Full-building Lighting Retrofit with no Office Downtime. How Bluetooth Mesh and Silvair Simplify Advanced Lighting Control

Since its adoption in 2017, the Bluetooth mesh standard continues to gain momentum in professional lighting applications. Its globally interoperable lighting control ecosystem keeps growing along with the increasing number of Bluetooth mesh components available on the market. A number of real-life projects have also been deployed across different types of spaces, including offices, warehouses and schools. In this case study, we will have a closer look at the biggest office implementation of a qualified Bluetooth mesh lighting network to date: a full-building lighting retrofit at the Brussels office of Macq Mobility Management Solutions.

The Macq headquarters is a 2,000 m2 office building located on Rue de l’Aéronef in Brussels, Belgium. It includes multiple open spaces, meeting rooms and ateliers, as well as storage rooms, parking spaces, restrooms and corridors. The retrofit covered the entire building. As part of the project, the obsolete lighting was replaced with LED luminaires, while simple wired controls were replaced with a wireless control system based on Bluetooth mesh. 8’33 took care of the implementation, delivering all necessary components and designing the project for Helexia, the energy manager of Macq. Products used as part of the retrofit came from different manufacturers, which highlights the interoperability of Bluetooth mesh. The commissioning process was carried out with dedicated software tools from Silvair, a company which provides complete wireless control solutions based on the Bluetooth mesh standard. Silvair also developed the wireless control firmware for sensors and fixture controllers installed during the retrofit. Finally, the company provided guidance during the project implementation, sharing Bluetooth mesh best practices and helping achieve optimum system configuration and performance.

Lighting components used

The following LED and sensing devices were installed as part of the project:

• 301 LED fixtures
• 301 fixture controllers from DG Light
• 59 occupancy & light sensors from Danlers

The luminaires deployed during the retrofit are standard products without any wireless control capabilities. The component that provides them with Bluetooth mesh connectivity is the fixture controller DG558 from DG Light. It is a simple, easy-to-install device that contains a system-on-chip with the Silvair Firmware. Equipped with a driver output port, the controller converts Bluetooth mesh commands to a DALI output, enabling rapid retrofitting of existing LED systems into Bluetooth mesh lighting networks. The new lighting control system installed at the Macq office does not include any wireless switches. The company decided

to deploy a fully automatic solution driven by occupancy and light sensors to maximize efficiencies through advanced lighting control strategies.

Implementation and commissioning

To minimize office downtime, the project was implemented throughout a single weekend. The LED retrofit itself, carried out by an external company, started on Friday afternoon. With

no need to install any wires or disrupt the existing building infrastructure, installation works ended on Saturday evening. This is when the commissioning process started.

The commissioning was carried out by 8’33 using the Silvair commissioning tools. The entire wireless lighting control system was planned in a dedicated web app that allows for performing initial commissioning activities remotely before visiting the site. Once the planning stage is completed, the commissioning process can be finalized on-site using the mobile app. To meet diverse lighting needs across the complex office environment of the Macq headquarters, more than 50 lighting zones had to be created during the planning stage. A number of different lighting control scenarios were deployed across individual rooms and spaces. Still, with a library of ready-to-use profiles and scenarios available in the Silvair app, the commissioning process was completed by the end of the weekend. On Monday morning, when the first employees arrived to the office, the lighting control system was fully operational.

Advanced control and energy monitoring

For all zones established across the Macq office, two major lighting scenes were set up. The first one kicks in at 6 a.m., ensuring light levels adequate for everyday office work. The second one is triggered at 10 p.m. Its light levels are lower, reflecting less demanding

lighting needs during occasional night-time office activities. Both these scenes rely on the occupancy sensing scenario that has been implemented across the entire office. In addition, daylight harvesting strategy was implemented in rooms and areas with access to

daylight. In order to put the luminaires on a schedule, as well as to support advanced monitoring capabilities, a gateway device was also deployed. It gathers and aggregates energy consumption data from individual zones, delivering it in the form of raw numbers or convenient visual heatmaps. This allows Macq to analyze historical power consumption over desired periods of time, and put that data to work to optimize lighting efficiency even further.

Silvair provides a complete wireless lighting control solution based on the globally interoperable Bluetooth mesh standard. Component manufacturers can easily integrate it into a variety of products, flexibly choosing specific features in accordance with their customers’ needs. In addition, Silvair provides dedicated tools for commissioning and managing Bluetooth mesh lighting networks in commercial spaces. Silvair Commissioning has been designed from ground-up to streamline and accelerate the commissioning process. The solution has earned recognition from lighting industry experts, winning both the LFI Innovation Award 2019 at LIGHTFAIR International and the Connected Lighting Solution Award at the Trends in Lighting 2018. For more information and case studies, visit www.silvair.com