WRITTEN BY MATTI VESTERINEN

Matti Vesterinen is the director of Helvar’s wireless lighting controls, a rapidly growing portfolio with the unique wireless ActiveAhead solution at the heart of the offering. Matti is an innovation-oriented expert on product management. He holds an M.Sc.(Tech.) degree from the Helsinki University of Technology.

In the ever-evolving world of building management, the integration of intelligent lighting control systems plays a pivotal role in shaping user experiences and helping achieve energy savings and improve operational efficiency. At Helvar, our journey into developing hybrid lighting solutions, particularly through our Node Link innovation that combines wireless Helvar ActiveAhead® and wired Helvar Imagine solutions, demonstrates our commitment and drive towards to sustainability, and the development of highly adaptable and future-proof solutions.

 

Including the best of our wireless capabilities

The concept of our Hybrid innovation began with the recognition of the distinct advantages of Helvar’s wireless ActiveAhead solution, which primarily focuses on simplifying installations and reducing the risk of faults. When the wireless system uses distributed architecture, as the ActiveAhead solution does, it may build additional features and functions beyond those of wired systems. That is why, Helvar has built capabilities such as self-learning, efficient and intuitive mobile apps, personal lighting control, and specific hardware products, among others. These are all excellent for solving customer needs and improving personalised user experience.

 

Enhancing the strengths of wired Imagine

Smart building projects are increasing in their scale and complexity, making it essential to design lighting control systems that can adapt and scale to future needs. Today’s current rigid choice between solely wireless or wired lighting options is inadequate for modern requirements. Larger building projects often contain areas that could benefit from the strengths each type of system. For instance, while wired systems excel in auditoriums and multi-purpose spaces requiring complex logic, wireless systems are often more suitable for retrofitted areas or spaces subject to frequent changes such as office areas. Thus, the wired Helvar Imagine solution can be chosen for controlling public spaces within the building, where consistent and well-defined lighting standards are required.

As we considered how to link our wired Imagine solution with our wireless ActiveAhead solution a core questions our team posed was not only how we maintain but enhance the strengths of both systems and what can we do to complement each system as a collective? Node Link was our answer — an innovation that continues to be as easy and fast to set up as ActiveAhead is, with similar characteristics to Imagine, it offers endless possibilities when designing and specifying by allowing a way to combine the two systems together in a simple and efficient way.

 

 

Empowering flexibility and future needs in expansions, renovations or new builds

In new construction projects, selecting the most appropriate lighting control solution for each space is crucial. When it comes to renovations, the specified lighting control system’s ability to utilise existing mains wiring reduces costs and simplifies the upgrade process. Node Link’s true innovation lies in its flexibility for future adaptations to the system, even if these are unknown at the time of the initial design phase. It allows the system to be increased in scale with additional devices and functionality and to be modified throughout the lifetime of the installation. By linking ActiveAhead at the group level to the Imagine system, we ensure that addresses on the Imagine side remain unchanged, even as group members on the ActiveAhead side are added or removed. This allows the solution to be updated and improved in most cases without adding more DALI application controllers or the need for complex rewiring.

 

Figure: Hybrid Floorplan example with wireless Helvar ActiveAhead and wired Helvar Imagine.

The system for each space has been selected based on space requirements to offer the most sustainable, user friendly and flexible solution. ActiveAhead and Imagine areas are connected using Node Link to achieve a seamless user experience. In this example, different areas follow the same schedules and manual override user interfaces.

Continuous development and new use cases

The response to our commercial pilot projects for the hybrid solution has been overwhelmingly positive, drawing interest from companies across numerous countries. These pilot projects not only validated our hybrid concept but also opened the possibility for new use cases. Such feedback is critical as it informs the continuous development of Node Link, helping us decide which features to prioritise and what to develop next. Node Link now offers new features that improve user experience, wellbeing, as well as the system’s scalability and adaptability.

One such feature is ActiveTune Personal Lighting Control, which provides a simple user-friendly mobile app that enables individuals to adjust lighting above their desks and allows users to create their preferred settings. This personalisation feature is now also available for the Imagine 950 solution.

Additionally, our Light-over-Time feature, now extended to the ActiveAhead solution, enhances circadian rhythms by adjusting light intensity and colour temperature to better replicate the sun’s natural cycle, promoting improved health and wellbeing by synchronising indoor lighting peoples internal body clocks.

 

Cost savings and improved sustainability with the help of a full Hybrid solution

Our full Hybrid solution offers significant long-term cost savings by optimising energy usage and reducing the need for rewiring during layout changes, thus supporting a smaller environmental footprint and subsequently lowering carbon emissions. Furthermore, intelligent LED lighting can save up to 85% of energy compared to schedule-based fluorescent lighting*). Utilising occupancy data from ActiveAhead, Node Link can intelligently control the lighting on the Imagine system. This adaptive lighting strategy ensures that lighting levels are always appropriate, enhancing energy efficiency while maintaining comfort. Additionally, Node Link offers the capability to provide occupancy data from the entire building to the BMS. This data is crucial for optimising various building operations beyond lighting, such as heating and cooling systems. This supports companies to achieve their sustainability targets and certifications such as LEED, BREEAM, or WELL.

 

Unlocking future possibilities

Our customers’ enthusiasm strongly underscores the significant potential of our hybrid solution. With Node Link, we are not creating a solution; we are pioneering a new era in smart buildings’ lighting integration. This era is characterised by flexibility, efficiency, and a personalised, user-centric approach that sets new standards in intelligent lighting control solutions.

 

*) ActiveAhead – the impact of self-learning lighting control on energy consumption. https://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/264555