Networked Lighting Controls

I’ve created classes and webinars about Networked Lighting Control (NLC) and Luminaire Level Lighting Control (LLLC) systems. Here's a video showing the initial steps involved in commissioning a "simplified" wireless NLC system. I created this during the lockdown to show that this can even be done virtually, if necessary. Scroll down to see a comprehensive list of classes, workshops and seminars I've created and presented on this subject.

California Advanced Lighting Controls Training Program (CALCTP) — Part of the original development team and instructor for the first three “train-the-trainers” classes. This was a week-long class designed to give journeymen electricians a base level of knowledge about lighting controls.

Introductory NLC classes for electric utilities — Created/taught 1- and 2-day classes starting in 2012. In the first “hands-on” NLC class offered by an electric utility in California, attendees wired and commissioned three complex NLC systems under my supervision.

LightFair — Created/taught 1- and 2-day classes in 2013, 2016 and 2017 with up to 65 students per class.

National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors (NAILD) — Presentation at national conference in San Antonio, April 2017

DesignLights Consortium — Created/taught a full-day class 59 times across the U.S. and Canada from 2017-2022. The main focus of the DLC class was to explain the new “simplified” NLC systems coming on the market. Attendees wired and commissioned a wireless system in every class.

Illuminating Engineering Society — Webinar about NLC systems, April 2019

Virtual “hands-on” NLC class — During the lockdown, I created a class where students remotely commissioned fixtures and controls sitting on my dining room table. This required solving a lot of technical issues. I taught this virtual class for utilities around the country. (Scroll to the bottom of this page to see a 15-minute video showing how this works.) There is still a lot more stuff I can explain when we do this in-person. However, this was kind of cool to be able to continue offering “hands-on” classes, even during the lockdown.

Intermediate NLC classes for electric utilities — Created/taught 1-day classes covering advanced subject material starting in 2020. Similar to the introductory classes, attendees wired and commissioned two different wireless NLC/LLLC systems in class. I’ve taught this class 20 times throughout the midwest.

"Avoiding Deployment Pitfalls” — Presented a webinar for Illuminating Engineering Society sections in 2021. This webinar was based on my work as a consultant to Lawrence Berkeley National Labs on the “Living Lab” research project (click here for more information about “Living Lab”).

“Emergency Lighting and Controls” — In 2022, I created a 1-hour webinar on this timely topic. I worked with my colleague Rick Miller, PE, FIES, to create a 3-hour version for an electric utility in California. Recent changes to NFPA 101 and UL 924 meant that this was — and still is — a very important topic to explain to people thinking about deploying NLC systems.

Lawrence Berkeley National Labs "Living Lab" project

From 2013-2017, I served as a consultant to Lawrence Berkeley National Labs (LBNL) on the "Living Lab" project. This was a research/demonstration project. A major financial services company installed four Networked Lighting Control systems on one floor of their New York City headquarters building.

I provided a lot of advice during the initial stages of the project, although I was not the "lighting consultant of record". I was also on-site during the installation to observe how easy (or hard) it would be for electrical contractors to install these systems in a retrofit project. I have extensive documentation about my on-site observations.

There is an official final report (shown below). That is in my possession. There are some caveats I would give to anyone who wanted to read that.

I also have a lot of other descriptive material about what I observed on-site. That might be particularly valuable to manufacturers and others. If you're interested in seeing any of that, please contact me to discuss.