The benefits of Dali 2 and Bluetooth
Globally, commercial building owners are under pressure to improve energy efficiency, user comfort, and experience. So, is it any wonder that the announcement earlier this year of an agreed specification for a standard interface between DALI-2 and Bluetooth mesh was hailed as a technology breakthrough that will accelerate IoT's future by many in the lighting industry?
What does it mean?
It means DALI light fittings can now talk to Bluetooth mesh wireless lighting controllers. The collaboration promises to deliver the precise solution building owners need to meet their targets.
Let's take a closer look at the benefits:
1. More choice
Welcome to the world of interoperability and real lighting ecosystems. The combination of Dali-2 and Bluetooth mesh allows designers to benefit from centrally managed lighting control logic, as well as off-the-shelf luminaires and control devices. We now have more freedom (all stakeholders alike) to build systems, applications, and solutions the way we want based on the increase in interoperable devices. Furthermore, it is now easier to include additional systems such as emergency lighting into the same network (not previously possible).
2. Truly wireless systems
True wireless systems enhance the user experience. Components can interact with each other and additional modern building system. This delivers new benefits for maintaining, optimising, and using a modern building and its services.
What's more, today's wireless systems offer new ways of installing and commissioning systems as mobility devices enable user-friendly simplicity.
3. Unlocking the data
The next obvious step in the evolution of digital lighting was unlocking the abundance of available data. To do this, we needed a bridge between the lighting control network and the intra-luminaire network. The agreement between Dali and Bluetooth can make this happen seamlessly, allowing efficient collection, movement, and analysis of building operations data to generate value. Data stored in sensor-rich luminaires can now flow freely between luminaires and, above all, to building management systems, removing one of the most significant barriers to realising IoT lighting's true potential.
4. A move to more human-centric, sustainable buildings
Smart building platforms (such as ours) will be able to deliver powerful new IoT capabilities. We can build intelligent lighting infrastructures with automated light-level and colour control, advanced luminaire performance monitoring, including energy usage and predictive maintenance, as well as enhanced services such as asset tracking and indoor navigation.
With these extra capabilities to hand, we can help satisfy the growing demand for more human-centric building environments, deliver more creative schemes while achieving valuable energy savings, lowering maintenance costs, and enhancing services for building managers.
5. Cost efficiency
With open networks, interoperability, and more choice at our fingertips, we now have more cost-effective solutions at hand to meet building owners' targets.
The new agreement between Dali-2 and Bluetooth mesh will forward smart building operations no end, providing many benefits for building owners, designers, and architects. It means that even more luminaires and systems will be compatible with our SmartCore, smart building platform, providing our customers with more choice, making life easier.
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