have been trained so they are able to set more scenes themselves. In guest rooms there are simple, custom-engraved panels that enable guests to choose their preferred lighting scene from a simple description, such as bright, low or reading.

Guests are also able to turn off all of the lighting in their room with a single switch, rather than turning lights off individually, thus saving energy as guests often leave some lights on. Other energy saving features of the system includes presence detection in areas of variable occupancy and daylight harvesting in areas where this is possible and practical to incorporate daylight into the lighting design. Time clock functionality provides master overrides and control of external lighting such as car parks, activity and circulation areas.

A high-speed network facilitates the communication between different parts of the site, including the golf clubhouse which is more than 100 metres from the main building.

This enables all of the lighting to be controlled from a central location using Philips Dynalite EnvisionManager graphical and system management software, enabling the hotel to monitor energy consumption and many other aspects of lighting performance.

“As well as saving a lot of money on wiring, compared to other systems, the Dynalite system will greatly facilitate system monitoring going forward and make day-to-day maintenance considerably easier,” Brindle observed.

To facilitate the ongoing efficiency of the system and to protect its investment in lighting controls, the operators of Rockliffe Hall have signed a bespoke Aftercare service agreement with Philips Lighting. Under this arrangement, Philips engineers will make regular visits to ensure the system is maintained correctly and delivering optimum performance and sustainability. Aftercare is a comprehensive package that enables customers to select the features they want, making it much more than a standard maintenance contract.

Combining a luxury, 21st Century country-house style hotel with state-of-the-art lighting and facilities, makes Rockliffe Hall a truly memorable destination. n

Philips Dynalite pushbutton wallpanel controlling lights in a Rockliffe Hall guest suite.

Bathroom suite in guest room

Spa bath in the health centre.

Rockliffe Hall’s main bar.


Light in action

Horse racing in Singapore has a long history, dating back to colonial times with the first race taking place in 1843. The Singapore Turf Club (STC), managed by the Malaysian Racing Association has been in its current location at Kranji since 1999. The original facilities and track design were hailed as state-of-the-art at the time and received a recognition award from the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, for its ‘fun and whimsical’ design.

The racecourse complex comprises six tracks. The principal track is used for long- and short-course races over 2,000m or 1,800m. A 1,500m polytrack permits all-weather racing and four tracks are available for training purposes. The visitors’ areas and corporate facilities are equally impressive. When commissioned in 2000, the course was floodlit with more than 40 lighting

towers, fitted with 1,800 Watt ArenaVision luminaires from Philips.

In 2007, the Singapore government released a tender to upgrade the infrastructure for the racecourse. A key criteria was the monitoring and control of the lighting towers, to ensure that the lighting towers were secure and available for training and race meetings at all times. With just a short time frame in which to respond, Control Tech Asia, the long standing Philips Dynalite VAR for Singapore, was able to design a lighting control system based on core products and technical expertise.

To maximise security, STC required triple redundancy to ensure that the lights would remain on when needed. In addition, the flood-lighting system needed to have both timed and manual control capabilities for onsite and remote operation. Monitoring the energy consumption of each lighting

tower was a fundamental element of the tender as the STC strives to improve the facility’s overall energy efficiency.

“The overall system has three networks to provide the level of redundancy that STC required,” said Ray Bond, Business Development Manager, SouthEast Asia for Philips Dynalite. “Normally, we would run the controllers over a single bus network, but in this case there were two existing networks wired underground. The third layer needed to sit above the original two on a wireless network, giving three streams of data to guarantee the system would remain on when needed.”

“We used an intelligent building as an analogy when designing the system. Usually there would be one control room, but in this case, there are three, giving 200% redundancy! Making sure only one was in operation and not overridden by one of

One horse race when it comes to lighting controlKranji as the only racecourse in Singapore means the stakes for the operators are high to provide the latest results and odds to visitors and broadcast viewers alike. When the Singapore Turf Club released the tender to upgrade the racecourse facility, Philips Dynalite had to crack the whip to meet the challenges of a field of competitors.

Monitoring the energy consumption of each lighting tower was a fundamental element of the tender as the STC strives to improve the facility’s overall energy efficiency.

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The Singapore Turf Club – Singapore. Photo from EwingCole

The Singapore Turf Club – Singapore. Photo from EwingCole

the redundant networks also needed to be considered,” Bond said.

A key challenge for the installation team was overcoming access restrictions. During installation, the racecourse was fully operational. There was no opportunity to ‘shut’ the facilities to allow the installers the freedom to connect, test and commission. The lighting control system was installed in the background until it was ready to be switched over. It had to be 100 per cent operational, first time.

The Philips Dynalite tender submission by their experienced VAR – Control Tech Asia, utilised off-the-shelf products, but it was the ability to integrate with an existing legacy power system and provide a maintenance agreement post-commissioning that gave the company the green light.

The product range used to control the lighting towers included the DDRC1220-GL and DDRC420 Din Rail relay controllers over the Firetide 5.8Ghz wireless network equipment. Three desktop work stations as well as three maintenance laptops, running the Philips Dynalite EnvisionManager and MapView software were supplied to oversee and manage the system.

Monitoring of energy consumption and component failure and integration with third-party power meters required the Philips Dynalite team to write special software. Each tower’s monitoring system is housed in outdoor enclosures, linked by cables and wireless networks. By linking the towers, the maintenance crew can readily establish which tower is exhibiting abnormalities, based on irregular power consumption behaviour and respond accordingly.

The use of outdoor enclosures to house the equipment in the high heat and humidity of Singapore presented a whole new set of challenges. “Some of our equipment has been modified to tolerate the conditions to literally protect them from melting in the heat,” said Bond. “Being a tropical environment, a huge amount of protection has also been added to cope with the high risk of lightning strike.”

The second phase of the Kranji racecourse redevelopment will focus on control of the broadcast monitors around the track. As racegoers move around the complex, individual races and betting information are constantly broadcast and updated on the displays. With the monitors fully integrated, energy consumption of each screen can be monitored based on the amount of current drawn. “Power consumption

monitoring is rapidly becoming a core requirement for many businesses in the region. With monitoring equipment and energy-efficient LEDs and luminaires, we can provide companies with opportunities for improvement in their energy savings,” concluded Bond.

The project at Singapore Turf Club racecourse highlights the increasing demand by many companies for quality products and service. The ability to adapt to specific client requirements allowed Control Tech Asia to meet the unique and complex needs of the Singapore Turf Club. The flexibility of Philips Dynalite lighting control equipment, and its capacity to integrate to and optimise, existing systems, will ensure that the Kranji racecourse continues to be the number one horse racing venue in the region. n


The concept of building management systems (BMS) is not new. However, the use of systems integration to streamline building management is rapidly evolving as more and more demands for high level functionality and aesthetics for occupants (comfort) and energy-efficiency for the building, become driving forces for commercial applications.

The key attraction for installing a BMS is as the name suggests, to manage the many components that the whole building, as well as individual office suites may require. The range of applications that can potentially be managed is extensive, from HVAC to security and maintenance to lighting control that includes daylight penetration into the building. System integration in a commercial sense is therefore the ability to integrate third-party products, regardless of provider. As buildings become more intelligent and energy-efficient and the demands for occupant comfort rise, the need for integration in an overall system increases.

Just another day at the office

The level of integration available can be demonstrated by an everyday occurrence at a commercial building. As a car enters the under-building car park, the lights are automatically adjusted to suit the time of day to allow the drivers’ eyes to adapt. To open the boom gate requires a swipe card. The staff identification system is maintained by the BMS database. Upon recognition of the driver and swipe card, the gate is lifted and illumination is increased along the pathway to the driver’s designated car space. The lights from that car space to the nearest elevator or exit are also illuminated to give the driver a safe pathway into the building.

The building management system also knows which floor the driver works on and activates the lights for the elevator foyer on that floor, corridor lights to the appropriate office suite, office reception area and bathroom. The airconditioning setting adjusts to its ‘occupied’ state, the blinds open to maximise the available sunlight and the lights are activated above the employee’s workstation.

As the employee enters the conference room to prepare for a meeting, presence sensors activate the lights in that zone. Via a user interface the employee activates the projector and screen, alters the pre-set light and blind settings to reduce glare and increases the temperature a little to accommodate the overseas guests.

Putting the building puzzle

together

The preceding scenario is fairly typical of any commercial application, whether it be for an office, hotel or hospital. By integrating

all the elements required to make an energy-efficient, safe and comfortable work environment, the building management system is able to monitor and report on the building’s status. Energy consumption can be economised by turning services down (or off) when rooms are unoccupied; security can be maintained and audited; safety requirements can be adhered to and maintenance such as re-lamping can be scheduled for non-occupancy periods.

Standard industry protocols such as KNX, Lon, BACnet, RS232, RS485 and TCP/IP are facilitating the ability to streamline systems integration. By providing gateways between the Philips Dynalite DyNet backbone and third-party protocols, building managers and owners have the ability to seamlessly link components into a single control system.

With a fully integrated building management system, the building supervisor is in a position to optimise energy consumption, building maintenance and administer access rights, whilst providing the occupant with user interfaces to tailor their individual work area to take advantage of natural light, audio-visual needs and temperature.

Providing systems integration for building management need not be confined to new buildings. As many existing buildings have false ceilings and risers for telecommunications and power, access to these ducts to install the backbone infrastructure is relatively easy for retro-fitting an office or an entire building.

Similarly, changing the layout of an office suite is not an insurmountable problem – if an extra luminaire needs to be added or

Industry insight

Integrating for a streamlined BMSLighting features in every room on every floor of every building. Therefore, it makes sense to integrate any additional services, such as airconditioning or automatic blinds, into the lighting control system as part of the building management infrastructure. With this in mind, the Philips Dynalite lighting control system is second to none in providing integration with a range of third-party devices.

Systems integration takes a holistic approach to commercial building management.


The OccuSwitch DALI is designed to respond to occupancy and light levels to minimise energy consumption. The simple act of turning off lights can generate an energy savings of up to 55% for any vacant area. Adjusting the blinds via the Somfy motor controllers to optimise daylight harvesting will further reduce costs associated with heating and cooling and get a better overall energy reduction result whilst enhancing office and classroom environments.

In an office or classroom, enhanced lighting makes for a safe and productive work environment. The light from windows may not extend throughout the entire room. This leads to variations in light levels. The OccuSwitch DALI will address the variability by dimming the lights nearer the window or increase the corridor lamps to create the light scheme required for the room. The OccuSwitch DALI sensors will interface

with the Somfy motor controller to alter the position of blinds to balance natural and artificial light levels.

The stand-alone configuration of the OccuSwitch DALI product is an easy to install solution, connecting directly to the mains power of the room or area and can control up to 22 DALI compatible luminaires. Moreover, the unit can be connected to a building management system to give basic integrated network functionality. In either scenario, the OccuSwitch DALI is designed to override any pre-set levels and communicate with the Somfy motor controllers, based on the occupancy status of the room.

The retractable sensor shield feature of the OccuSwitch family is designed to prevent the unit from responding to light levels unnecessarily. For example, where a corridor wall is semi-transparent, a retractable sensor shield on the OccuSwitch

is easily rotated by hand to prevent the unit from detecting the light through the partition. The OccuSwitch provides the correct level of light that is appropriate for the room, without the influence of the ‘false trigger’ originating from the corridor.

The OccuSwitch product range, in particular the OccuSwitch DALI, provides a versatile, easy to install solution for office and classroom applications. Interaction with Somfy blind motor controllers provides the occupant with a level of illumination that is designed to suit the changing natural light levels throughout the day. The overall result is an environment that maximises energy savings and enhances the comfort and safety of the occupant. n

The Philips Controls OccuSwitch DALI working together with Somfy for optimal energy savings as well as lighting control and environmental comfort.

moved, the DALI controller can be edited to reflect this change. Re-arranging an office space in this fashion avoids wasteful and intrusive re-cabling and extends the lifetime of the overall infrastructure.

The Philips Dynalite system has been specifically designed to take advantage of the DALI standards for communication between passive and active interfaces. Typical examples of passive interfaces would be occupancy sensors that activate light levels whereas active interfaces are devices such as keypads, touchscreens or remote controls. With a fully integrated system, inputs to user interfaces can be relayed back to the BMS. Continued changes to preset settings can be tracked through the BMS reporting facility such that alterations can be made to accommodate the change in preference settings.

Systems integration for commercial applications provides a holistic approach – with an intelligent building management system at its heart to control, monitor and report. Philips Dynalite continues to incorporate more third-party products – such as their alliance with Somfy the world leader in motors and automatic controls for openings and closures of homes and commercial buildings – into the one framework and collaborate with other industry leaders to further facilitate high-level functionality, improved sustainability reduced energy consumption and increase user comfort. n

Balancing Light with Philips and SomfyThe partnership of Philips Lighting and Somfy continues to provide a unique balance between natural and artificial light. By utilising occupancy sensor technology, the Philips Controls OccuSwitch DALI (sensor/load controller combined) and Somfy blind motor controllers, now work together to maximise comfort for building users and minimise energy usage for buildings owners and operators.


Light in action

The Star City hotel and casino complex in Darling Harbour, Sydney, is undergoing a major, multi-million dollar refurbishment including the lighting in the two hotels and casino, as well as all façades and external public areas, with the selected lighting controls solution being managed by Philips Dynalite.

Owner of the complex, Echo Entertainment Group, is in the process of renovating the casino, building a new six-star hotel and refurbishing the existing 480-room hotel. The complex will also be rebranded as “The Star”. Sections of the casino are being progressively closed as the renovations are carried out. The upper levels of the original

hotel are no longer accessible to the public while construction work takes place. The new hotel, with nearly 200 rooms and suites opens in October 2011.

As the renovations have progressed in each section, all electrical switchgear has been updated and the existing lighting control systems replaced with a Philips Dynalite solution. The lighting management system for the entire complex will be controlled from a central, head-end computer running the latest EnvisionManager software. Each new section of casino refurbishment will form a new segment of the networked system with cables running back to the head-end computer.

Total cost of the whole scheme –refurbishment of the casino, hotel renovation and new construction – is in excess of $950 M. According to Grant Thomson, Channel Manager Indoor Controls at Philips Dynalite, the aim of the project is to “change the perception of the whole complex and for it to be seen as a major rival to other large casinos around the country, providing improved entertainment and gaming facilities.”

Another aspect of the project is the plan for a multifunction 4,000-seat venue, where conferences and similar events can take place. As part of the drive to alter the perception of the casino in Darling Harbour, the type of food available will

also be changed. The takeaway and food court outlets will be replaced by several new restaurants, some under the charge of Michelin-starred chefs.

The redevelopment is an on-going project with work continuing for at least another year. Another part of the project is the replacement of the façade and external lighting, all of which is to be linked into the one control system. “The new hotel is being built from the ground up,” Thomson said. “The job is massive; practically every light in the building will be under the one control system.”

There is a specific set of Philips Dynalite equipment for the rooms, a different set

Odds stacked in favour of Lighting Control SolutionInstalling and commissioning a lighting control system for a single hotel renovation is recognised as a major undertaking. But incorporating the construction of a new hotel and the refurbishment of a major casino complex – all to be completed in stages – is not a gamble to be taken lightly.

The Star, Sydney – Lights of the façade and external public areas are being controlled by the Philips Dynalite solution.


for the corridors, including DIN-rail or wall mounted lighting controllers in electrical enclosures or rooms. The façades and corridors use yet another set. Thomson stated that all the products used are stock, off-the-shelf, units. The only customisation applied to the equipment involved the physical button sets and configuration on the Revolution wallpanels used in the rooms to suit guests needs.

A welcome in every room

There are four types of private rooms throughout the new hotel: standard rooms as well as junior, executive and signature suites. The contract for the electrical fitout was let by a separate tender for each type of room. As Philips Dynalite was already contracted to undertake the casino refurbishment, the company was in a good position to win the tenders for the room fitouts according to Thomson. In addition to the rooms, the Day Spa lighting, lobby lighting and all corridor illumination, were separate contracts.

Philips Dynalite submitted tenders for the 113 standard rooms, 35 junior suites, eight executive suites and the luxury Signature Suites on the top two levels of the new hotel. “While the contractor was looking at the jobs as separate entities, they also had to consider that all of the pieces must work together” Thomson said. Part of the challenge was that the control system needed to be flexible enough to control a wide range of light fixtures from a range of different manufacturers. The lighting management system was on a separate contract to the luminaires. The refurbishment is making extensive use of energy-efficient LEDs, including some Philips

Colour Kinetics dynamic and animated lighting installations around the complex.

The project also included dimming of the LED reading spotlights above the beds in each room. According to Thomson, this is a problem for all manufacturers and his team tested lamps from 15 manufacturers but found only one in the market that dimmed correctly; it was not a case of changing the fixture but the whole light fitting.

The management system also had to communicate with the separate control systems in each room for the internal services, including door locks, airconditioning and audio-visual control. In addition it will send a Dynalite control signal to set, for example, a ‘Welcome scene’ where a particular light level is set and displays a personalised greeting on the television in the room.

While there are Philips Dynalite wallpanels throughout each hotel room, guests can also utilise the TV remote to control the lights and music from the SuiteControl provided by the Control4 GUI front-end which can also be displayed on the room TV.

Integration challenges

The development of the integration between the third-party systems is always challenging. The SuiteControl system required a special ‘driver’ in order to communicate with the Philips Dynalite system, but the one provided was only written to a particular level. Thomson stated that the Philips Dynalite developers had to program around the limitations of the driver. A major limitation was that it is written for each room and cannot be copied simply from one room to another. For a ‘typical room’ this can be

a relatively quick procedure, but if there are variations, the programming must be changed. For example, if a typical room has five circuits, but a corner room only four, the integration has to be modified.

“We rose to the challenge and got it resolved, so that now and in the future the hotel operator benefits as a result of our integration efforts,” Thomson stated. “The rooms are not directly linked so any change has to be physically made in each room, which conceivably could be half an hour per room without our solution.”

As a guest enters a room there is a light on in the corridor and you choose your lighting scene from a wall panel. A guest or the housekeeping staff can select either a morning or afternoon ‘scene’ by pressing a button. There are also sensors in each room which are designed for ‘occupancy detection’; if no movement is detected it turns the lights off after a certain time period to save energy. The blinds are also controlled by a Philips Dynalite pushbutton on a wall panel so at a simple touch the blinds simply open or close.

As each stage of the project progressed towards completion, it was important to remember that all the different segments must be able to operate seamlessly and flawlessly. Thomson concluded by stating that overcoming the initial constructability challenges had been a learning experience but one well suited to the Philips Dynalite solution and project implementation methodology utilised. “I am proud that the project is running well, the complex operators are happy and that each new segment seamlessly joins to the rest of the facility.” n


Light in action

The United States Department of Defence (DoD) is one of the largest consumers of energy in the US and therefore the world. The broad range of activities undertaken by the military and its support operations, use large quantities of different energy types in a variety of ways. In 1995, the DoD established the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) which is designed to support the development of innovative technologies and promote their transfer to a wider commercial market by adopting them for use in federal government offices and other facilities.

Operated in conjunction with the Department of Energy, each year ESTCP

requests industry to submit projects for evaluation. Projects run under ESTCP, demonstrate systems in operational settings at military facilities in order to document and validate improved performance and cost savings. According to Philips Controls Marketing Manager, Mike Skurla, it is often difficult to convince large corporations or government departments about the effectiveness of new equipment and systems. “The ESTCP demonstration projects collect cost and performance data in a controlled situation in order to overcome concerns regarding technical or programmatic risk,” Skurla added.

When Philips Controls submitted an application, the Army’s Fort Irwin was

nominated as the site to conduct three demonstration projects. The base is a highly classified, secured, active facility in California’s Mojave Desert that carries out a wide range of live fire and simulated combat training exercises. Fort Irwin has an average population of nearly 25,000.

Building 988 at Fort Irwin is used by senior military staff for coordinating the training of more than 6,000 personnel that transit through the base on different courses. The system demonstration is being carried out in a portion of the building covering approximately 6450 sq. ft. out of the total building area of 22,000 sq. ft. The area comprises a conference room, open plan offices, a theatre room, common areas, rest

Green DefenceEarly results of a lighting management project at a busy US military training base in the Mojave Desert indicate that Philips Dynalite systems have the potential to reduce the Department of Defence’s energy bill by a third.

Entrance to the Fort Irwin training base in the Mojave Desert.


rooms and private offices. A Philips Dynalite portfolio control system was installed in the building along with upgrades of existing lighting fixtures and partial replacement with new energy-efficient Philips Lighting luminaires.

Private offices around the periphery of the building employ ‘daylight harvesting’ techniques to provide even illumination and to save energy. Preset scenes were programmed into the system in conference rooms so that all the lights could be turned on or off with one button. In addition, the lights could be dimmed to a pre-determined level automatically for different meeting modes.

Good illumination can still be

energy-efficient

Staff members that work in the building are conscious of the need to conserve energy and have a good code of practice in place where lights are turned off when people leave a room. However, to further reduce energy consumption, many of the luminaires had been ‘de-lamped’, where one of the fluorescent tubes was removed. While this did reduce power consumption it also resulted in poor lighting conditions at staff workstations. To compensate, some staff resorted to bringing in their own desk lamps which pushed energy usage back up.

Philips Controls Project Manager, Osvaldo Velarde said the aim was to demonstrate

that the building could have better light levels in the different functional areas of the building and still use less energy. “Preliminary results are very positive and indicate that we could be reducing the DoD’s electricity bill by 30 per cent,” added Velarde.

Securing access

The greatest challenge of the project was gaining access to the building where the team would be working. Since Fort Irwin is a continuously operational military base, a major requirement was to minimise disruptions to normal working routines. It was determined that the best time for the work to be carried out was overnight when fewer staff are on duty. “We had to work odd hours,” Velarde said. “We started our working day between 15 hundred and 19 hundred hours in the afternoon, depending on which part of the building and which day of the week and finished between three hundred and four hundred hours in the morning.”

The list of people to be working on site and in the building on a particular day had to be submitted in advance. It was also a requirement that everyone had to carry their individual clearance documents with them at all times.

Another requirement of the project was that everything had to be completed in the designated shift. “We couldn’t just turn up and do some work and then say we’d come back the next day,” said Velarde. “Every day

had a work plan that stated what was to be done each shift. All equipment was taken away and we ensured there was no dust or left over cables lying around so that people would not notice we had been there.”

Serendipitous fault

The lighting controls were installed on a separate network and isolated for security reasons from the DoD operational IT infrastructure. This isolation enabled the team to install a gateway that by chance allowed Velarde and his team to demonstrate a key feature. Project Engineer, Matt Helm, had been on site commissioning parts of the system for a week when he received a call as he was about to board a flight home to Chicago. Fort Irwin stated there was a problem in the conference room used by the senior military staff. As soon as he landed, Helm connected via the Internet into the DyNet system in Building 998 and within five minutes had it resolved. “While everybody knew there was an issue,” Helm stated, “they also all knew that we got it sorted in a matter of minutes. It was very attractive and impressive to the Fort personnel because they knew it usually took at least an hour to get specialist tradespeople on-site.”

The Philips Dynalite system installed at Fort Irwin has met the aim of ESTCP by showing that energy savings can be made while maintaining safe and comfortable working environments. Velarde stated that he had

been told that the building supervisors for other parts of Fort Irwin had indicated they would like to have a Dynalite system installed after seeing the effectiveness and ease-of-use of the installation in Building 998. Philips continues to work with ESTCP and other organisations to develop systems that will help reduce federal energy costs. n

The façade of the Fort Irwin administration building.


Industry insight

The key to this offering is the user interface – that point of contact between the user and the systems installed. The control of equipment and facilities provided in a modern meeting room can be daunting to the visitor who is unfamiliar with the system setup. The choice of interfaces available can itself be intimidating, ranging from a basic remote control, through to touchscreen panel or tablet PC. The options on the interface should be intuitive, self-explanatory and give the expected result when operated.

The ideal user interface will have clearly labelled ‘buttons’ on one device that will integrate all of the installed systems and enable a visitor or regular user to operate the facilities quickly and easily without having to locate the airconditioning, lighting, blinds

or projector controls individually. For more experienced users of the room, the decision to use advanced options to access specific settings should be equally as straightforward.

Incorporating the user interface into networked management services will facilitate optimal room usage. Communication between the facilities manager and presenter via a graphical user interface can be advantageous to both parties. For the facilities manager, notification to the occupant of services such as meal delivery can be conveyed and at the conclusion of the meeting, rooms can be taken to an energy-efficient state and cleaning services requested. Conversely, should the presenter require assistance, the user interface can be a useful tool to contact the facilities manager.

Scheduling calendar software can further aid energy-management by coordinating meeting room bookings and availability of resources. If the room is booked, the facilities can be automatically set to ‘meeting’ status and conversely turned off at a preset time after the conclusion of the booking. Occupancy sensors can be programmed to override this feature if the meeting runs overtime, and also keep on external corridor lighting to allow safe egress from the area even after hours. Should the room be required on an ad hoc basis, communication with facilities management via the user interface can activate the room.

Lighting control systems for meeting rooms will need to consider the position of the speaker, the use of audio-visual equipment,

the location and seating arrangements of the guests. Alternative preset compositions for lighting, blinds. HVAC and equipment, based on the room’s configuration reduces the complexity for the presenter to establish presentation conditions.

Communication is the key to a successful and professional meeting. Intuitive user interfaces allow the presenter to optimise the meeting room environment at the touch of a button, while ‘behind the curtain’, facility managers coordinate services and equipment to maximise room usage and energy savings. n

Facilitating the perfect meeting room environment with user interfaces, lighting and equipment.

Managing meetings for comfort and productivityProviding the perfect meeting room-equipped with projectors, audio-visual equipment, HVAC, blinds and lighting – to provide both comfort and productivity, features highly in the ‘must haves’ of users and facility managers in commercial building environments. Phil Main, Global Product Marketing Manager, Philips Dynalite, reviews the best ways to manage these separate elements to get a better experience and result for all.


Light in action

Tucked away at the end of an inner London cul-de-sac, one family has built their dream home, literally a grand design in the back garden. The modern structure of their new house is hidden between two rows of three-storey terraces and further concealed by a grass roof and a California-styled garden. The homeowner, who is also a successful property developer, faced a daunting task in obtaining planning permission.

Work on the project began in 2008, with significant time spent detailing all the elements that were to be part of the home automation system. The homeowner wanted all the lighting, blinds, heating, cooling and audio-video equipment to be integrated under Philips Dynalite control. The integration with the heating system required bespoke coding by the experienced installers and specialist consultants familiar with the Philips Dynalite equipment and software.

Environmental design

According to Will Brocklebank of Face-to-Face Digital, the company responsible for the design and commissioning of the Philips Dynalite controls, the opportunity to work on a house “from the ground up” was an unusual experience. “We mostly work on projects where modern technology is added while renovating classic London townhouses,” he said. The large house in Ensor Mews covers more than 5,000 square feet on two levels, surrounding an entrance courtyard with automated vehicle access gates.

To minimise the environmental impact of the house, twin ground-source heat pumps are used to drive the underfloor heating system. Integrating all the elements of the building’s HVAC system into the automation control required a good deal of ingenuity from the design team. The engineers from Face-to-Face Digital had to write routines

for every aspect of control at the deepest machine-code level.

The release of upgraded software for the audio-visual system meant that the home entertainment equipment could be fully integrated into the automation system. The interface is an application that can be run on an iPad, iPhone or tablet PC so that when the television is switched on in the media room, the lights automatically come on or dim to preset levels in accordance with the system programming.

Flexible control

Brocklebank said that Face-to-Face Digital has a concept they call ‘the efficient home’ which is more meaningful to a client than ‘home automation’. “The beauty of the system for the customer is that control is shown simply as a number or icon on an OLED panel.” The small OLED displays are a feature of the 29 DR2PE Revolution

Green oasis in central LondonA sophisticated home automation control system founded on Philips Dynalite technology provides Ensor Mews, a new luxury residence in the heart of London, with unrivalled performance, controllability and energy efficiency.

The fully integrated lighting, audio-visual and climate control systems enhance the sophistication of the design. The home demonstrates what can be achieved in terms of integrated home automation to other clients.

Custom-engraved pushbuttons on the Philips Dynalite wall panels enhance the intuitive nature of the lighting control.


Light in action

series pushbutton wall panels which provide the control for the system. Where appropriate, the iPad-type application is used in conjunction with the other controls. The owner has been working with the best lighting designers in Britain and said he felt that the Philips Dynalite wall panels “were the most attractive he had seen”.

The configuration of any part of the automation system can also be changed remotely by technicians from Face-to-Face. A DNG100BT Ethernet gateway was installed in the house to allow monitoring of all the activities of the system. Face-to-Face can also make changes in response to the homeowner’s requests. According to Brocklebank, such support is vital to the success of a project as complex as Ensor Mews. “We respond to questions from the

client about day-to-day operation of the system,” he said, “but we also can work with the mechanical engineering company when there is unusual behaviour with their equipment and can direct them to the site of the problem.”

Final commissioning of the Ensor Mews house was overseen by AWE Europe Ltd. Paul Mott, Sales Director for AWE, stated that his company was now becoming directly involved with projects at the planning stages – working with custom installation companies like Face-to-Face Digital – providing backup, technical support and training for all the brands they distribute. “We are seeing more and more dealers wanting to provide lighting control solutions that can be expanded to integrate other systems and the Philips Dynalite offer

excels at this,” Mott said. “Even though AWE only became the Philips Dynalite VAR last year, we have already run several training courses for new users of their commissioning software, EnvisionProject, which is very intuitive and reduces time to complete projects.”

Integration on display

The homeowner was involved in all aspects of the project and the quality of the finished home is testament to his desire to make sure everything was right. The house is an exceptional example of modern design blended into a heritage residential area. Brocklebank added that the homeowner was so impressed by the finished project that he has offered his home to demonstrate what can be achieved in terms of integrated home automation to other clients.

Brocklebank concluded, “It is a very comfortable home first and foremost; it’s not a techno-palace. That’s what I like most about it.” Mott added, “It has been a challenge for us, but the Dynalite product is absolutely fantastic. Add to that the Philips name and there is huge potential for further development of the brand.”

Increasingly, home automation and lighting management are becoming more important in the residential building and construction sector. The Philips Dynalite control system featured in the building sets a new benchmark for future home automation and lighting management projects. n

Where appropriate, the iPad-type application is used in conjunction with the other controls.

The OLED displays of the 29 DR2PE Revolution series pushbutton wall panels provide easy-to-understand feedback about system status.

Green oasis in central London continued


The Al-Futtaim Group have established a reputation for bringing premium commercial, industrial and service-oriented organisations to the Middle East, with recognisable brands such as Lexus, Volvo, IKEA, Toshiba and Minato Pearls in the company’s stable. The addition of the UK’s Marks & Spencer is set to provide the region with outstanding quality fashion in the retail sector.

The Marks & Spencer stores boast a range of products including clothing, home wares, beauty products and food. There are 15 stores in the region, with the largest store outside the UK heralded by the retailer as its flagship store, located in Dubai Festival City.

A core element underpinning the shopping experience is the deployment of the lighting

and control systems. Designed to provide the customer with a visually pleasing and stimulating environment, the lighting control must also provide the store manager with an easy to use system that is energy-efficient and economical through life.

Philips Lighting’s first involvement with Marks & Spencer was in the Deira City Centre store to provide the change rooms with DALI-based occupancy sensors and dimmable luminaires that would increase in brightness when a customer was using the facilities. The lighting control system provides the visitor with an ambience conducive to a change room which then fades to 30 per cent illumination when unoccupied to maximise possible energy savings. The success of the system was well received by the client and facilitated the

Lighting the best of world fashionThe world of fashion retailing is rapidly expanding throughout the Middle East with only the best in class being received. With this in mind, the UAE based Al-Futtaim Group has brought the iconic UK Marks & Spencer brand to the region. With Philips Lighting as the lighting control partner, the shopping experience is set to rival the best in the world.

Lighting across the entire Marks & Spencer floor is fully integrated into the one system with Philips Dynalite controls.


outfitting of a second set of change rooms for Marks & Spencer in the Mall of Emirates complex, most noted for its indoor ski slope and the Kempinski Hotel, one of the most prestigious hotels in the region.

Based on its success in the Deira City Centre and Mall of Emirates stores, Philips Lighting in conjunction with Philips Dynalite, were able to offer Marks & Spencer the opportunity to fully integrate not only the change rooms, but lighting across the entire store into one system.

Marks & Spencer have accepted this proposal and will implement the solution in the Carrefour shopping complex store in Muscat, Oman, also managed by Al-Futtaim. Store lighting will encompass façades and shop windows, merchandising islands, racking, counters, the sales floor and change rooms. The flexibility of the solution also allows the store to vary lighting moods to suit the product or service – softer lighting for the aisles compared to brighter levels for service counters and registers.

Typical product offerings included Fugato down lights – both fixed and adjustable, Magneos projectors for spot light applications and energy-efficient cove lighting and LED fixtures for accent lighting. The Philips Lighting solution will utilise Dynalite’s DALI controller, universal sensors and EnvisionProject software to manage the entire store. By utilising a single

lighting control system, full maintenance and monitoring can be achieved storewide to maximise energy savings and customer experience. A key attraction for the Marks & Spencer maintenance team was the ability to receive maintenance alerts and reports via email.

A key outcome for Philips Lighting in Muscat was the ability to use the installation as a training program for Philips’ own installers and local contractors and dealers. By having hands-on experience, the installers were able to further their knowledge and expertise in the Dynalite suite of solutions.

The success of the Muscat store has enabled Philips Lighting to secure the contract for the commissioning of a full lighting control system for the retailer’s Marina Plaza store in Abu Dhabi, using a similar product set utilised in the Oman store.

The results for Muscat and Abu Dhabi stores, has allowed Philips Lighting to strengthen their relationship not only with the retailer, but with the Al-Futtaim Group as well. As a key account for Philips Lighting, the ability to develop business with Al-Futtaim in the region has been attributable to the inclusion of business units such as Philips Dynalite. As a result, further business with the Al-Futtaim Group has been secured with the provision of lighting systems for the Toys ‘R’ Us stores in Deira City Centre and Sharja City Centre shopping complexes.

With the emphasis today on sustainability and ‘green buildings’, most of the equipment being installed incorporates features and technology that supports current sensing and other monitoring, in order to accurately record energy consumption and automatically send email alerts to building owners and operators when abnormal patterns are detected.

During the past two months, the team has successfully tendered for further retail projects in Oman, Cairo and Abu Dhabi. The successful installation and commissioning of luminaire and lighting management projects in several prestige supermarkets throughout the Lower Gulf region continues to raise the profile of the Philips Dynalite brand in the Middle East. n

Light in action

Lighting the best of world fashion continued


Product spotlight

New specifications within the DALI standard now support user interfaces such as sensors and pushbutton panels being connected directly to the DALI communications bus. The latest DALI MultiMaster enabled gateway/controller from Philips Dynalite is now available and reduces the total amount of network wiring required, leading to much simpler and faster installations. This gateway/controller model DDBC120-DALI, also increases functional possibilities of the DALI lighting control standard by allowing control between DALI universes.

The digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) data protocol and transport mechanism was developed by the DALI AG (activity group) and has been adopted as an IEC and industry standard. This has only been possible through joint partnership between many different industry leaders

of which Philips Lighting played a key role. DALI is an open communication protocol, allowing lighting control systems to send and receive instructions and information to and from light fittings. The ability to communicate between the different elements of the system has allowed a level of automated management within a building that dramatically reduces energy consumption through granular control of the lighting while still maintaining a comfortable working environment for staff.

DALI can be used to manage multiple lighting channels on a single DALI control bus, permitting new dimensions of lighting control such as colour changing lamps that can be adjusted between warm to cool whites depending on the requirements of end-users. Prior to the availability of advanced DALI functions multiple cable runs were required for each element of lighting making feature illumination very difficult and costly to implement.

DALI gateway units previously only sent signals to the lamps on the network bus or DALI universe. This allowed the DALI units to control lamps individually or as groups, but not across DALI universes. The lighting control system could also request lamp status and build up reports from the information received back, but on a limited basis.

By making this DALI gateway controller device part of the Philips Dynalite networked control system, all these

different features can be defined with the commissioning software EnvisionProject which is also used to configure all the other elements of the Philips Dynalite system. The Philips Dynalite philosophy has been to work seamlessly with everything ever supported. The advantage being that control of all the device types is on the DyNet network. Whether it was a DALI gateway or a leading edge dimmer, the same software can configure them using the one protocol.

Another advantage of the new DALI-enabled devices is the reduction in cabling requirements. Previously there was one cable running to the ballasts and a separate Cat 5 network cable running between the sensors or other user interfaces. The Philips Dynalite DALI MultiMaster solution user interfaces can now receive signals and power directly from the DALI network. The DALI Multimaster removes the need for the separate Cat 5 cable network. In addition, a true DALI sensor is available that does not require separate power and can communicate with the network as well as the load controllers.

It is important that individual DALI networks do not operate in isolation. By utilising advanced protocols such as Philips Dynalite DyNet, co-ordination of information between DALI universes and networks can be accomplished. If a message is generated on one DALI universe, it will be automatically re-transmitted by DyNet for all other Philips Dynalite devices to

respond to as appropriate. This ensures that if a workstation task light is on because an occupant is working after hours, then a message can be sent to other DALI universes to ensure that lights in adjacent areas such as corridors and foyers are also kept switched on. This avoids occupants who want to exit, having to try and find a sensor or light switch in a darkened corridor in order to illuminate a path to the exit in a safe manner.

Through coordinating DALI messages with DyNet, lighting management systems will be able to be as energy-efficient as possible and provide a safe and secure working environment for staff that meets occupational health and safety requirements. n

Mastering native DALI


Product spotlight

EnvisionProject

Since EnvisionProject was first launched in 2010, the commissioning software has been widely acclaimed by industry for both its ease of implementation and intuitive configuration processes. Experienced users saw reductions in their commissioning times of a minimum of 40%! Key features of EnvisionProject are the icon-driven menus and commissioning templates to deliver a streamlined, functional lighting control system.

The next software version, v1.7 of EnvisionProject will take these advantages one step further by continuing to simplify and expedite the commissioning process with greater flexibility to incorporate third-party product/systems providers. By extending the capabilities of the gateway interfaces, the EnvisionProject software is now able to connect to third-party protocols such as KNX and Lon and control services such as HVAC, audio-visual and blinds. (See also Somfy blind integration possibilities mentioned in this edition of Lightnews).

EnvisionManager

Once installed and commissioned, effective management of the system is vital. An unsung hero for the building supervisor to manage the building, is the Philips Dynalite’ EnvisionManager software. As the name suggests EnvisionManager allows the management, modification and reporting of lighting control systems and third-party products and systems. The user interface of the software provides an overview of the entire building, allowing the manager to make adjustments to networked devices and functions to maximise energy efficiency, schedule maintenance and respond to changes in occupancy behaviour, whilst always considering the balance required in terms of user comfort and productivity.

EnvisionManager has the capability to provide a range of reports including energy consumption, lamp life and fault finding and occupancy patterns. With this data, historical references and audit trails can be established to ensure the building is safe, energy-efficient and comfortable for its occupants.

The next release of EnvisionManager v3.5 will be an important component of Philips Dynalite’s lighting control solution and will incorporate four key features to facilitate:• more efficient commissioning times• improve occupancy safety• perform sensor calibration and• monitor energy consumption in zones.

Off-site commissioning:

The user interfaces of EnvisionManager can be designed off-site prior to installation. With the off-site commissioning feature, the downtime lost to travel or delays in construction can be overcome by generating graphical user interfaces and configuring devices prior to going on-site. Once on-site, the engineer can scan the network to establish communications, select a device and synchronise it with the software via serial number identification. Client training and acceptance of the user interfaces can be facilitated prior to installation, reducing the time to final client handover, with resultant cost reduction and customer satisfaction.

Get a better result for your projectCommissioning and managing an entire lighting control system in a building is never an easy task, even with the best planning. Even more so when third-party providers need to be integrated into the same infrastructure and the task is late in the construction program. With Philips Dynalite’s EnvisionProject and EnvisionManager software solutions, the process is intuitive, user-friendly and flexible, resulting in significant time savings, reduced costs and risk for all project delivery and operational stakeholders.


Area/corridor cascading:

Building managers will have the capability of linking lighting control of offices to corridors, corridors to foyers and reception areas. While an office is occupied, the corridor light will remain on, as will the lights for the foyer and reception. As each area is vacated sequentially, for instance at the end of the working day, the lights will switch off after a pre-determined delay as each sequential area is vacated, cascading through the building. By utilising EnvisionManager, the building supervisor can link corridors and office spaces in which to operate the cascading feature. Not only does this remove the onus for the last occupant to turn out the lights, it also maximises energy savings by using only those lights that are needed.

Sensor self-calibration:

In a large project, many sensors are installed and cannot be easily calibrated until the interior fitout is complete. Calibrating the sensors is performed at night, with all the lights on – this represents the ‘high’ state for the lamps with no ‘daylight’ contribution from building windows and openings. Similarly, turning all the lamps off is to set the ‘low’ point. During normal operation the system will now dim the lighting whenever natural daylight entering the building causes the measured light to rise beyond the ‘high’ level. EnvisionManager is now able to initiate a calibration to ensure that the sensors and dimming functions are at the correct levels ensuring occupant safety.

Scalable energy consumption:

A key feature of EnvisionManager is the ability for the building manager to ‘zone’ particular areas of the building. Zoning allows for a suite of offices to be ‘grouped’ together even when they are not physically in the same location. The advantage of this feature is the ability to monitor and report on energy consumption, particularly if a business utilises disparate locations within the building. Not only can the building management system work toward greater efficiency, but can also monitor, minimise and report on their energy costs and consumption. A good example of this would be a cost centre such as R&D or Accounting that has teams dispersed onto different floors in a building. With reductions in energy consumption and occupant safety and comfort enhanced, the installation and commissioning time is accelerated.

The combination of these features is set to provide the building manager with a powerful set of tools to improve the overall management of the premises. The fully integrated end-to-end solution of commissioning software available through EnvisionProject and EnvisionManager is giving the installer and user a streamlined, easy to use system. The added features of third-party integrators, management tools and improved user templates and icons included in the forthcoming version releases, will make the commissioning and management process truly visionary. n

EnvisionManager’s MapView, showing an office floor in real time operation.

Designing a lighting scene in real time across multiple controllers with EnvisionProject.


Product spotlight

Lighting and airconditioning consume the largest portion of all power used in commercial offices. As part of green building and sustainable design principles, modern commercial buildings are designed with a lighting ‘wattage budget’ which sets an upper limit on the number of watts that can be consumed per square metre of floor space.

Maximising the use of natural lighting is a key strategy and opportunity to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption, but this needs to be offset by the needs for an occupants comfort through the reduction of glare from outside, as well as heat penetrating the building. The

Balancing light and energy usage

last point can also impact on the energy usage of the airconditioning system that may need to use additional energy to keep the occupants comfortable. According to Daniel Walker, Product Manager with Philips Dynalite, it has been easy to control artificial light, but far more difficult to coordinate this with natural light penetration into the building, so that the illumination in a room is constant no matter what time of day and that the reduced lighting energy is not offset or overcome by increased airconditioning energy costs. “Philips Dynalite worked in partnership with Somfy on a development project to write code into one of our network gateways so that it could communicate direct to their system making the integration process a lot simpler and bringing a finer granularity of control,” Walker stated.”This allows building owners and operators to not only get the correct balance in terms of the right lighting conditions but also to maximise the balance of energy used overall.”

There is an obvious synergy between the systems controlling blind position and lighting levels within buildings, so it is therefore essential to integrate both systems. The Philips Dynalite DyNet software protocol has been able to send messages to Somfy motors for many years, but previously could only send simple ‘start/stop’ commands. The result of the collaboration

between the industry leaders now means that a Somfy blinds motor can receive very specific instructions such as ‘drop down 10 cm’. The unit was first demonstrated at Lightfair in Philadelphia earlier this year. “We have put the Somfy drivers within our product so that within the commissioning software we can say to a gateway that “you are talking to a SOMFY motor” and it will automatically repopulate itself with the appropriate commands,” said Walker.

For example, a Philips Dynalite occupancy and light level sensor mounted on the ceiling continually measures occupancy of an area or zone and the amount of sunlight entering a room. By comparing this to the desired lighting lux level programmed into the unit, the appropriate position for the blinds and the amount of artificial light can be set. During the course of a day, the levels of sunlight entering a room increase, however, so too does the glare and heat. In the morning, the blinds will be gradually opened (they can be closed at night to retain heat) and lights dimmed, but at noon, the blinds may be closed again and the artificial lights at maximum. “So with one sensor we are going to be able to drive the lighting and the blinds together,” Walker added, “We’re bringing all these elements back to the Philips Dynalite system and then balancing multiple variables to achieve the optimum lighting and energy management results.” n

Maximising the use of natural lighting is a key strategy and opportunity to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption

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Ultrasonic occupancy sensors enable developers to reduce the cost of a lighting control system and gain significant energy usage reduction for building owners.

Early lighting controls were basic switches on the wall that could turn on or off. They relied on the user of that space to turn the lights off when they left the office or area to save energy. If not switched off then no energy is saved and this adds additional cost such as energy usage and maintenance like re-lamping at an earlier time than required. Later analogue and digital timers were developed to provide basic automation for switching lights on or off, these were cumbersome to use and assumed regular “normal hours of work” in a building. The next advance in automated control was occupant presence detection which allowed lights to be turned on automatically when someone entered a room. The first presence detectors were

passive infra-red (PIR) devices which offered the ability to scan small areas of a space or room. When coupled with an internal time-out feature, the lights could be automatically turned off if no presence was detected after a period of time.

PIR sensors have limited detection range, sensitivity issues and require a line of sight to any occupant. This last point can result in office staff potentially being left in the dark.

Ultrasonic sensors are the latest technology step used to control illumination in buildings. The new multifunction sensor from Philips Dynalite, combines four detection technologies into the one device – ultrasonics, the traditional PIR, lighting level and infra-red receive technologies. This last feature enables the sensor to adjust the local light settings by a hand-held remote unit. The sensor can automatically tune the lighting control system to gain extra

Ultrasonics – costs down, efficiency up

energy savings by dimming the lighting when enough daylight from external sources or extra lighting above standard requirements through overdesign or no presence is detected within the area.

“With the four sensory disciplines in the device, there is an opportunity to perform a sequence of logic so that multiple functions can be performed by the one device. Our company is the only one that does this,” according to Daniel Walker, Product Manager at Philips Dynalite. The sensor can be programmed so that when occupancy is first detected it also determines the natural light level provided by sunlight. The sensor can then instruct the lighting controller to supply the necessary artificial illumination from the light fittings within the area. All this happens in less than a second and removes the need for multiple sensors to be mounted in a room to separately perform the different functions.

Ultrasonic sensors actively propagate high-frequency waves which reflect off surfaces and objects and the sensor records the reflection back to the device as a reference point. Any change indicates positive motion detection and the lighting management system responds.

The major benefit of the wave reflections is that the wave can wrap around corners and bounce down into office cubicles; this removes the problem of people becoming invisible to PIR sensors when they are not in direct line-of-sight of the sensor. Walker stated, “Ultrasonic sensors were installed in an office changing room. We found that in practice the standing wave was bounced off different surfaces and spread out. We were able to use just one sensor to control all the lights in the change, shower and

lobby areas, not three as would be required with traditional PIR occupancy sensors.” Such an arrangement provides not just better occupancy sensing performance, but also real cost savings in installation and commissioning, providing a faster pay-back for the end-user.

Different levels of ultrasonic sensitivity can be set to allow for situations where the user is only making slight movements in the task they are performing in the area they work in, such as keyboard strokes whilst sitting in the one position. This allows for the lighting and other services in a building space to remain on even for a single user after hours, creating a comfortable, safe and productive work environment.

The new sensors can be linked with other sensors and lighting load control devices, making this a system solution with large scalability opportunities. Being digitally addressable allows the devices to be remotely configured by the control computer. This removes the need to manually adjust switches and potentiometers directly on the device itself as is required with other competitor solutions, which adds time and cost.

Ultrasonic sensors have a much larger scanning range so fewer units need to be installed on the ceiling and this reduces the cost of both installation and commissioning and this can be 15-20% for sensor devices. Operational energy savings for a building can be up to 55-65 per cent because of the combined technologies being used. “This is a great benefit to the developer in reducing capital costs, as well as leaving a better system installed that will provide the owners or occupiers with ongoing energy savings.” n


Light in action

When South Africa’s Standard Bank released a tender for the construction of a facility to house some of its operations, one of the major requirements of the project was to optimise energy efficiency in the building. Tesla Automation was chosen to supply, install and commission the lighting management system that is possibly the largest networked lighting system in South Africa.

The total budget for the project, including construction, fit-out and computer hardware, was approximately 4 billion Rand (400 M Euro). Located in Johannesburg, the building comprises offices, computer rooms and common areas, covering approximately 50,000 square metres of flooring. While the core of the Philips Dynalite technology allows for integration with other building services, the design from Tesla was for a

stand-alone lighting management system. “We originally proposed integration to the building network system for individual light control, but for security reasons the bank did not want anyone to be able to access the data networks,” said Zoran Paunovic, Managing Director of Tesla Automation in Cape Town.

Tesla has been the Philips Dynalite value added reseller (VAR) for southern Africa since 2004 and enjoys good working relationships with many of the leading electrical consultants and engineers in the region. The facility is a completely new building. During the fit-out stage, the cabling for the lighting management system and luminaires, as well as the light fixtures themselves, were installed by the electrical contractor. Paunovic’s team installed all the smart devices including the controllers,

sensors and switches and also programmed and then commissioned the whole system.

Paunovic was able to demonstrate to the lead electrical consultant that Tesla’s proposal was a more cost effective solution than any other competitors solution. In particular two items stood out, the ease of configuring the system and the minimal need for reprogramming. Energy efficiency and sustainability were a major consideration in the planning for the new bank facility and Tesla was able to show that its design could potentially save more than 50 per cent on energy consumption.

Securing the project

Banks are renowned for their adherence to security of their systems and restricting access to different parts of the building. Paunovic stated that the only time they

required special clearance was when his team returned to site to make a slight alteration to the configuration and to replace a faulty device. “We had already finished our part of the job before the tenants moved in,” he added. “We only had to go back and go through a short list of minor changes which is something you always have to do on this type of project.”

Paunovic said that of all the equipment that his team installed, only one sensor out of the 500 was defective and that it was a simple matter to replace the unit by unplugging the faulty one and replacing it with a new unit. It was then a simple matter of adjusting the DLight III server software, rather than reprogramming everything from scratch like some other systems.

One of the largest electrical contractors in South Africa was responsible for the

Preparing one of the operational areas of the Standard Bank facility in Johannesburg.

Banking on an above Standard solution gets 50% in savingsMaximising comfort as well as minimising energy are the basis for any controls solution in the office space today. But for one major South African banking facility, both security and safety were added to the primary requirements for their recently implemented lighting system. The local Philips Dynalite distributor was able to demonstrate that employees within the facility could have safe, illuminated pathways to internal workstations while at the same time significantly reducing energy costs by effectively controlling the system right across the facility at all times of the day for all building users.


approximately 500 M Rand electrical component of the project. With substantial interaction and flexibility required on site Tesla was able to install and commission the lighting management system so that the building was handed over to the client on schedule, within budget and with an above standard result.

A well lit path to the future

The operations area of Standard Bank’s newest facility occupies more than half the area of the building. The space has been divided into eight separate areas over two floors of the building, with each area measuring approximately 60 by 30 metres. Designing the lighting layout using the DALI and Philips Dynalite’s Dynet protocol together made it possible to overcome the limitations of a DALI only system, where multiple areas would normally need to

be controlled separately and no controls across “universes” are possible. The DALI only protocol allows limited amount of “presets”, fade rates, etc. that is common in other lighting management systems, whereas the Philips Dynalite system takes all the advantages of DALI and gets a better result by providing maximum flexibility, scene setting and scalability.

Offices located next to the main building utilise energy-efficient T5 luminaires linked to daylight harvesting sensors that automatically maintain the level of 300 lux. Other sensors and controllers throughout the building combine to ensure that workers moving around in the facility are always walking in illuminated corridors and computer rooms. The luminaires in the computer areas have been grouped together in batches of lights that provide ‘follow me’

lighting: the pathway to a particular suite of computers a person might be working at will be illuminated, but adjacent areas will be set in energy save mode.

The success of the project for Tesla has increased the market awareness of its name and the globally recognised Philips brand. Paunovic concluded, “We are already busy tendering on many projects throughout South Africa.” n

Energy efficiency and sustainability were a major consideration in the planning for the new bank facility and Tesla was able to show that its design could potentially save more than 50 per cent on energy consumption.

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Light in action

Vodacom, one of South Africa’s largest telecommunications providers, needed a new facility to meet the demands of its rapidly expanding subscriber base and the number of different services it offers to them.

An existing building near a Cape Town highway was proposed that had most of the required features to accommodate the operations, but with the one exception being that it was too small. However, the size of the structure was not a major obstacle. The design allowed additional storey’s to be added with little disruption. An innovative modular design was developed that doubled the height of the building.

Design considerations

A major part of the project was the construction of a massive, dynamic lightwall constructed of glass panels that encircles the building. A major requirement from the

architect and designer was for the LED fixtures not to be seen through or reflected in, the glass panels. Tesla Automation collaborated with one of the country’s leading LED manufacturer to design the custom fixture that would be used to illuminate the lightwall. Philips Luxeon Rebel LED units formed the basis of the fixture and were mounted behind the glass panels. This was challenging because the Luxeon LEDs are a very powerful light source so the positioning of the fixtures behind the panels was critical to getting the right result demanded by the designers.

Zoran Paunovic, Managing Director of Tesla Automation in Cape Town, stated that the design for the lightwall panel could have been described as being developed by trial and error. “We obtained a sample of the glass and constructed a mock-up of the panel and mounting box in our office,” he added. “We made several different diffuser

Vodacom’s dynamic controls displayThe development of an operations centre for a major South African telecoms company provided the backdrop for an innovative and dramatic lighting project that has become an iconic and much talked about installation in Cape Town.

Sequence showing a sample of colours that can be displayed on the Vodacom lightwall.


designs to try and fitted them to the mock-up. Then it was a matter of mounting the LED fixture in a variety of positions in order to get the optimum arrangement. There was a small amount of direct lighting on the glass but the majority was coming back reflected off the building.”

The lightwall on the re-developed Vodacom building was the first use of exterior LEDs on such a large scale in South Africa. As the building was close to a major road, concerns were raised about the impact of the structure on the passing traffic. “We had to do a lot of research into the planning regulations,” Paunovic said, “but we discovered that the local regulations only refer to billboards, not buildings.”

Efficiency is key

The massive glass panels that form the lightwall measure three by two metres. According to Paunovic, Tesla originally

offered to have a multi-directional design for the dynamic movement of the light to create the effect of the computer game “Tetris”. While this concept was spectacular, it proved too expensive for the client. The fixtures allow a full palette of colours to be displayed but since Vodacom was recently bought by the international telecom provider Vodafone, the colour of the lights has been restricted to the red and white corporate colours of the new owner. The design was modified to have only horizontal movement of the colour changes, moving left to right and right to left or from the centre outwards.

The lightwall is not integrated with other building services and is controlled by a single computer inside the building and a Philips Dynalite timeclock. Operating from sunset to sunrise, the dynamic display of the Luxeon fixtures is coordinated by Philips Dynalite LED controllers installed

in 37 distribution boards mounted outside around the building. Tesla also incorporated a manual override control into the system.

Timing throughout the project was an important factor. Tesla had to ensure all 500 fixtures would be ready on time. Assembly of the lightwall was also dependent on the construction of the building because none of the support structure could be put in place until the outer walls had been rendered and painted. The whole wall was painted white to maximise the reflection off the walls and through the glass panels.

Another design criteria was for the building to have minimal environmental impact. The LED modules used for the lightwall are all ultra-efficient colour rendering units. Throughout the remainder of the building, LED lighting is used in all the corridors. To further reduce energy consumption, extensive use of occupancy detection is implemented.

A bright future

Paunovic stated that the Vodacom lightwall had already generated a great deal of interest throughout the South African construction and design industries. Tesla has been approached with more proposals that utilise the special Luxeon Rebel fixtures. The company has also been asked to advise on their method of installing the luminaires so that the source could not be seen.

Tesla became the Dynalite VAR in South Africa in 2004. Since Dynalite’s acquisition by Philips, Paunovic has also taken on other ranges within the Philips family, including ColorKinetics. Tesla will be working closely with Philips South Africa to leverage the Philips brand name and promote the Dynalite lighting management system and ColorKinetics luminaires in all appropriate future projects. n

The Vodacom, Cape Town facility lighting up at dusk.

Operating from sunset to sunrise, the dynamic display of the Luxeon fixtures is coordinated by Philips Dynalite LED controllers installed in 37 distribution boards mounted outside around the building.

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lightnews volume 13

Documents

lighting controls

efficient control

facilitywide approach

central control point

building management

type of building space

segment innovation

controls solutions