Controls

  Sengled, once a prominent name in smart lighting, is facing significant turmoil, as of Summer, 2025: Critical outages: Starting in June and recurring through July, Sengled’s Wi-Fi-enabled smart bulbs and app suffered major outages, leaving users unable to control their lights via the Sengled app, Alexa, or Google Home. Complaints flooded forums as users [...]

  By Tom Shearer, Commercial Business Development Manager, Lutron Electronics New commercial construction projects easily capture our interest and attention. For many lighting professionals, the bigger opportunity lies in the billions of square feet of existing commercial office space. However, retrofit projects present a substantial market opportunity and a complex technical challenge. Wireless lighting control [...]

  One of the most interesting conversations that I had at LightFair, this year, was discussing lighting-HVAC integration with Chris Wolgamott, Principal Product Manager, Technology & Product Management, at the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA). Chris graciously agreed to do an interview about his pioneering LLLC-HVAC integration pilots. SHILLER: You and NEEA are approaching lighting-HVAC [...]

  Silvair has delivered the first qualified Bluetooth Networked Lighting Control (NLC) solution for HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) applications. This development follows the official adoption of the HVAC Integration NLC Profile by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), marking a pivotal step in the evolution of Bluetooth NLC as a multi-application standard for [...]

  By Brent Protzman, Ph.D., Director of Product Management for Commercial Shades, Lutron Electronics The commercial real estate market today looks very different than five years ago. As the occupancy rates that dipped during the pandemic rise again, property owners are discovering that tenants want sustainable and efficient spaces, as well as an amenity-rich and [...]

Lighting Controls Association (LCA) Education Director and LightNOW Founder, Craig DiLouie recently published an article, Deep Dive Into the Lighting Control Requirements of the 2024 IECC. The article provides a comprehensive overview of the lighting control requirements introduced in the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), focusing on commercial buildings. The IECC, updated every three [...]

By Chris Udall, senior product manager for commercial business, Lutron Electronics. The future of commercial lighting is wireless. As control systems evolve, smart wireless solutions are redefining what’s possible—building owners and facility managers have come to expect lighting that enhances the occupant experience and delivers seamless performance. Wireless lighting and control can help meet and [...]

T1L (10BASE-T1L) Ethernet technology has significant potential to accellerate building automation, by enabling the reuse of existing wiring to upgrade network infrastructure without costly running of new wiring. Building management systems (BMS) can been run on T1L and this can have implications for lighting systems. T1L Ethernet is a long-distance networking solution that leverages a [...]

In March 2025, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) published the ANSI/NEMA C137.9-2025 standard, titled “Networked Lighting Control Systems Configuration Report.” This new standard was developed through the efforts of industry leaders, including the DesignLights Consortium’s (DLC) Levin Nock and working group co-chair Jason Jeunnette, with the goal of streamlining the configuration and verification process [...]