subject: Home Lighting Control System Georgia [print this page] I.Synergy I.Synergy
Founded in 1985 as Lithonia Lighting Controls, Synergy Lighting Controls is a lighting controls manufacturer and was among the pioneers in the development of lighting and lighting technology. Synergy took on its new namesake in March2007 as it became part of the family of brands under Acuity Brands Inc.
Synergys commitment to providing superior and efficient lighting products and technology is supported by one of the lighting industrys strongest and vastest product portfolios. The wide choices of products offered by Synergy allows it to meet every lighting challenge and to provide lighting solutions for a wide variety of lighting needs, with lighting environments ranging from the commercial, industrial, institutional, and even residential.
The Synergy Lighting Controls system offers adaptable and scalable lighting solutions that can be made to fit any setting of any size. The Synergy control system is able to incorporate all types of lighting control and have them interconnect into one accessible gateway for ease of configuration and monitoring.
The types of lighting control offered by Synergy include low voltage switching, architectural dimming, occupancy sensing systems, and daylight harvesting systems. These various forms of lighting control can be joined into a single platform or lighting system made possible by a native BACnet network.
Synergy products and design also allow for maximum expandability, which enables the client to expand the covered area or extend to neighboring buildings without any fuss or complications in terms of lighting control. Synergy products and technology are also energy code compliant which allows for speedy installations and reduced installation and energy costs.
The Synergy Lighting Controls system also makes use of a distributed lighting controls system as opposed to a centralized lighting controls system. A distributed lighting controls system is a lighting controls strategy that optimizes flexibility and adaptability in terms of scheduling and use. It involves creating multiple lighting zones within an area to allow for more options in configuring settings for sensors and switches, thereby allowing the lighting controls system to optimize energy savings.
There are a lot of benefits to a distributed controls system, which includes a significantly lesser installation cost due to a reduction in the number of input and output wiring. Because installation is also easier and faster, labor costs will also be less. A distributed controls system would also be more scalable, making it easy to add lighting devices on a later time.
Synergy values client commitment, and provides client support before and after a sale. To provide the best client experience, Synergy strives to maintain an unrivaled lighting expertise and experience in lighting solutions.
II.Applications
Synergy is capable of providing lighting solutions and lighting controls in a wide variety of settings, including an open office area, a private office, a lobby and a foyer, an auditorium, an exterior site, and an operations office.
Open Office Area
To better control the lighting of an open office area, a Synergy lighting control system will separate the general area into different zones. The lighting control system will then control the illumination for the area in a zone basis. Time based sensors can illuminate the area on a set time, while also turning the lights off automatically on a specified time. Occupancy sensors can also work with time based sensors to accommodate early arriving employees.
To extend the period of time in which the lights remain on, a touch-tone phone override is made available. Employees who need to stay in the office area after work hours can respond to the warning blink which signifies lights off by pressing certain keys on their phones. This will alert the system that the time period for lights on needs to be extended.
Manual switching can also be incorporated into the system. It allows for ease of use especially during the holidays where effort in reprogramming the system can be saved. However, to avoid tampering, manual switching can be turned off during work hours.
Private Office
A private office will feature more personal control such as accessible dimming panels. Manual overrides are also made easily accessible for personal comfort.
Occupancy sensors will also be present, which turns lights on and off automatically as a response to the presence or absence of an occupant. Occupancy sensors can save a lot of energy by making sure that lights are never needlessly on when a room is unoccupied.
Daylight harvesting can also be featured in a private office setting though daylight harvesting sensors. These sensors can detect the levels of natural light in a given area and will respond by adjusting the artificial lights accordingly. This will result in high energy savings and lower electricity costs.
The daylight harvesting feature makes use of the Grafik Eye, an easy, efficient, and fully customizable way to control artificial light and the entry of daylight. It is able to control lighting intensity as well as shades as specified at the touch of a button.
Lobby and Foyer
Areas such as the lobby and the foyer will usually require a balance between energy savings and creating an aesthetically pleasing lighting experience. In creating lighting solutions for such areas, Synergy places photocells in place that can automatically increase the level of feature lighting during the day while maintaining a pleasant balance with natural light.
Lighting operators can also make use of the manual remote control to override preset settings for the sensors for instances where the settings are not appropriate.
Visual interest lighting can also be programmed to switch on during the hours in which the lobby and the foyer are usually populated. These visual interest lights are lights that add flair and create a visually pleasing environment to add to a buildings visual appeal. These specialized lights can be set to automatically switch of while leaving the emergency lights on during the evening or during times when these areas are unoccupied.
Auditorium
In an auditorium setting, dimming control stations are placed in strategic locations so that operators can easily configure the lighting of the area to appropriately match the light levels required for all activities. These activities, such as project presentations and meetings, call for specific lighting settings which can easily be achieved with the accessible and user friendly dimming panels found in the dimming control stations.
Synergy is also capable of incorporating theatrical lighting effects which might be called for in an auditorium setting. These effects might be required to make an impact or to add flair to a presentation or gathering. With the presence of these theatrical lighting effects, a compact theatrical control desk is inconspicuously and strategically located for ease of operation. The lighting system for theatrical lighting responds to a DMX control signal coming from the control desk when required, but will automatically revert to the preset settings otherwise.
DMX is a controller that allows the operator to control multiple lights through one DMX unit. It was originally designed for the dimming of theatre lighting but it has been developed to incorporate all kinds of lighting, and is capable of manipulating multiple light settings with ease.
In an auditorium setting, lighting controls are also made directly accessible to a presenter with a touch screen control unit and an infrared remote transmitter. These easy access points allow the presenter to have complete access to the audio and visual functions of the area as well as to the integrated lighting control.
Exterior Lighting
Synergy offers lighting for exterior sites with specialized sensors that can detect natural light using photocells which can automatically switch your exterior lighting products on and off. Time based sensors are also available for the same purpose which have an astronomic feature that can calculate dawn and dusk times and will configure your lighting system accordingly.
While exterior lighting are all utilized during the early evening hours, most are switched off during the later hours to conserve energy and to reduce sky glow.
Certain weather conditions such as storms may cause the level of natural light to vary and may create a need for exterior lighting to switch on earlier than scheduled. That is why Synergys exterior lighting systems are also capable of adjusting to the weather by making use of photocells to detect natural light levels. These built in photocells are capable of overriding normal time-based settings and will automatically switch on the exterior lighting as the need arises. For energy conservation purposes, the photocell override is switched off during holidays and weekends.
Also, for Synergys large area site lighting, multi-pole lighting circuits that make use of a relay panel efficiently distributes power.
Building-wide Lighting
Synergy can easily provide an efficient and effective building-wide lighting control system by making use of its wide array of sensors and relays and lighting control software that all incorporate Synergys cutting edge technology and design.
Occupancy sensors can automatically switch specific lighting zones on and off in response to the presence of a person. The lighting status of a given zone can be connected to the air conditioning system which can respond to its on status by providing conditioned air to the area. Daylight harvesting sensors with photocells can be utilized to adjust areas that are open to natural light to optimize energy savings.
To allow for maximum ease and accessibility, Synergys workstation or access point for its systems can configure and monitor all the lighting systems within a building as well as the HVAC, and the fire protection system. This interconnection of systems is made possible through the ANSI standard BACnet communication protocol.
The Synergy building-wide lighting system also makes use of the DALI or the Digital Addressable Lighting Interface. DALI is an open standard digital protocol for controlling the lighting in buildings such as electric ballasts and dimmers.
III.Products
Over the years Synergy has developed an impressive platform of patented lighting products and technology and has greatly contributed to the growth of the lighting industry. Some of the innovative lighting solutions offered by Synergy include:
SIMPLY5 Lighting Intelligence
The SIMPLY5 Lighting Intelligence system is an integrated lighting solution that is capable of incorporating Lithonia Lighting, Peerless, Mark Architectural Lighting, and Gotham lighting fixtures. By networking already efficient lighting fixtures and by providing an optimized plug and play feature to create lighting intelligence, a simple yet effective lighting solution is created.
SIMPLY5 is capable of automating set up, calibration, and programming procedures that need to be performed manually in other systems. This is made possible by adding lighting intelligence not just to the systems central gateway but in each lighting product that joins the network. This allows for a highly efficient and effective lighting system which results in increased energy savings.
SIMPLY5 is truly remarkable in its simplicity, with its easy installation and simple design and specifications. Installing SIMPLY5 requires no complex class 2 wiring, no large control cabinets, no special communications cables, and all commissioning requires is for you to set the time and date. For SIMPLY5, installation is fast, easy, and error free with its plug-and-play capable connections.
SIMPLY5 also meets automated control requirements for ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers), IECC (International Energy Conservation Code), Title 24 (the California Building Standards Code), and the EPAct (the Energy Policy Act of 1992). The lay out for SIMPLY5 is also similar to lay outs for ordinary line voltage manual switching. It doesnt require any layouts for occupancy sensors.
SIMPLY5 is also very simple to use, with its accessibly and user friendly interface that allows users to easily adjust the lighting at hand for as low as 3% for AV presentations. There are also seven preset dimming levels for ease of use. SIMPLY5 can also automatically adjust to occupant schedule changes.
It is also easily expandable as it is incorporated with components that allows for trouble-free reconfiguration to accommodate changes. Thus, switches and sensors can easily be added to expand the system. SIMPLY5 is also scalable to match the lighting area it will be controlling, and can function in handling a multi-building campus as well as with a single room.
SIMPLY5 is also very easy to maintain. Its electronic components stay calibrated without the need for manual adjustment, and commissioning isnt necessary when components need to be replaced or added. Its adaptive scheduling feature is also capable of accommodating occupants without the need for reprogramming or reconfiguration. SIMPLY5 also features the Sylvania Quicktronic multi-step electronic ballasts that will maximize lamp life, thereby reducing the need for constant lamp replacements.
SIMPLY5 has been most prominently featured as the lighting system that was used for Project FROGs FROG Zero, dubbed the classroom of tomorrow. Project FROG, the spearhead of the project, is a building system that is driven by the goal to build technologically advanced and energy efficient building systems that result in healthier building environments, reduced material waste, and reduced energy consumption. FROG Zero was Project FROGs plan to create a classroom with a design that incorporates an ideal working environment while also featuring the greenest and most sustainable design possible with todays latest technology. This project was made real and the FROG Zero classroom has debuted with SIMPLY5 as its featured lighting control system.
Switchpak
Switchpak is a cost efficient relay panel that is able to control up to eight lighting circuits at once. It is also made easy to configure and setup with its unique menu driven display that sets it apart from its contemporaries. Switchpak can cut down on costs through its lighting contactor panels, and save on installation time. It is easier to use than a time clock, and it provides an easy way to meet energy codes. Switchpak also proves beneficial to the environment, as it has one of the smallest carbon footprints in the lighting industry.
Switchpak is capable of saving up to 25% in installation cost when compared to lighting contactor panels. Thats because the components for lighting contractor panels need to be purchased individually and assembled for use. With Switchpak, everything you need comes in a bundle which results in 25% saved for the project cost. This also means that Switchpak is faster to install and reduces installation time and cost.
Scheduling with Switchpak is a lot easier to set up than a time clock. All you have to do is enter your city and state and Switchpak will automatically detect your time settings which will allow it to accurately switch your outdoor lighting during specified times of the day. All this is done without the need for photocells, which cuts down on cost as well.
If the need for overriding the programmed settings arises, the Switchpak controller can send the information which can be easily accessed through the override pushbuttons on the front panel. The controller will also feature LED indicators to allow for easy monitoring of the outdoor lighting system. Timed overrides can also be configured via remote override switches that can be connected to Switchpak.
Switchpak meets the new energy codes, including ASHRAE, IECC, Title 24, and is the ideal choice for clients who wish to gain LEED accreditation for their building. It is also a very compact and inconspicuous lighting solution that will save a lot of space especially compared to conventional lighting contactor panels.
