In 1904, St. Louis literally became an international beacon for electrical lighting’s potential with the spectacular illumination of the World’s Fair. It also defined the potential of a still nascent professional electrical industry. IBEW Local 1, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, was just 13 years old. The National Electrical Contractors Association, whose members employ IBEW, was just three years old having been founded in 1901. They teamed to light the World’s Fair using a staple of the 20th century — the incandescent light.

Today, more energy efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs) are transforming the industry. The most prominent IBEW/NECA LED installations can be found at such landmarks as the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, the James S. McDonnell Planetarium and new iconic businesses such as IKEA. But the future holds even brighter prospects to optimize LED efficiencies with smart lighting technology.

Intelligent lighting control has been described as the quiet revolution in lighting. The technology of luminaire-based controls pairs lighting sensors and a controllable driver with LED luminaires. They “communicate” with each other using low-voltage wiring or radio frequency (Wi-Fi). Most of these systems are room-based, but the next step up is building or campus-wide centralized control systems. But with a growing list of control system suppliers, how do you decide which one is right for your building or campus?

The IBEW/NECA Electrical Industry Training Center evaluates all types of lighting control systems to integrate the most promising technology into its more than 70-year-old training program. Building owners and real estate managers should consider the following:

• Lighting needs vary a great deal depending on the industry. An advance manufacturing facility might shut down lighting in an inactive area. Healthcare must accommodate the needs of a 24/7 staff and patient control of lighting in their rooms.
• What are your employees lighting needs? Some lighting systems can provide very granular adjustments to lighting a single desk, an area of five co-workers, or an entire zone of building. What is the right mix of manual and automated controls for your business?
• How well does the technology integrate with building automation. This would include light sensors tied to daylight harvesting. Photo sensors can be used dim lights based on their proximity to windows. Occupancy or motion sensors detect room usage and automatically turn on lights on when needed and shut them off when the room is not occupied.
• To what extent can the lighting control systems deliver valuable data on usage? As it integrates with occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting and manual overrides, how can your system be fined tuned to optimize energy savings?
• Some systems have built in maintenance alerts notifying facility managers of failed lighting or other issues with power.
• Once installation is complete, it should commissioned to ensure it performs optimally. This typically entails testing all wiring and system components, creating and testing zones using the system’s software and calibrating sensors.

The advances in LED lighting and intelligent lighting systems are leading many businesses to evaluate their lighting needs for energy savings and to create better work environments to attract the best employees. As a results, numerous lighting control systems are coming onto the market or fine tuning their products, but it’s not a “one size fits” all. Visit our contractor page to get the best advice on what system can best brighten your business now…and in the future.