Energy Efficient Lighting

Lighting constitutes about 35% of the energy consumption in commercial buildings, making it the highest energy consuming component, according to data obtained from the US government. In India, lighting is the second highest component of energy consumption in buildings, only next to HVAC systems, and estimated to be at least 20-25%.

From the data, we can identify that lighting is a crucial factor in efficient building designs and automation systems. There is an effort to make individual lighting fixtures as efficient as possible, but the industry must acknowledge the fundamental role of Lighting Controls in furthering the objective.

Lighting Management systems can cater to three major sectors – Residential, Hospitality and Corporate/Commercial. In residences, preset lighting control systems can cater to aspects of ambience and convenience. Attractive wall-mounted, custom-engraved, and backlit lighting keypads add aesthetics, with optional control via wireless keypads or smart phones providing easy access and flexibility of use.




In the Hospitality sector, the major focus is on achieving the correct ambience with lighting controls.Hotels such as the ‘ITC Group’ who are  energy conscious, also stress on reducing energy consumption through controls. Here again, the preset Lighting control systems play a role. In commercial or corporate settings, the main driver for automation is the ability to reduce power consumption through the usage of sensors such as occupancy sensors and day light sensors. This is all then monitored and measured through a Lighting Management System (LMS), called Quantum System from Lutron. In the last 3-4 years, this sector has experienced tremendous growth.

Where energy efficient lighting fixtures are low hanging fruits, allowing reduction in usage, without compromising on the quality of ambience or convenience; Lighting Controls form the network, the tree itself, enhancing flexibility to change the transfer of resource depending on real-time requirements.

By incorporating state of the art Lighting Management systems, buildings can achieve energy savings targets and desired management levels with real time monitoring and control. Integrating hardware and software, and to service and combine dimming modules, occupancy sensors, motorized shades, sun trajectory sensors, daylight sensors and time clock controls; supported and optimized by data that is collected from sensors, time clocks and scientific sources; spaces can be made more resilient.

- Alok Hada, Director, Anusha Technovision Pvt. Ltd