Five Must-Have Lighting Control Integrations for the College Campus

January 2021

College and University leaders are looking to design campus spaces that make an impression and impact—an environment that is conducive to learning but also inviting for students to collaborate and socialize. Nothing says old and outdated, like poorly lit and dingy auditoriums, libraries, and common areas. In the classroom, manual lighting and shades and standalone AV systems leave professors struggling to get the light right for presentations, allows students to become disengaged, and leads to underperformance.

As a member of the project team for large campus construction projects, you hold the key to help campus leaders create state of the art, intuitive environments for their students and staff - integrated lighting control systems.

Intelligent networked lighting control systems are the center point of large campus projects. Control devices such as occupancy sensors and photosensors can integrate with BMS systems, shading, and audiovisual equipment to provide consistent control of spaces on a college campus and lighting customized to each unique setting. Utilizing a networked lighting control system, such as Legrand Wattsopper's Digital Lighting Management (DLM), ensures that user interfaces are consistent from classrooms to auditoriums, libraries, and common areas. The Wattstopper DLM solution eliminates the complexity of multi-step switches and the "what does this button do" scenarios that disrupt classroom lectures and presentations.

We have summarized the five must-have lighting control integrations that create a smooth, technology-forward experience for both students, faculty, and staff.
 

Integration #1: Lighting Controls and Audiovisual Equipment

Nothing allows a professor to better control a classroom than a lighting control system integrated at the highest level with its audiovisual equipment. Utilizing Wattstopper's Digital Lighting Management (DLM) components, data interfaces, and input/output devices allow interconnectivity between projectors, speaker systems, lighting, and shades to create a customized environment for professors to teach their students.

Wattstopper's pre-engraved switches allow a professor to instantly identify and choose the appropriate scene or lighting level for the activity at hand or environment they wish to create. Staff can adeptly move from presentations or movies to "all on" for a brightly lit space to promote alertness during exams or to actively raise and lower light levels through dimming. Wattstopper's DLM touchscreen controls allow each professor to personalize their space and create and save his or her preferred lighting and AV settings for a more customized experience.

Through integration, most often accomplished by a Serial Data Interface using industry-standard RS-232 signals - well-coordinated scene-setting can happen with a touch of a button. Presentation mode takes the lights to a certain level, shades lower, projectors turn on, and the speaker system is at the right level allowing for seamless instruction during transitions in a classroom.

Integration #2: Lighting Controls and Shading to Improve Daylighting

Maximizing the benefit of windows - for natural light and outdoor views as well as ventilation and thermal comfort - is a goal for campus leaders and designers alike. Windows are essential in creating an inspiring space for learning and connecting students with the natural world outside while also providing the daylight vital to internal circadian cycles that regulate health and well-being.

For all the benefits windows offer the indoor experience, a window is always subject to the constant, unpredictable changes in the amount of daylight it lets in. A proper shade system, adjusted throughout the day, can easily regulate light, heat, and glare from any window and even contribute to the efficiency of building energy consumption - but only when shading systems are designed correctly. Integrated lighting control and shading systems from Legrand can ensure energy savings and maximum daylight control for campus spaces.

Integrated lighting and shading controls bring more natural light into classrooms and throughout a college campus. Shade systems consist of the shade itself (with specified fabric), outfitted with a sensor and motor for automatic movement or a pulley for manual operation. This system can be scheduled and managed through a room controller, which can also control light levels, respond to occupancy or daylight levels, power on A/V systems, set scenes, and manage plug loads. Utilizing Wattstopper DLM components to integrate these systems allows lighting levels and shade position to quickly respond to specific classroom tasks like presentation mode, adjust natural light levels based on time of day and save energy by turning off when no class is scheduled.
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Integration #3: Lighting Controls and HVAC System to Increase Energy Savings

Networked lighting control systems bring data communication and integration capabilities that optimize facility planning and maintenance. Wattstopper's DLM systems use networking to transform data into intelligence to maximize energy savings and space optimization through the control and customization of lighting. Wattstopper DLM network controllers play a key role in customizing a DLM networked system by offering the capability to produce actionable operational intelligence that can be used by HVAC systems for optimal efficiency and energy savings.

Ideally, through integration, the industry preferred BACnet standard protocol, but other options are available, such as RS-232 or dry contacts. Wattstopper DLM occupancy sensors can notify HVAC systems when rooms are unoccupied and can trigger dampers to close to ease HVAC system requirements.
 

Integration #4: Lighting Controls and Fire Alarm Systems for Ultimate Safety During an Emergency

A necessity of most local city codes is to integrate lighting control systems with fire alarm systems. When it comes to occupant safety, there is no room for error. Ensuring your lighting control system forces all lights on in a building during a fire alarm or emergency is a non-negotiable in a lighting control design. Utilizing a direct single input in your lighting control system design for the fire alarm system increases the system's reliability and security.
 

Integration #5: Lighting Controls and BMS System for Lab Environment Alerts

University leaders prioritize research for their campus students, faculty, and staff to establish an environment that encourages a love of learning and a reputation for advancement. Attracting top research talent requires state of the art lab settings. Through integrating lighting controls with the BMS system, lab supervisors can set up alerts on lighting changes or failures so that researchers can maintain the lab environment needed for successful experiments and research.
 

Bonus Integration – Lighting Controls and the Campus Security System

Seamless interoperability between major building systems helps simplify campus facility managers' lives, and the integration of lighting controls with security systems is often overlooked. Through integration, lighting controls can operate in a security situation similar to the way they do for a fire alarm, by turning all lights on in a building when a threat is detected. Wattstopper's DLM occupancy sensors can also be utilized to detect movement after hours, reducing the number of devices managed in a building.

In some cases, high-end security systems can send out specific commands to turn on only the lights required by the individual's badge that unlocked the door—further customizing the campus experience for students, faculty, and staff.
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Get Started Today!

Legrand is committed to designing innovative products and systems that you can trust to scale and integrate to meet campus project's requirements. Whether it's for a single classroom or networked across the campus, our lighting controls integrate with shading, AV, and HVAC systems. Contact us today to learn more about how Wattstopper lighting control systems can help you design a state of the art university campus environment.