Interview: Chris Primous On New LiteTrace Brands & More

I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Primous, EVP Sales & Marketing at LiteTrace about recent brand expansions and where he sees lighting control technology evolving.

Shiller: Earlier this year, a LiteTrace email newsletter indicated LiteTrace has launched a new emergency lighting control brand as well as a new architectural lighting control brand. Can you please share the names of these two new brands and their focuses, product types, primary target customer types for each brand?

Primous: KeiltonEM is our new brand that simplifies testing of emergency lighting products such as exit signs, emergency lights, and battery backups. It uses our proven Bluetooth mesh-based apps to automate and schedule emergency lighting tests and reporting. Facility teams no longer have to walk the building with a clipboard to complete required monthly and annual tests. Test reports can be emailed instantly on demand or stored in the cloud for paperless record-keeping. We have also built testing and reporting into our EnergyCenter online portal for remote access.

Our primary customers for KeiltonEM are manufacturers of emergency drivers, emergency lights, and exit signs who want to add connected emergency capability to their existing products. This is an OEM offering. We supply our Bluetooth modules to these manufacturers, and they build the functionality into their own private label designs. For more than a year, we have been working with leading global suppliers of emergency lighting products, and they are now offering their designs with this added BLE functionality. We also offer a private label app with only the emergency function, or we can combine the emergency functions into the manufacturer’s general lighting app.

LiteScape is our new control platform for architectural luminaires, and our first entry into specification-grade and architectural lighting. It is a mobile app and control platform that connects luminaires through DALI-2 and D4i devices, giving designers rich control and device data without the complexity of a traditional wired system. Communication to and between LiteScape devices runs on the same Bluetooth mesh we have used successfully in lighting for years. We believe that proven foundation is a big part of what will make LiteScape successful. The app is built for the needs of architectural applications, with more advanced control than anything we have created before, including precise color settings, advanced scenes, and dimming. The hardware was developed with our partner Lumigear and carries the Lumigear name, “Controlled by LiteScape.” It is designed to be low-profile and unobtrusive so it pairs well aesthetically with architectural luminaires. The target audience is architectural luminaire manufacturers.

Product types include D4i Bluetooth sensors and nodes that fit inside the luminaire, BLE-DALI D4i converters and gateways, DALI-2 occupancy and daylight sensors, wireless DMX and RGBWW controllers, and Bluetooth wall switches, all set up from the LiteScape app.

Shiller: What is the complete list of LiteTrace brands at this point?

Primous: LiteTrace Brands is a USA company headquartered in Columbia, Maryland. Our brands today are Keilton Basic (standalone IR remote lighting controls), Keilton+autani (our DLC-listed networked lighting controls system), Autani (our intelligent buildings platform, including the EnergyCenter portal and Autani Thermostats), KeiltonEM (BLE emergency lighting testing), and LiteScape (architectural lighting control). We also partner closely with Lumigear on architectural lighting hardware.

Shiller: Can you share anything about how the LiteTrace — Autani merger has gone? Were there any unexpected synergies? Any unexpected challenges?

Primous: It has gone well, and the combination has proven stronger than either side alone. Autani brought nearly 20 years of building automation experience, a native thermostat, and its EnergyCenter platform. The dashboards and data in EnergyCenter are, in my view, the best part of the Autani system and among the best in the industry. LiteTrace brought high-volume sensor design and manufacturing, along with software development expertise in mobile app design. Together we have more than 6 million sensors installed across more than 8,000 customer installations. In 2024, we also moved our headquarters to a larger, newer, state-of-the-art facility in Columbia, Maryland, which gave the combined team a single home.

The biggest, pleasant surprise was the thermostat. When we merged, HVAC integration was a nice extra. Today, thermostat and lighting integration is a hot topic among energy efficiency partners and utilities because of its high savings potential. The lighting sensors tell the HVAC system which rooms are occupied and which are empty. With the DLC now recognizing thermostat integration in NLC V5.2, it is a real differentiator, because most lighting controls companies do not have a thermostat of their own.

The main challenge has been bringing two companies together under a single LiteTrace Brands umbrella. We started with different websites, different internal systems, different marketing, and different teams. The work has been to unify all of that behind one marketing voice, while giving each brand a clear identity so customers know exactly who we are and which brand fits which job.

Shiller: Do you see any new sensor technologies with great promise? Combined ultrasonic & PIR? Micro-radar? Millimeter-Wave?

Primous: PIR remains the workhorse, and for popular applications like high bay it is often still the right answer. Dual-technology sensors continue to be valuable in spaces with partitions or limited line of sight. PIR plus ultrasonic is the combination we are finding most useful right now in some of our latest products. It provides the best of both technologies in products like ceiling sensors, when PIR alone can’t cover the full range of sensing needed.

Recent advances in microwave technology, especially at higher frequencies, have made microwave a more reliable sensing option. They have allowed us to combine microwave with Bluetooth in a very compact housing without concerns about radio frequency interference. They have also allowed us to introduce an entirely new series of products that uses 5.8GHz, with its longer wavelength, for higher mounting heights such as high bays, and 24GHz for lower mounting heights such as low bays.

The technology I am watching most closely is millimeter-wave radar, especially at 60GHz, which I see as the natural successor to 24GHz microwave sensors. It can detect true presence, even someone sitting still at a desk, and it opens the door to people counting and space utilization data, without the privacy concerns of cameras. That shift from “is someone here” to “how is this space actually used” is where sensors become far more valuable to building owners.

Shiller: Is LiteTrace looking at any advanced battery technologies to extend sensor / node power and reduce maintenance / battery replacements?

Primous: Since most of our sensors and nodes are fixture-integrated and line powered, battery life is not a constraint for the core lighting control network. Where batteries matter most for our customers is in wall switches, for applications where installing line voltage switches may not be practical, such as locations without a neutral.

We have a full line of CR2032 battery-powered wall switches that take advantage of the compact form factor, long shelf life, and low self-discharge rate. In many of our newer wall switches, we have moved to the tried and true AAA battery, because it offers more operating capacity, wider availability, and super long-life options. We are also always optimizing the “under the hood” specifications of our wall switches and how they communicate with the sensors, so each press uses less power. Even under frequent use, that extends the time between battery replacements.

More broadly, I think the bigger win is not just a longer-lasting battery. It is knowing the battery’s condition before it fails. We are continually making improvements, such as low battery warning features, that reduce maintenance pain points for battery switches. We are also evaluating alternative power technologies, such as solar and kinetic energy harvesting, for future versions of our switches.

Shiller: Does LiteTrace see potential benefits with Matter (& MoT) expanding to C&I applications?

Primous: Anything that improves interoperability is good for the industry, and Matter has done a lot to bring that conversation forward on the residential and consumer side of connected products. Commercial projects have demands that residential does not, though: large device counts, fast commissioning, strong cybersecurity, utility rebate qualification, and long-term support. Matter will need to prove itself against those requirements before it becomes mainstream in C&I.

We are watching Thread, the networking layer behind Matter, more closely for its potential to tie together more of the needs of commercial applications. Our view is that customers do not buy protocols, they buy outcomes. Whatever standards win, our job is to make the system easy to install, reliable, and connected to the rest of the building.

Shiller: Do you see any market impacts from DLC finalizing and rolling out NLC V5.2?

Primous: I see NLC V5.2 as one of the more meaningful DLC updates in years, because it formally recognizes that lighting controls are part of a building system, not a standalone lighting product. Recognizing thermostat integration rewards the occupancy data our sensors already collect. Also, recognizing ANSI/NEMA C137.9 configuration reporting gives utilities and owners a standard way to verify how a system was actually set up.

For years, utilities have been looking for ways to get more savings from lighting programs. They have known for a while that tying occupancy data from sensors already in the luminaires back to the HVAC system can significantly reduce operating costs, simply by not heating and cooling unoccupied spaces. Over the last few years, a growing share of luminaires have shipped with luminaire-level lighting controls (LLLC). That means a large installed base of luminaires is already reacting to movement, or the lack of it, in every space. There is a tremendous opportunity to incentivize building operators to use that data to inform how they run their HVAC systems. The difficulty has been how to incentivize that use easily, and how to help installers figure out which lighting systems work with thermostats.

NLC V5.2 is a major step in that direction, because it makes it easy to search for and find which systems are compatible. We saw this coming and were ready for it. On October 6, Keilton+autani was listed on the DLC NLC QPL under V5.2, making it one of the first systems listed to the new requirements and the first with an NLC-integrated thermostat. That is possible because we make our own thermostat through Autani, which is unique among NLC manufacturers.

The impact will show up in utility programs first. As programs build incentives around these capabilities, contractors and owners will start asking for them by name. That favors manufacturers who already have HVAC capability in-house.

Shiller: Any thoughts on the progress of NLC+HVAC integration in the market?

Primous: Progress has been slow, but it has definitely gained momentum over the past couple of years. It is still early, and the work the DLC is doing to make incentives easier will certainly help. The biggest hurdle has never been the technology. Lighting and mechanical are separate trades, separate budgets, separate purchasing entities, and often separate contractors, so integration falls between the cracks on many projects.

We have always been able to show lighting and HVAC data side by side in one dashboard in Autani’s EnergyCenter. What is changing is that integration no longer has to require a full building automation system. A thermostat that shares occupancy with the lighting network can deliver real savings in small and mid-sized buildings, which is where most of the untapped opportunity sits and where building automation is often too costly or complex. With the DLC now recognizing it and utilities building incentives around it, I expect adoption to move noticeably faster over the next couple of years.

Shiller: Any thoughts on the incorporation of AI and edge intelligence into commercial lighting controls?

Primous: I am optimistic, but practical. The most useful near-term applications are not flashy. They are things like learning occupancy patterns to tune time delays automatically, spotting failing devices before a service call, and simplifying commissioning so projects close out faster.

Edge intelligence matters because lighting networks need to keep working if the internet goes down, and because processing data locally is better for privacy and security. Our Bluetooth mesh is a good example of edge intelligence we use today. Each node makes decisions locally and shares information with its neighbors, so the system keeps responding to occupancy and daylight without depending on a cloud connection.

AI is only as good as the data behind it, and lighting controls happen to sit on one of the densest sensor networks in any building. We already have a wealth of analytics available in our EnergyCenter platform, and AI will certainly be useful, now and in the future, in putting that data to work to tune and optimize spaces, improve maintenance, and reduce costs. That is a real advantage for our industry if we use it responsibly.

Shiller: To the extent that you’re comfortable, can you share any thoughts on important directions that you see the commercial lighting controls industry heading next?

Primous: First, controls are becoming the data layer of the building. The sensor in the ceiling is turning into a source of occupancy, utilization, and energy data that serves facilities, HVAC, and real estate decisions, not just lighting.

Second, controls are becoming standard. We are already moving toward a market where no luminaire is offered without some kind of controls option at the point of purchase. Controls-ready is becoming the norm. At the same time, simplicity will win. The biggest barrier to NLC adoption is still installation and commissioning effort, and the companies that make that faster and easier will grow. There is also a large retrofit opportunity in buildings that converted to LED years ago without controls, and adding networked controls is the next step for those owners.

Third, there is a growing need for systems that run entirely on local control, with no cloud dependency, but still allow remote access to the same system when it is needed. Owners want the reliability and security of local operation without giving up the convenience of remote management. Some utilities are now requiring remote access as well, both to verify savings and to support demand response. Demand response is becoming more important in some parts of the country, as climate change and growing competition for utility resources leave some grids facing major power delivery challenges. Lighting controls that can respond to a grid event are becoming part of the solution.

Finally, features once reserved for architectural or residential luminaires are moving into standard commercial products. “White goods” luminaires already moved to CCT-selectable and power-selectable options to reduce SKUs and simplify installation. Now I am seeing some of those same luminaires offer full tunability and selection even after installation. Put together, commercial lighting is becoming smarter, more flexible, and more connected to the rest of the building, and that is a great direction for our industry.

More information on LiteTrace Brands can be found here. Special thanks to Chris Primous.

David Shiller

David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and Senior Business Development Consultant at Capacity Consulting, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has been co-chair of the ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.

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