Our Top Takeaways from Light and Building 2022

The return of Light and Building 2022 brought with it a mix of opinions. Many feel that the way in which we do business has changed since the pandemic; face-to-face events are no longer a requirement when so much can be done online. The expense of travel at a time when many businesses are feeling the pinch financially, not to mention the time and effort from senior leaders being out of the office to attend such an event, is now more than ever harder to justify. It is understandable why the show was dramatically smaller this year. 

However, people respond to people, and events such as Light and Building offer an opportunity to build personal relationships that cannot be done over Zoom or Teams. Networking opportunities are more fluid, and having a large group of industry professionals together in one place is a productive environment to overcome challenges collectively and generate more innovative solutions. 

So, what were our top takeaways from the show?

Lighting integration is still an issue for the market

As the smart building industry evolves and transitions to an interoperable approach, historical issues with lighting systems remain. Many companies still struggle to communicate with lighting protocols and make use of the data collected by the system. The cost of integration is usually extremely high due to bespoke integrations and timely development work having to be carried out. This acts as a barrier and causes many stakeholders to leave lighting behind as a separate stand-alone system that cannot communicate with the rest of the building. But, this is no longer a viable approach. ESG scores and net zero commitments require accurate energy and carbon data from the whole building, especially since lighting is one of the biggest consumers of energy. 

At amBX, our software is an extremely cost-effective way of bridging the gap between lighting and building systems. We help you overcome the issue of integration without the costly bill. We are on a mission to communicate this with the industry to offer a solution to this age-old problem. 

Circular economy principles are growing in popularity

The circular economy is a hot topic that many OEMs are promoting. This is in line with ESG and net zero commitments as buildings and all of the components within them aim to reduce embodied and operational carbon, creating robust, future-proofed solutions. There is often a concern that some of these communications are simply greenwashing and not genuine action against climate change, but life cycle assessments of products are presenting new data that allows sustainability to be more thoroughly considered when commissioning new build or retrofit projects. 

It is becoming an increasingly important part of building specifications as more environmentally friendly standards become the norm. 

KNX is still being used

There was still a huge focus on KNX at the show. The traditional protocol looked like it was rapidly being replaced by more modern standards such as MQTT, Dali 2, BACnet, Haystack (over REST API) and other integration solutions, but it’s clear historical protocols are unfortunately still prominent within the market. 

However, interoperability through data (e.g. MQTT) will change the landscape of how things are done. Real-time, two-way communication from a data and software perspective will begin to replace traditional hardware-centric solutions; it’s just unfortunate that the market is not adopting these standards quicker. 

Is vertical farming the next big opportunity for lighting? 

Many LED chip manufacturers have developed solutions for the vertical farming market. Vertical farming could be the future of some of our fresh food sources. It facilitates pesticide-free crops, growing them close to urban environments for local people. It offers an opportunity for OEMs to adapt their products for this sector and branch into a newer market segment that could generate a lucrative revenue stream.  

Less of the traditional companies exhibiting 

The show was much smaller than in previous years, and many of the big companies who have always exhibited in the past decided not to this year. However, representatives from the big companies still walked the show, but this change in tactic opened up opportunities for smaller players who previously would not have been able to compete with the big brands. This provided a different dynamic and put the spotlight on newer, innovative solutions. 

At amBX, we truly believe innovative change is coming, and fast-moving technology through newcomers will help sculpt the future of smart buildings and lighting. We specialise in helping these solutions get to market through partnerships. 

PoE is still present 

PoE was discussed at the show and appears to be gaining some traction based on the latest developments. It offers benefits in terms of easier/more cost-effective installation, it powers devices on the same network used for data communications, it uses DC power, it performs more energy efficiently, and it is more reliable. It has been widely used in the US for years but never managed to gain dominance within Europe after some well-known misfires! Could this be the start of some change?