48 LIGHTING
Human Centric Lighting
Personalised or human centric lighting systems will also become mainstream in the future . Already an individual is able to program their mobile device to manage their lighting preferences as they move from the office to the home and even in some cases to hotel accommodation . There are major opportunities in the area of lighting controls particularly in regard to an employee ’ s well-being and productivity when smart lighting systems can be geared to an individual ’ s needs ( human-centric lighting ). Lighting , colour , intensity and timing are managed to sub-luminally provide conditions that assist in promoting sleep or awakens individuals . Current lighting does nothing to improve individual mood , attention or energy levels but with the smart lighting systems , human centric lighting can improve these factors . Human centric lighting makes use of the biological , emotional and visual effects of light . Areas addressed through human centric lighting include : mood ; energy levels ; relaxation ; alertness ; cognitive performance ; and health , particularly the sleep-wake cycle which is controlled by the body ’ s circadian rhythm .
Apps
The Internet of Things ( IoT )
It has been suggested that there will be 50 billion devices connected to the internet by 2020 . Nearly every device in a home or office could , in the future , communicate with each other . The IoT will also offer a link between LEDs and data systems . The lighting industry has a tremendous opportunity to use the capabilities of the IoT to offer improved and more sophisticated lighting systems . The IoT will also offer positive benefits for society in generating increased well-being , more efficient energy use and through improved environmental management .
The use of real-time apps to manage lighting systems is increasing . Apps include heat map apps to measure occupancy in the office and retail environment . Using a heat map app a facility manager can reassess the work areas being used , eg desks may only be used 50 % of the time and meeting rooms used 20 % of the time . In a retail facility the apps can be used to monitor real time foot traffic . There is potential to decrease areas in use in a building through these type of real time apps and large areas of a building which are not being used could be temporarily closed off to reduce energy consumption . In the future , it is even possible that governments could mandate that this sophisticated data monitoring be used to reduce energy consumption .
Lighting Council Australia is the peak body for Australia ' s lighting industry . Its goal is to encourage the use of environmentally appropriate , energy efficient , quality lighting systems in an environment increasingly characterised by connected lighting , smart controls and the Internet of Things .
GOVLINK » ISSUE 2 2017