Smart Building Lighting for Schools

Improve pupil productivity and concentration by using sophisticated lighting software that makes your school smart, adaptable and efficient.

Smart Lighting for schools is a crucial element of creating a productive learning environment.

Today’s advanced smart building automation systems can create entire “smart schools” with embedded sensors, intelligence, and networking capabilities. Smart buildings provide greater opportunities for schools, universities and other educational buildings, going beyond just energy and maintenance savings.

Smart building lighting systems not only offer more control over which lights are used and when, but they also deliver a greater degree of customisation, efficiency and adaptability to schools and universities.

Whether illumination needs to be bright to help students focus during classes or softer for after-hours library study sessions, smart lighting allows users to find the perfect setting.

It is essential for educational facilities to provide the best possible learning and working environment for pupils and teachers. Simply put, SmartCore creates smarter, healthier buildings.

Our energy-efficient technology uses advanced human-centric circadian lighting, which supports human biological cycles the same way as natural light. It’s proven to make people happier, healthier, and more productive!

Connected sensor networks can monitor any variables you may require, such as the noise level in a room. If a class has become loud and disruptive, the lighting can react in real-time to subtly adjust the ambience, resulting in a calming effect. Every room can be unique; sensors can monitor a wide variety of aspects that grant building managers a real insight into how space is being used.

Natural light can be maximised as much as possible, saving money on artificial light where it isn’t necessary. Different zones can be accommodated easily and seamlessly, creating the right ambience depending on what space requires, e.g. a sensory room for creative learning or an exam hall for high productivity and concentration.

Make your school, college, university or training centre smart, adaptable and efficient with SmartCore.

SmartCore supports educational building and facility managers, providing them with a solution that creates an energy-efficient building that is optimised for pupil wellbeing.

All systems within your educational building can be centrally managed with SmartCore. We can integrate with your HVAC, security, and building management systems creating one cohesive solution which runs on one network.

SmartCore offers a greater level of efficiency and control than more traditional setups, classroom smart lighting solutions have the potential to bring you the following benefits:

Energy-saving smart and dynamic lighting
Healthier pupil and staff circadian rhythm
Better light quality and output
Improves mood and behaviour
Sensor management and information at your fingertips
Works across different lighting and device types
Leading human-centric and circadian supportive lighting management as standard
Manage individual rooms, buildings, or campuses
Designed to fully integrate with other building management systems
Ideal for retrofit to make older buildings smart, flexible, and adaptable
Future proof your hardware with “smart” software

What are Smart Schools?

Smart schools utilise technology to capture data and learn preferences, making life easier for the Facility Manager and improving students' experience. Simultaneously, the building becomes more energy efficient, only using what is needed.

This is achieved through sensors, smart software, connectivity between devices and unified control.

Cisco predicts the global adaptation rate of IoE (Internet of Everything) in education will rise from less than 5% in 2013 to 32% by 2022 (BAGHERI and HAGHIGHI MOVAHED 2016).

By incorporating IoT in education, learners become co-creators of knowledge and data-driven decision making replaces ad hoc decision-making, saving teachers valuable time and creating a more informed teaching method. In addition, by using cloud-connected devices, professors can monitor which students need individual attention and track their progress (Mehta 2017).

Research studies show that the use of technology can improve test scores. One study showed that students retained information learned at their own pace and performed better (Pervez, Rehman & Gasim 2018). Technology helps learners with low attention spans and is a famous tool for teaching children with special needs and teaching languages (Pervez, Rehman & Gasim 2018).

Smart schools will seek to make learning more interesting, motivating, stimulating and meaningful for all learners. The technology will accommodate individual learning styles to boost performance and foster a classroom atmosphere that is compatible with different teaching-learning strategies (Taleba & Hassanzadehb 2014).

A school in Eastern China has gone so far as to install facial recognition technology, improving everyone's security and safety whilst also allowing teachers to monitor how attentive students are in class. If a student seems confused or distracted, the teacher can intervene sooner (Rajput 2019).

Smart technology is used to retrofit older buildings, upgrading and future-proofing them, making them more efficient and data-driven. New build schools can also easily incorporate smart technology and systems at the construction stage to create the best environment for learning and provide facility managers with important insights.

To understand more about IoT in the Education sector, click here.

What is the power of circadian lighting in schools?

Light is the biggest synchronizer of our circadian rhythm (or internal body clock). Humans are programmed to be in tune with the natural lighting cycle; however, spending a large amount of time indoors under static artificial light can be harmful, causing our circadian rhythm to get out of sync. This disrupts our sleep-wake-cycle, mood, productivity, and ability to learn effectively.

Circadian lighting aims to replicate natural light as closely as possible regarding colour, direction, and intensity. Starting with a warmer amber tone, moving to a brighter white light before gradually changing to a warm amber tone again at the end of the day. This supports both staff and students allowing them to feel alert and productive during the day but then winding down before the end of the day so that everyone has a better night’s sleep.

Research has proven that there is a clear relationship between lighting and the performance of students. The right lighting can promote calmness, reduce feelings of lethargy, improve attention rates, and boost productivity, motivating students to learn.

To improve students' attention span and, therefore, productivity in the classroom, the right combination of light intensity and colour is essential.

A total of 166 pupils and 18 teachers took part in the year-long scientific study conducted by Philips, which compared pupils under normal lighting with pupils under adaptive (circadian style) lighting. The study empowered the teachers with the ability to affect the lighting conditions. The settings mimicked the natural patterns of light; the available light scenes were normal, focus, energy, and calm.

The results of the experiment speak for themselves: