Smart Lighting and the IoT
The IoT and climate change
The Internet of Things (IoT) is about more than optimizing our creature comforts with smarter wearable devices, bringing new efficiencies to industry and logistics, and enhancing our homes and workspaces with more responsive technology. IoT solutions are already helping slow the destructive course of climate change. Global innovators are taking an active role, aligning IoT devices with international standards for climate protection.
The best-case scenarios that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) describes require aggressive mitigation of global carbon emissions, calling for them to fall to levels from 40 to 70 percent lower than their 2010 levels. And even reaching that goal will only slow global warming. At the new levels, the IPCC projects, average temperatures could still climb by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050.
The IoT's immediate potential to reduce carbon output
The Climate Group, a global NGO, advocates a widespread switch to LED lighting, especially in public spaces and for street lighting, to cut carbon emissions by 1.4 million tons annually. The US Department of Energy supports those goals through its Outdoor Lighting Accelerator program, which offers technical, financial, and regulatory assistance.
Meanwhile, innovative manufacturers are dedicated to making investment in LED pay even greater dividends by developing city-wide digital lighting networks that function as IoT-enabled digital canopies. When integrated into these networks, connected sensors can enhance city efficiency, helping reroute vehicle traffic, for example, or making it easier and faster for drivers to park, further reducing emissions.
Ericsson Research projects that what they call the smart grid could alone cut greenhouse gas emissions by 3.9 percent by 2030. This steadily developing IoT-enabled energy supply network, which can detect and adjust for local changes in energy use, provides numerous green benefits. One small component of the smart grid, the smart electricity meter, enables real-time two-way communication between consumer and utility, making it easier for the latter to meet energy demand with less waste by coordinating energy conservation as well as energy generation. Utilities might start rewarding consumers for using less energy during high-demand hours, for example.
“IoT sensors will be increasingly important in the effort to expand carbon monitoring and taxation”
To help reduce carbon impact in everyday economic activity, the World Green Building Council is coordinating local efforts to ensure that all new buildings operate at net zero carbon. IoT sensors available today support all of the Council's main pillars, including reducing energy consumption, generating renewable energy on-site, and performing closed-loop measurement of carbon consumption and waste.
IoT-powered smart services and industry could account for a 3 percent carbon reduction by increasing efficiency and eliminating reliance on disposable materials (such as paper) in both the public and private sector.
Smart agriculture, according to Ericsson Research, could facilitate another 3 percent reduction. Today's smart agriculture efforts including better cow monitoring, which identifies ailing livestock based on the animal's position and behavior. Being able to screen, treat, and remove sick animals has improved meat and dairy yields and reduced over-treatment with antibiotics, while creating opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from unfit animals.
Crucial carbon savings can be realized in the developing world as well. Low-cost, low-power IoT devices could bring precision agriculture (which minimizes use of fertilizer, pesticides, and water) to modernizing countries much more quickly than has been possible up to now. That means avoiding years of wasteful over-consumption of water, fuel, and soil additives.
Enhancing employee and guest satisfaction at Swissotel The Stamford
Smart cities: Moving beyond the hype
Cities around the world want to use technology to improve life for citizens as well as drive operational efficiencies to make better use of resources. They aspire to be more sustainable, resilient, safer, greener and energy efficient and to alleviate urban ills such as congestion, air pollution and rising crime. They are also striving to banish digital divides and create more inclusive places. How close are cities to achieving these aims and what are the lessons learned so far?
Building a smart city strategy
31%
of city representatives say they have an integrated/overarching smart city strategy.
44%
of city leaders are prioritizing vertical applications by tackling the city’s biggest challenges first.
25%
of city representatives say having an infrastructure in place is a major factor in how they prioritize verticals.
What’s driving the construction of smart cities?
62%
of city leaders believe city-wide connectivity and public broadband is the priority.
56%
of city representative say improving mobility and reducing congestion is key.
43%
of city leaders say the need to compete for funding, talent and investment is a driver.
37%
of city executives say achieving sustainability and improving resilience is crucial.
Challenges to the creation of smart cities
57%
of city leaders and telecoms executives say funding is the biggest challenge to taking an integrated smart cities approach.
50%
of city representatives believe finding the right partner is an obstacle.
37%
of city executives believe data management issues are a concern
Realizing the benefits of smart cities
of city leaders believe smart technology makes a city more attractive to visitors and businesses.
of city and telecoms executives believe the biggest plus point is saving energy.
The research is from Smart Cities World in association with Interact. The analysis is based on a survey of 105 respondents who fall into one of two groups: the first are city leaders and the second are executives from telecommunications companies, systems integrators and other suppliers.
Making grocery shopping more convenient at aswaaq
For smart cities, connectivity is king
The new street-lighting ecosystem
In the new smart city, connectivity is king. And connectivity starts with lighting.
Today, as connected replaces conventional lighting, the familiar street light is becoming an innovation platform. According to Gartner, “18% of global streetlights in urban zones will be connected in five years, up from 3% in 2018.” It's now emerging as the technological foundation of an entire ecosystem of urban projects that will transform how city dwellers inhabit their environments.
Smart lighting provides the perfect infrastructure for the urban Internet of Things. Light poles can sufficiently power a wide array of IoT devices, and they're already distributed across the cityscape. The fact that they're typically positioned above the street means that they're well-positioned to host sensors that track movement across, and a range of conditions within, an urban area. In these ways, citywide connected lighting is ideal for hosting a communications network that can support IoT applications both today and into the future.
So far, so good. Yet making the smart lighting ecosystem work requires the coordinated efforts of numerous stakeholders, including engineers, systems integrators, street-lighting vendors, IoT vendors, and communications service providers – not to mention municipal authorities. So it's crucial to work with a vendor that can cover a number of the competencies that establishing a connected lighting system demands.
Building the ecosystem
Here are the elements you need to master as you bring a transformative connected lighting project to life.
Hardware: Connected luminaires are just the beginning. Urban IoT projects often need access to deep expertise in IoT devices as well. These include sensors, cameras, microphones, and navigation equipment.
Software: Smart city initiatives require a comprehensive IoT platform that provides a consistent and scalable base for both pilot projects and initiatives no one's thought of yet. You also need comprehensive control dashboards for managers, and possibly advice on developing the user-facing apps those managers can use to administer the project day to day.
Communications and network infrastructure: According to Gartner, “System integrators and global lighting manufacturers are preferred partners for street light modernization initiatives for city managers; CSPs are named as partners in only 16% of smart city lighting projects since the start of 2016.” A smart city ecosystem needs reliable connectivity and adequate bandwidth to thrive. Look for partners who can advise you on the right mix of cellular, small cell, Wi-Fi, and short-range IoT communications to ensure consistent and smooth communications.
Data storage and analysis: A well-equipped smart city generates a wealth of information that city managers can use to improve quality of life. Sensor data indicating when streets are heavily trafficked and when they aren't can of course lead to more intelligent provision of lighting to certain areas of town – luminaires can dim when no one's around, thus saving money. But there's much more to it than that. Sensor data on air quality can inform public health initiatives. Data on traffic patterns, parking habits, peak congestion hours, and even wind speeds and humidity levels can help drive initiatives that improve quality of life.
But these opportunities are lost if IoT sensors can't report data to repositories that powerful analytical tools can easily access. The upshot: you need to work with data and analytics providers who understand how to handle hundreds of thousands of new information sources so that you can take advantage of them, deriving insights you can put to work.
Power grid and utilities: In many cities, lighting is already delivered in partnership with, or as a service by, utility or grid operators. The municipality's relationships with these operators have typically originated in an era of lower-tech lighting. Those relationships may thus need amending. Working with partners who understand the services that grid operators have provided can be valuable. First, it can help reshape the project's cost structure for the better. Second, it can lead to the proper allocation of responsibilities between power companies and civic offices.
Systems integration: A systems integrator that has experience with your chosen connected lighting apparatus, your IoT platform, your enterprise data repository, and your network providers can help reduce implementation times and shorten time to benefit.
“In the new smart city, connectivity is king. And connectivity starts with lighting”
Putting the coordinated ecosystem into action
The right vendor, one who can cover at least several of the bases enumerated above, will knit a series of discrete initiatives into a dynamic and successful system. Think of the difference between an IoT sensor that counts cars – and the software, data, and analytical nexus that can translate traffic statistics into better road design. Or, again, think of the difference between passive security video capture and real-time situational awareness.
The former is useful and necessary. But the latter can alert first responders or even trigger dramatic street lighting changes – such as a blast of startling light at the scene of a nighttime street altercation – to defuse problems before they escalate. It's the right vendor's expertise that bridges such differences.
In many cases a strong vendors collaborate with peer vendors to amplify that expertise. Signify, for example, has partnered with Ericsson and with American Tower on its smart pole connected street lights; with SAP on a smart city data integration project based on the SAP HANA platform; and with others.
Room to learn and grow
The right vendor knows to build into your lighting ecosystem room for your projects to change and grow. That's important, because smart city technologies almost always inspire new initiatives after their initial rollout. (This is one reason why the average number of use cases for smart lighting projects roughly doubled between 2015 and 2017, according to Gartner.)
An ecosystem that can change and grow, moreover, is one more likely to please the ultimate stakeholder in a connected lighting project: the public. Citizen buy-in becomes increasingly important to smart city initiatives as public knowledge about these initiatives grows – and as empowered citizenries in “world cities" around the globe become even more scrupulous about the projects that affect their communities. In a sign of the times, Wales' capital, Cardiff, actually polled residents before selecting the light temperature for its new LED street fixtures.
Building a citywide connected street lighting network is an integral step towards creating a communications network that can support IoT applications today and into the future. It's also a planning- and labor-intensive initiative that requires coordination between a range of stakeholders. Given all the moving parts, you have the best chance of success if you enlist a vendor that can offer a wide range of competencies.
Creating engaging office environments
Recent years have seen a shift in approaches to office design. Purely functional work spaces have started giving way to spaces that are designed to engage and inspire.
Employers are increasingly realising that people represent not only their highest cost but also their greatest asset. Research suggests lighting can play a key role in creating engaging environments that support productive organisations
“CEOs of leading organizations recognize employee engagement is one of the most critical metrics for businesses today and that it has significant bottomline implications.”
Engagement and the Global Workplace report, Steelcase 4 Creating engaging office environments
Lighting can influence the engagement and well-being of office employees
Lightscaping: shaping the environment with light
Consider how light affects different systems in the body: the visual system (light for sight), the emotional system (light for the heart), and the cognitive system (light for the mind).
LIGHT FOR SIGHT
The eye already starts to deteriorate around age 45. [50]
This means that approximately 34% of the potential working population [51] is already facing reduced vision and would benefit from higher light levels to compensate.
LIGHT FOR THE MIND
Several studies found improvements in alertness when using light levels of 1,000 lux. [58-62]
Other studies found that exposure to certain levels of light led to increased performance on specific tasks, such as faster response times, less time needed to complete a task, and better long-term memory recall. [60, 63, 64]
LIGHT FOR THE HEART
Several studies connect the subjective brightness of a room to how satisfied users are with their workspace. [12, 22–25] Color temperature is shown to affect users’ mood, sleepiness, and light perception. [20, 26]
Other studies indicate that the ability to control the lighting in an office environment enhances employee comfort. [27, 28]
This infographic is based on Creating engaging office environments, white paper research conducted by Interact. Please check full white paper for source references. Full white paper can be seen here:
https://www.interact-lighting.com/b-dam/b2b-li/en_AA/interact/articles/creating-engaging-office-environments/Engaging-Offices-WhitePaper.pdf
