LEDs Magazine Highlights from LightFair – Acuity Brands (VIDEO)
LEDs Magazine chief editor Maury Wright and Lance Hollner speak about smart systems and services developed and implemented by Acuity Brands.
Although LightFair International (LFI) is traditionally a lighting tradeshow, it was evident that connectivity enabled via lighting and controls is a developing market opportunity for companies in the lighting space. LEDs Magazine chief editor Maury Wright asked Lance Hollner, vice president of services product development at Acuity Brands, to address the company’s growing lineup of services that rely on smart systems.
Hollner provided examples of Acuity Brands’ services that range from audits, startups, and lighting design to project management and service contracts. He further described an increasing need to develop Software as a Service (SaaS) as well as Platform as a Service (PaaS) using cloud computing technologies to enable the Internet of Things (IoT) via the lighting space.
One recent smart systems example is embedding visible light communication (VLC) and Bluetooth devices into lighting to get accurate positioning on mobile devices; in a retail environment this delivers location-sensitive information via a smartphone app.
Hollner also described integrated smart lighting and positioning services at the building level, such as to find available conference rooms or to locate individual using indoor occupancy sensors and monitoring software that combine for smart systems.
This begs the question, according to Wright: “…How do you mine that data on the backend and what can you do with that data?”
With its Distech Controls acquisition, Acuity Brands has extended its portfolio of building controls for energy efficiency. Hollner said the company can use cloud infrastructure to provide a holistic view of building activity, monitoring all the different elements that are interconnected to provide insight, analytics, and action.
Maury Wright | Editor in Chief
Maury Wright is an electronics engineer turned technology journalist, who has focused specifically on the LED & Lighting industry for the past decade. Wright first wrote for LEDs Magazine as a contractor in 2010, and took over as Editor-in-Chief in 2012. He has broad experience in technology areas ranging from microprocessors to digital media to wireless networks that he gained over 30 years in the trade press. Wright has experience running global editorial operations, such as during his tenure as worldwide editorial director of EDN Magazine, and has been instrumental in launching publication websites going back to the earliest days of the Internet. Wright has won numerous industry awards, including multiple ASBPE national awards for B2B journalism excellence, and has received finalist recognition for LEDs Magazine in the FOLIO Eddie Awards. He received a BS in electrical engineering from Auburn University.
