Commissioning Made Easy - The Schedule and Event Tool
Commissioning a smart lighting project can be a costly and time-consuming process, especially if custom events and experiences need to be programmed.
At amBX, we understand these frustrations and want to make the process as easy and cost-effective as possible. Our unique software-based platform and user-friendly dashboards make commissioning as easy as click, click, click. It can save as much as 80% of the time compared with the set-up of a traditional lighting control system. No rules-based programming is required with SmartCore; it is all drag and drop or click functionality.
To find out more about the Commissioning Tool, click here. This blog will focus on the Schedule and Event Tool, which forms part of the commissioning process.
Events, schedules and triggers can be set up at the installation stage, making the building more efficient and sustainable. Once created, the Facility Manager may never have to change them again, but if they wish to, it is very simple and takes seconds to amend. Our aim is to break down the traditional barriers associated with smart lighting, enabling buildings worldwide to realise the power smart lighting can harness.
Our interoperable platform can integrate with Building Management Systems, IoT devices and systems, creating a cohesive solution that communicates seamlessly and transfers data to create the best experience for the occupants but that also improves the energy efficiency of the building. This not only saves costs but also creates more sustainable buildings that work towards meeting the needs of net-zero carbon buildings.
You can watch a demo video of the tool in action here.
To help explain what is possible with the Schedule and Event tool, we have outlined some examples below:
Scheduled Events...
Change the behaviours of rooms to match the time of day. For example, at 8pm (when it is expected that most people have left the building) more aggressive energy-saving strategies may be applied....shortening time out periods, reducing default levels and turning off areas. At 6am it could then return things to the normal operational levels.
Similar strategies can be applied to weekends, bank holidays or even to specific areas used for shift work.
Lighting mood and scenes can be changed for certain holiday seasons or celebrations. Choices of scenes available to users via smart user interfaces can be changed depending on the date or the time of day. Warmer lighting moods could be triggered during colder times of the year which may also help reduce heating demands.
The use of a space may be changed during the day and the way it both looks and behaves adjust accordingly, for example, a room may be a cafe by day but then transform into a bar or club area in the evening.
Dawn, dusk, sunset and sunrise settings follow the seasonal changes automatically. For example, car park lighting may be set to come on at dusk and interior lighting settings may be dimmed during daylight hours to save energy.
Triggered Events…
Triggered Events can be simply used to respond to interactions across the building e.g. keypads and switches. At the simplest level, this can be to turn a room on and off or adjust the scene from a panel on the wall.
But it is not limited to any particular location or grouping of lights, so even a standard light switch might trigger a wider change in behaviours or scenes across a building. For example, a key switch accessed by the facility manager might allow a floor to be put into an override mode for maintenance or to impose a temporary power saving strategy.
Triggers can also be received virtually, remotely. This could be from a building management system (BMS) or a third party application. The BMS could, for example, send a trigger requiring energy-saving steps to be taken, each room can respond differently to this single trigger to try and achieve the overall goal appropriately based on tasks and functions within each room.
A meeting room booking application is able to send triggers to spaces to prepare them for use or close them down when they’re not in use. This could trigger indicator or way-finding lighting.
Specialist sensors can be used to generate trigger events that adjust the lighting control, this might be detecting the movement of a partition, opening of a door or even a user logging onto the system or swiping their entry badge. An individuals office or cubicle lighting could be activated only when they are in the building and tailored to their preferences.