Smart lighting in the built environment

Health and well-being claims, user-system interaction, and energy efficiency are three challenges for smart lighting use in the built environment. Smart lighting control can assist energy-efficient behaviour and well-being improvement, but a mismatch between user expectation and system interaction can make it a source of frustration, especially in a home environment. Smart systems should save energy rather than increase it due to standby energy and data transfer.

The aim is to develop and test smart lighting protocols for the built environment that provide or increase safety, comfort, health, and well-being and minimise energy consumption

Related projects

SMart Illumination in Living Environment (SMILE)

The goal of the project is to improve the use of energy-efficient smart lighting systems in a Swedish residential setting by designing control protocols that satisfy social, economic, and environmental values to maintain or increase residents' safety, comfort, health, and well-being as well as to minimise the residence's energy consumption. As validation is executed in real-life settings, practical input from users and conscious/unconscious usage modifications are incorporated in the development of control protocols.

From January until March 2022, a field study in 14 apartments (Willhem AB) in Jönköping implemented and tested three lighting protocols for controlling smart home lighting.

The project started in December 2017 and will run until June 2023. It is funded by the Swedish Energy Agency (P45185-1).

Daylight and Occupancy Sensing Environments (DOSE)

The goal of the project is to improve the use of energy-efficient smart lighting systems in a Swedish residential setting by integration of daylight and the location of sensory systems that satisfy social, economic, and environmental values to support comfortable and acceptable functioning and further development of a smart and efficient (lighting) energy system. As validation is executed in a laboratory setting, practical input from users and conscious/unconscious usage is incorporated in the application and positioning of sensory systems.

The project started in September 2020 and will run for three years (December 2023). It is funded by the Swedish Energy Agency (P50786-1).

EXtensive Tracking of Respiration Added in Daylight and Occupancy Sensing Environments (EXtra-DOSE)

The DOSE (Daylight and Occupancy Sensing Environments) project was proposed to investigate the appropriate daylight and occupancy sensors for residential environments, their optimal placement, and functionality in smart lighting for energy savings (DOSE project ). It is important to use smart-LEDs with appropriate sensor-based optimization techniques that cater to mixed-function spaces and dynamic occupancy behaviors at home, for better energy efficiency. The DOSE project hence expands its research protocol toward user-responsive sensing investigation (responding to human breathing). EXtra DOSE investigates smart presence sensing lighting optimization techniques that supports energy-efficient practice and user-behavioral needs in a mixed-function small home.

The project started in November 2021 and will run until June 2023. It is funded by the Bertil och Britt Svenssons Stiftelse för Belysningsteknik.

First outcomes

An agent-based simulation model of a one-bedroom apartment in Sweden was chosen for comparison between different households' arrangements and occupancy patterns regarding the energy consumption of a conventional and Smart Lighting System (SLS). The first result shows that the number of residents within an apartment does not necessarily lead to higher energy consumption. Further findings indicate that, even though it has standby energy consumption, SLS is more energy-efficient compared to the conventional lighting system. Additionally, energy consumption during weekends was considerably higher than during weekdays (Soheilian et al., 2019).

In a light simulation study in Sweden (Hafezparast-Moadab et al., 2021), the electric lighting energy consumption for a two-room apartment was modelled for three different household scenarios using DIALux Evo and DIVA-for Rhino. The household scenarios were composed based on input by 12 existing Swedish households and incorporate residential occupancy variety. The study's findings suggested that the appropriate use of smart lighting solutions, including optimised sensor applications, has the potential to save more than 50% of electric lighting energy consumption compared to non-smart systems. The study demonstrated promising simulation results specifically focussing on (smart) lighting application alternatives in the residential sector.