Danlers, Ingy, team up for ‘beyond lighting’ controls

British lighting and HVAC controls specialist Danlers has turned to Dutch smart lighting startup Ingy to add a bevy of lighting and “beyond lighting” features.

Danlers, based in Chippenham, England, is outfitting its own sensors with software from Amsterdam-based Ingy to provide app-based lighting commissioning as well as decentralized, mesh-based controls for daylight harvesting, scene definition, and other lighting functions.

The Danlers/Ingy combination supports a number of non-lighting functions, such as detecting the climate in a building and then adjusting the heating and cooling system accordingly. It can also gather occupancy data to help facilities managers better assign space, and to improve scheduling of practical matters such as cleaning. And it can provide indoor navigation and asset tracking.

Danlers is providing the sensors both in standalone form for mounting on ceilings or walls for use with any luminaire, or as part of a module embedded in luminaires.

In a maiden voyage, the two companies have partnered with Dutch luminaire vendor Koopman Interlight to provide 1300 LED luminaires with embedded smart technology to Zone.college, a modern eco-oriented school in Doetinchem, Holland.

A fourth partner, Holland’s Binx Smartility, is providing data analysis at Zone. (Watch for an upcoming story in LEDs Magazine for more on Zone).

Ingy software deploys the Wirepas wireless protocol from Finland’s Wirepas.

Ingy CEO Bastiaan de Groot often cites the scalability of Wirepas in explaining why Ingy prefers it over other wireless choices.

Danlers chief operating officer Kevin Johnstone would seem to concur.

“We believe that the Ingy solution has several unique features that set it apart in terms of scalability (beyond lighting functionality) and openness of the data — which will make it a welcome addition to our growing portfolio of ecosystem products,” Johnstone said.

“We are very happy to welcome Danlers to our rapidly growing ecosystem of manufacturers that are providing Ingy-enabled products,” de Groot said.

Ingy typically partners with companies including data and IT outfits to help deploy smart building systems based tied to the lighting infrastructure.

For example, it has teamed with Fujitsu for systems integration at University Medical Center Utrecht, where the two companies along with Interlight are helping to track wheelchairs, portable beds, infusion pumps, blood pressure monitors, and other medical equipment.

MARK HALPER is a contributing editor for LEDs Magazine, and an energy, technology, and business journalist ([email protected]).