Lighting Products are Green, Stylish and Wire-free

Lighting controls may not enjoy the prominence of flat-screen TVs, multiroom audio and other sexy components of a home system.

But the lighting industry is extremely influential when it comes to three key movements in the home-technology sector: energy management, aesthetics and wireless.

Roughly 17 companies at EHX will show their contributions in these areas.

In energy management, virtually every lighting-control vendor is touting the green theme, boasting membership in the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and pumping out marketing materials that declare the energy-saving potential of dimming.

Crestron (http://www.crestron.com/gogreen) and Lutron (http://www.lutron.com/cms), among others, have established Web sites for the environmentally inclined.

Lutron's site includes a virtual dimmer that tells visitors, in real-time, how much energy they save by dimming. Slide the dimmer to the 24-percent mark, and you'll see that savings can amount to about 20 percent -- or roughly $51.67 over five years for a single bulb.

For its part, HAI plans to expand the Energy Management section of its Web site.

"We will have a new residential energy management brochure for our dealers," says spokesperson Allison Read. HAI is also offering Residential Energy Management webinars for its dealers.

Beyond the educational and promotional efforts, lighting control vendors are creating more devices that enable energy savings.

Crestron plans to introduce "a number of new products, including more types of sensors and unique environmental monitoring and management software," according to spokesperson Karl Pawlewicz.

With Lutron's new Grafik Eye QS lighting controller, users can get real-time feedback, straight from the unit's LCD panel, as to how much energy they save by dimming.



Both Control4 and HAI are working with utilities on load-shedding solutions that let users cut back on energy automatically when rates rise or utilities reach capacity.

Control4's system lets users set parameters through a TV interface, specifying which lights to adjust in the event of a utility crisis.

HAI's forthcoming Load Control Modules will similarly facilitate communications between utilities and electronics in the home.

Aesthetics Are Important, Too

The role of lighting control in the green movement is pretty clear these days.

What may not be so obvious is the impact of lighting vendors on the American aesthetic. Integrators often cite aesthetics as a key reason for selecting certain home control products, especially lighting.

Lutron, Crestron, Vantage and others have set a high bar when it comes to wallplate colors and finishes. Other companies are doing their part to bring even more dramatic statements to American walls.

Colorado vNet is well known for its capacitive touchpads that can be customized to blend into any décor, from minimalist contemporary settings to whimsical kids' rooms.

Several other manufacturers are setting themselves apart with European-inspired designs.

Square D Clipsal, a division of Schneider Electric, is already a staple lighting-control provider in Europe, Australia and other overseas locales.

The company is trying its modern-looking controls on the American market, and the reaction has been positive, says Brad Wills, business director, installation systems and control for Schneider Electric. The feedback he tends to get from designers: "Thank goodness someone's doing something different."

He notes that designers are especially drawn to Clipsal's Saturn line of round-button dimmers ad switches. "They like the retro look," he says.

"There is nothing like it domestically."

The new Armada hardwired lighting control system from Leviton features the same bold, boxy designs as the company's (unintelligent) Acenti line.

"It has the aesthetic that a lot of people were looking for," says Ian Hendler, director of business development for Leviton. "We did a lot of homework."

On-Q and Vantage are going European, as well, thanks to their French-based parent company Legrand.

New designs from these two companies are inspired by Bticino, an Italian-based designer of door-entry systems that is also owned by Legrand.

"No longer are plates and devices on the wall a visual afterthought," says Dan Tarkoff, On-Q vice president of product management. "These products are creating an entirely new conversation around home décor in an area where homeowners historically had little to no options."

For its part, AMX has come out with its first-ever line of traditional hard-button keypads. The Metreau keypads bring an affordable element to AMX's high-end control systems, including lighting and audio.

Retrofit, Wireless Solutions Abound

With the soft construction market, the lighting-control industry is helping to bolster the home systems business with more and more no-new-wires solutions.

CentraLite is already on its second generation of Zigbee-enabled lighting controls. The Jetstream system requires no central controller; the switches and dimmers can communicate directly with each other.



"It really takes everything to a different level being controller-less," says Diane Davis, vice president of marketing. "You can just replace a couple of dimmers for starters."

Colorado vNet, Crestron and Control4 also have adopted the Zigbee wireless protocol for lighting control. Meanwhile, the competing Z-Wave technology has a booth of its own at EHX, highlighting a variety of products that exploit the low-cost two-way wireless solution.

Cooper Wiring Devices and Leviton are among the many Z-Wave partners at EHX.

Vantage, meanwhile, is introducing its next-generation wireless lighting control system, Enspire, based on the Miro RF solution from sister company Watt Stopper/Legrand.

Not only is it wireless, the system offers a European styling that seems to be all the rage these days.

When thinking about wire-free lighting control, don't forget about powerline-based technologies offered by Powerline Control Systems. PCS's Universal Powerline Bus (UPB) technology is supported by a number of popular home-control systems.

At EHX, PCS will show its own home-control system -- an IP-based gateway that allows remote access to a home's lighting and other UPB systems.

"A lot of our dealers don't want to roll a truck just to tweak some lighting scenes," says PCS's Scott Klodowski. Now they can do it straight from any Web browser.