Bright lights in smart cities

by Erik Missio | September 16, 2016 6:29 pm

By Antony Corrie
Lighting accounts for about 10 percent of the country’s energy usage, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Choosing the right lighting system is crucial when it comes to saving energy and reducing the carbon footprint of a building or campus. Thus, there has been a shift in developing technology that can integrate into the infrastructure of both ‘smart buildings’ and ‘smart cities.’

Energy savings has become essential in the growing development of such spaces, where technology and communication infrastructure is connected in order to improve ‘livability.’ With the growing development and construction of smart cities and buildings, it is important to stay up to date with installing lighting technology and solutions easily integrated within the overall infrastructure of a smart city.

For example, smart street lighting is already recognized and widely implemented as an essential element of this web-based lighting control systems. These types of products are ideally placed to act as a gateway for the smart city network, gathering and delivering real-time data from Internet protocol (IP) cameras, sensors, and other linked systems—from traffic and pedestrian flow to full waste bins, and air pollutions levels to street disturbances.

Information Handling Services (HIS) Technology—a global market, industry, and technical information consultant—is predicting smart cities will double in size between 2013 and 2015, rising from 21 to 88 percent. Thus, there will be a greater need for high-tech lighting solutions.

Street lighting controls
Street lighting is vital, especially in the development of smart city infrastructure. It is a key mechanism and entry point that can be utilized to gather data from other linked systems.

Smart web-based street lighting monitoring and management control solutions provide a two-way flow of information to aid efficiency and maintenance for cities across the world. Each lighting column houses an individual node control unit, which is connected to a secure central web server. The controller can remotely manage the output of individual or groups of lighting points using the user’s computer or smartphone. It allows each point to be dimmed to match the specific requirements of the surrounding area during the night and when required. For example, in an emergency situation, lighting points can be turned to full brightness at the touch of a button. Any lighting faults are issued to the user by e-mail and with a report detailing the energy use of each light, or groups of light.

The regulation of power usage through the control of lighting intensity can greatly reduce a city’s carbon footprint and light output by 25 percent during off-peak times and, at the same time, simultaneously decrease power consumption.

LED solutions
In addition, smart lighting-emitting diode (LED) solutions have a vital role to play when it comes to saving energy in a smart city. In a recent plan to power 13,000 streetlights, LED gear trays achieved an extra 16 percent of energy savings over what would have been achieved by traditional fluorescent lamp gear trays. The solution uses lantern-specific gear trays holding a rectangular light engine powered through an integrated driver. Installation is easy; it typically takes about three minutes per lantern, including removal of old gear.

LED systems have been designed for different applications, such as office, retail, and industrial lighting, with custom solutions available across each of the vertical markets. The lighting can be controlled through the same smart web-based wireless monitoring and management system that controls street lighting. This allows users to access a dashboard from anywhere in the world, to get an overview of the system.

Through mapping, users can pinpoint lights on a schematic of a building, which can be used to control individual or groups of lights and identify high-energy usage hot spots. They can be designed to accommodate a wide range of different features and functions, including switchable outputs, corridor function, and emergency circuitry. Additionally, they can be used in combination with wireless lighting control.

Profiling allows set switching and dimming in 24-hour intervals to individual light points or luminaire groups, and scheduling assign profiles to run at chosen times with customized reports to show energy usage patterns of specific luminaires or groups of luminaires. Fault reporting leads to prompt investigation. The dashboard can be displayed prominently on computer or touchscreens and has the added benefit of being a suitable tool to incentivize building occupants to be more aware and cut back on excessive energy use.

The solutions are infinitely accessible, allowing control of multiple sites and up to 500 devices within one smart control hub. Unlimited hubs can also be installed, allowing smart lighting systems to be easily connected within the building’s controls and smart city’s infrastructure.

Lighting the future
With government targets set to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80 percent by 2050, local municipalities, business owners, and facilities managers are taking advantage of the impressive benefits available from the latest technology revolutionizing the lighting industry.

Antony Corrie is president of worldwide sales at Harvard Technology, which designs, develops, and creates smart lighting technologies. Corrie worked his way up from account executive to general manager, before becoming Harvard’s youngest regional vice president. Corrie set up the Harvard Engineering Americas division in August 2012, and has since developed within the business to head up worldwide sales and marketing.

Source URL: https://www.constructionspecifier.com/bright-lights-in-smart-cities/

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