Indeed, lighting control systems are highly adaptable and extremely flexible, and this is why they are installed in virtually every type of building. No matter what the size of the buildings is, the principle remains the same. Zones are defined according to their particular lighting needs. Schedules are created for every zone. For areas where the rate of occupation is low, motion detectors are used. Lux sensors determine the required lighting level according to natural daylight. Solutions can thus be developed and adapted for any type of building where a control dimension is wanted.



Solutions for large-scale office buildings projects

As mentioned before, the flexibility of systems allows designers to adapt systems to the needs of every building. Large buildings, because of their high power consumption and numerous occupants with different lighting needs, clearly profit from lighting control.

Cristal Controls’ lighting control system was specified in large-scale projects such as Les Terrasses la Chaudière, in Hull, Quebec, Canada, an office building complex consisting of three towers, the highest comprising 28 stories, and which accommodates daily around 6,000 employees. Due to the high rate of tenant turnover in offices, lighting control has to be flexible and practical. This large-scale project comprises 117 control panels with a total of 1,728 relays. Despite the great scope of the project, the managers’ priority was the simplicity of the system. Being operated by security guards, the software needed to be visual, user-friendly, and easy-to-use. The chosen software thus allows viewing the whole complex, selecting specific floors, and controlling each zone independently.

The system design respected the managers’ requirements. For example, the system has no starting schedule: the luminaries are turned on manually in the morning, with low voltage switches located on each floor. However, luminaries cannot be turned off with those switches. Moreover, 10 min before the lights are turned off at the end of the working day, a blink warns the employees. Employees wishing to remain in the building communicate with the security guards to extend the closing time for their control zone.

Solutions for medium-scale supermarkets and warehouses projects

In big supermarkets, the building area comprises not only the shop itself but also the warehouse buildings. The various chilling, freezing, and lighting equipment it contains has very high power consumption. Supermarket managers are thus looking for modern, reliable, simple-to-use, and easily and inexpensively expendable systems.

Sobeys is a leading grocery retailer and food distributor in the Maritime Provinces. It was fundamental for Sobeys to choose a lighting control system which allowed an efficient management of the lighting scripts, but which could easily be integrated within their main automation and monitoring system.

Cristal Controls has supplied, for many of Sobeys branches, complete lighting control systems. More precisely, luminaries are now controlled at the Torbam Road branch in Newfoundland by 79 relays. Six auto-programmable electronic interfaces are located inside the control panels, which allows the manager to reassign groups, and thus to create new zones, without the intervention of a technician. This simple system allows Sobeys and its control managers to accomplish the required scripts for optimal performance.





Solutions for small businesses

In small buildings, Cristal Controls’ systems allow, at a very affordable cost, to eliminate the problems due to the utilization in traditional systems of mechanical clocks. When performing new building construction, the implementation of a lighting control system represents an investment of only about $1,500, with a very short return on investment. Lighting control systems manage and automate all the lighting control tasks; lights are turned off when offices are unoccupied, and lighting of parking areas is reduced at night.

A lighting control system was installed at a Toronto Toyota dealer because of its strong scheduling characteristics. The system includes a total of 12 relays, located in two distinct panels. The two panels communicate together via the Echelon network, and schedule creation and management software is available on the manager’s computer. The system is simple, but it allows the Toyota dealer to control lighting costs to increase the profitability of its business. Indeed, in small businesses, lighting control solutions can be as profitable as in large-scale projects.

Adaptability for Control and Savings in All Buildings

Lighting control solutions are essential in lowering the cost of energy use in many buildings. Fortunately, their adaptability makes it possible to take profit of control opportunities in all types of buildings.GIB