Lighting’s New Bright Idea

An idea not newly hatched, but now building a head of steam, it’s a visionary data networking concept being championed within parts of the lighting industry, among some Silicon Valley giants, and even in the deep recesses of the federal energy bureaucracy. The premise is that lighting’s pervasive infrastructure can be extensively outfitted with sensors and other digital electronic components, turning luminaires into a data intersection of sorts. In concert with the power supply, system components would facilitate the automated collection and transmittal of digital data using wired or wireless interfaces. Offering the potential to bring lighting management to new levels as well, connected lighting could take lighting efficiency and utilization factors up several more notches.

Many observers see this as game-changing — and for good reason. It could fix lighting at the nexus of the emerging and intertwined Big Data and Internet of Things (IoT) visions, both of which are being hailed as elements of the transition to a more predictable world shaped by deeper analytics nourished with real-world data. That would surely mark yet another phase in lighting’s evolution, and clearly impact how solutions are designed, marketed, installed, and utilized.

James Brodrick, an SSL expert who serves as lighting program manager for the U.S. Department of Energy’s building technologies program, sees as much excitement around connected lighting’s role in data collection as surrounds its direct impact on lighting. As a data platform, he says, connected systems “could possibly even serve as a backbone of the IoT, which would greatly enhance the value of lighting systems.”

Nonetheless, connected lighting is still very much a theoretical concept. But that’s less in the sense of its possible technological framework than in how it actually gets deployed.

As with most new technologies, connected lighting faces a web of barriers: entrenched, inflexible business models and technology platforms; competing commercial interests; and return-on-investment concerns. Yet small-scale connected lighting solutions are being deployed. Companies from both the information technology/networking world and the lighting industry are slowly closing ranks. Some are starting to forge partnerships with the goal of advancing the connected-lighting ball down the field.

Practical hurdles aside, the emerging consensus may be more significant now that lighting’s next metamorphosis involves connectivity and data. Its core physical structure, especially in the solid-state format, is ideally suited to adaptations that could improve its own functionality while giving it a central role in a world becoming more fixated on information.

Michael Poplawski, a senior engineer with a DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory who advises the agency’s solid-state lighting program, agrees that connected lighting could advance DOE’s primary interest of maximizing lighting efficiency. But he concurs with Brodrick’s view that the data applications could be the fuel pushing connected lighting ahead. That’s partly because the headroom for more big leaps in efficiency is shrinking.

“The value proposition that’s going to drive the deployment of connected lighting is the fact that lighting, by its very nature, is perhaps the ideal data collection platform, period, in spaces indoors and outdoors,” Poplawski says. “That data, the value of it, what you can do with it, and the novel ways of collecting it is what’s going to drive adoption.”

A logical extension

The notion of bringing lighting and data together seems to turn the standard “form follows function” architectural concept on its head. In this case, it’s more function (a data hub) flowing from form — the basics of how light is produced and deployed.

Indeed, much of the foundation for connectivity is already in place in an LED-based lighting system, or could even be introduced into a retrofitted incandescent or fluorescent lighting system: luminaires, enclosures, DC-powered drivers, AC power and conduit, and widely distributed, densely spaced coverage across physical environments.

From there, adding in data components like sensors, software-managed wired or wireless digital controls, Cat. 5 cabling for Ethernet, and networked communications may be a comparatively small step. At that point, the essential building blocks of a connected network capable of collecting, sharing, and responding to data and commands are in place.

In that scenario, some industry players believe the illumination aspect of lighting becomes secondary. The deeper value, in the case of a building for example, lies in the accessibility of a dense web of enclosures and conduit. It’s that “raceway” that becomes invested with meaning, says Jim Benya, a lighting systems expert with Benya Burnett Consulting who has been closely and critically monitoring the expanding conversation around connected lighting.

“The idea is that if the network is already there, let’s use it as the basis of a connected building,” he says. “We’ve come to realize the real excitement is not lights themselves or the controllability of them. What’s important is the nodes. The real excitement is data, Big Data, collecting data, surveillance, and monitoring — all the other things that a network can do.”

And it’s the potential applications, lighting and beyond, that are animating the excitement around connected lighting systems. Embedded with sensors and communications capabilities, lighting nodes could collect and disseminate real-time information from the environment, serving as always-on monitors and relay points.

Sophisticated sensors could collect information on any number of variables that may be present and constantly changing in a defined space. Think space utilization, traffic patterns, environmental conditions, lighting levels, energy usage, facility condition, and even elements of production operations. In addition, lighting systems could be equipped with RFID sensors and enable mobile device-based connections to the Web.

Flush with data, users would have the ability to exploit it multi-dimensionally. It could be used to exert better real-time control in physical spaces, and it could be crunched to gain deeper insight into trends and patterns. The end result could be efficiency enhancements, more informed business decisions, and predictability. However it may end up being used, data is the linchpin to information sharing concepts like the IoT. And an important consideration will be how readily and economically it can be gathered and disseminated. In that case, lighting could shine.

“If the IoT is going to be about data sharing, one aspect of it is going to be the ability to collect it from more points on a network,” says Poplawski. “That’s where the pervasiveness of lighting and its powered nature comes into play.”

Clash of worlds

But while the concept of using lighting to route data may appear logical and bulletproof, deploying connected lighting systems may prove more complicated and tedious. Not only are the technical aspects of large-scale, real-world installations challenging, but the prospect of two very different worlds colliding also poses concerns. For connected lighting to take root, the interests and expertise of the lighting industry and those of the information technology (IT) industry will have to align. There’s been progress on that front, but connected lighting’s challenges could take the need for cooperation and collaboration to a new level.

The DOE, perhaps sensing an inflection point for connected lighting, is moving aggressively to foster a community-of-interests approach. In November 2015, the agency invited scores of professionals from the lighting, IT, and utility sectors to Portland, Ore., for a wide-ranging discussion of where connected lighting is heading and how it will get there.

The meeting, billed as inaugural, addressed many aspects of the broader challenge. An important subtext was the need to begin defining the gulf between the traditional technology and product platforms of the lighting industry and those of the IT industry.

DOE’s Brodrick says the confab was an opportunity to jointly map the likely path to connected lighting and to begin identifying potentially knotty challenges. That’s a crucial first step now because interest in LED lighting is only growing. As it does, the prospect of the arrival of next-generation versions will only complicate the decision-making process.

“Things are moving really fast, as more people come to realize that the replacement of today’s lighting infrastructure with LED products offers the potential for systems that could become data-collection platforms,” says Brodrick. “However, much of the potential is still on the table and faces a number of barriers, including configuration complexity, lack of interoperability between devices and systems, and limited user experience with data-driven energy management.”

Those loom as important considerations because connected lighting is likely to come to market in the form of jointly developed systems solutions. They’ll meld SSL lighting technology and IT components that will seek to create complete lighting/digital networking solutions for customers.

Seeking standards

With connected lighting still ramping up, however, the risk of different solution components being developed on proprietary technology tracks and platforms is real. If things go down that path, connected lighting might prove slow, difficult, or even impossible to widely deploy. Lacking crucial system compatibility and interoperability features, and the resulting ease of configuration, connected lighting faces a steeper climb. That might be especially troublesome, for example, in cases where existing smart buildings or those using legacy building information and automation systems may be candidates for installing or upgrading LED lighting.

“A huge challenge with connected lighting is the lack of standards to support this new future,” says Gabe Arnold, a lighting systems expert with DesignLights Consortium, whose presentation on lighting’s evolution at the DOE meeting referenced barriers to progress on connected lighting. “The situation now is that most lighting companies are developing solutions on their own and not following any kind of open standard.”

But a hopeful sign, Arnold says, is that standards are starting to be formally discussed, through initiatives like the ZigBee Alliance, the AllSeen Alliance, one M2M, the Open Interconnect Consortium, and others. The downside is that, so far, these efforts seem to be following separate paths. At some point, a collective effort will be needed. But, he cautions, that may not occur until after this initial innovation phase is complete.

Another encouraging development, Arnold says, is that leading lighting companies like Philips, Cree, and Eaton are slowly beginning to partner with Silicon Valley powerhouses like Cisco and Intel to develop connected lighting products. Cisco has taken the lead, recently unveiling a partner-based initiative called Digital Ceiling that seeks to elevate awareness of the concept.

But if the DOE meeting is any indication, getting the lighting and IT industries to fully understand each other is a ways off. Anecdotally, Arnold sensed that many lighting company representatives didn’t seem to fully connect with language being used in IT industry presentations. Still, he says, it’s likely the interests of the two will merge because of the high stakes.

“These companies understand that the future of lighting may not be in just selling equipment; it will be in the services and data that can be generated,” he says. “Over time, lighting and controls are on a trajectory to be standardized and commoditized along those lines.”

Impact on installers

With lighting an important source of business for electrical contractors and other professionals, the emergence of connected lighting systems could prove disruptive. Lighting solutions that incorporate elements of computer networking, advanced controls, microprocessors, digital sensors and cabling that could even deliver Power-over-Ethernet (POE) solutions will introduce concepts that have been far from everyday fare for electrical professionals.

Should connected lighting products evolve to become realistic options in new buildings or even the outdoor lighting infrastructure of increasingly connected “smart” cities, electrical engineers and contractors could be forced to adapt. They could even be facing new competition for design and installation work. If low-voltage lighting solutions continue to advance and more digital assets are incorporated generally into the power and communications backbone of spaces, new players could be in the mix.

“Not all of this is going to be IBEW-type work,” says Benya. “Electrical contractors and distributors are going to have to start embracing controls, connectivity, and digital connections. The skills for installing electrical conduit aren’t the same as for installing Cat. 5 cable. If they don’t work to own this, someone else will.”

Another possibility is that connected lighting and similar digital transformations of structures could basically upend the way building infrastructure is delivered. DOE’s Poplawski posits that a more well-defined specialist approach to building may even emerge. In that scenario, the electrical contractor would be narrowly focused on the power element, while connected lighting work, for instance, would perhaps fall to specialists more geared to IT solutions.

“Traditionally, a lot of building technologies have been developed and installed vertically,” he says. “In the IT and computing world, it involves more specialists approaching project delivery horizontally. It’s interesting to think that maybe building technology will be delivered in the same way.”

The eventual commercialization of connected lighting systems would clearly be a boon for efforts to take smart building technology to an entirely new level. The ability to leverage lighting in a future where the IoT becomes rooted would address many of the core challenges of how data is collected, analyzed, and disseminated. But connectedness also offers the promise of pushing lighting itself toward new frontiers of higher performance. Data derived from connected and networked lighting-based sensors could be the source of intelligence that leads to more optimal lighting schemes, reduced energy usage, higher quality light, or any number of improved outcomes.

In that sense, connected lighting would build on many of the advantages and enhancements that came with the advent of LED lighting. Picking up where the first generation of SSL lighting left off, connectedness would take lighting in new directions and further away still from its increasingly distant incandescent cousin. For DOE’s Brodrick, connected lighting may stand as the next step in realizing all that SSL has to offer.

“If you think the first revolution — the advent of LEDs — shook things up,” Brodrick says, “this second revolution promises to be even bigger.                                                     

Zind is a freelance writer based in Lee’s Summit, Mo. He can be reached at [email protected].

SIDEBAR: Security Issues Could Loom Large for Lighting

In today’s encroaching digital world, a synonym for “connected” might be “insecure.” That’s one of the obvious hurdles that the emerging concept of connected lighting systems will have to navigate: the risk that data could be compromised in unsecured lighting networks.

A plausible concern is that lighting control systems in new data-networked configurations could become comparatively easy entry points for hackers looking to gain access to sensitive data or use it to exercise control remotely.

The National Lighting Bureau recently explored the issue of lighting systems and cybersecurity during a panel discussion at its Annual Lighting Forum. Connected lighting, specifically, was only mentioned by name in passing. But it’s not a stretch to project that it could become a major cybersecurity vector, especially if it takes root (as some predict) as the backbone of the data-laden Internet of Things (IoT).

Citing hacks of retailer customer credit card information through building automation systems, entry into lighting protocols developed by standards organizations, and experimental rogue lamp products that have captured and tweeted text from conversations in proximity, panelists suggested lighting and systems that manage it presents a real security risk, especially as it grows more controllable and functional in spaces. Relatively new to the digital realm, lighting products and systems might be behind the curve in adapting to security challenges.

“[Hackers] won’t be looking to get into a system through the hardest access point; they’ll try to get in through the weakest link,” said Mark Lein, government and industry relations director for Osram Sylvania. “We need to prepare so we don’t become that link.”

One way to do that is to build better security protocols into lighting products and systems. That can mean designing products with layers of password protection that can’t be bypassed, designing systems that use proprietary protocols and better ensuring that components of networked systems can walk a fine line between coordination and isolation.

One way to do that is by not allowing systems to be tied together. But that can be difficult in scenarios where master control is the key to data collection, automation, and other elements of smart buildings. In that case, the key is to have designers and installers who are competent in balancing the security and interconnection components.

“It’s becoming even more important to pre-qualify installers,” said panelist Marty Reisberg, director of curriculum development for the Electrical Training Alliance. “You normally wouldn’t think about inviting the IT department into a discussion about putting in a lighting system, but this is the kind of thing that will change as technology evolves.”