Intelligent lighting controls to grow hand in hand with commercial LED lighting market

The ongoing adoption of LED lighting in commercial buildings, alongside new wireless technology, is fueling related growth in the market for intelligent lighting controls. So says a recent report from Pike Research, which estimates that the global market for intelligent lighting controls will expand from $1.5 billion in 2012 to more than $4.3 billion in 2020.

Pike says that the falling cost of LED lighting is triggering lighting-retrofit projects in many existing commercial buildings. Since LEDs are particularly well-suited to digital control, it is an easy step for many building owners to incorporate additional lighting intelligence at the same time.

Such intelligence can take the form of photosensors, dimming ballasts and dimming controls, along with the communications and interfaces necessary to tie controls into a building-management system. Strategies such as occupancy sensing, daylight sensing, and building-wide networks are all starting to gain broad acceptance at the same time as greater energy efficiency is being required by building codes and regulations.

Major lighting companies such as Philips and Osram regularly discuss the transformation of the lighting industry, with the decline of the lamp-replacement business model, and the growing importance of LED “solutions” – meaning integrated lighting systems and networks.

"Building-wide lighting management systems have developed rapidly over the past few years, giving building managers better tools with more information and more control," said Pike’s senior research analyst Eric Bloom. "Rapid growth in sales is forcing controls vendors to develop products that can incorporate LEDs, or risk being left behind."

Central or distributed control?

While centrally-controlled lighting systems are on the rise, a competing trend is toward lighting systems with distributed intelligence. With the reduction in cost in miniature electronics, more sensors and control intelligence can be built directly into light fixtures. Fixtures in a room can communicate wirelessly with each other, allowing for room-level intelligence with a minimal amount of equipment, wiring, and expense. While systems like this will proliferate, the dominant trend is still expected to be greater central control as costs decrease, and as more building owners and managers understand the potential benefits, according to the report.

The report, "Intelligent Lighting Controls for Commercial Buildings", analyzes the global market opportunity for intelligent controls across nine building types: office, retail, education, healthcare, hotels & restaurants, institutional/assembly, warehouse, transport, and multi-unit residential. Pike Research is part of the global Energy Practice of Navigant (NYS: NCI).