Preset Lighting controls that achieve the perfect lighting levels in a space, at the touch of a button are in vogue. You can remove most of the light switches cluttering up your wall and manage your lights on an elegant touchpad or mobile device. Smart lighting solutions typically use LED lights since they offer more control options, letting you adjust their intensity and color through the user interface.
Motorized shades that allow the home owner to conveniently open or close shades are increasingly considered the norm rather than the exception.
Distribution of Media in the home over low voltage wiring with the help of new compression technologies that can use normal ethernet wiring to distribute AV over IP. This helps keep the TV Wall ‘clean’, and at the same time, helps share video sources among various displays. This is going to be increasingly asked for.
Voice activated commands for Home Automation with the help of Amazon Alexa, and Google Smart Home devices are going to take off in the coming year. Streaming Media content has the potential to replace set top boxes and traditional content providers in homes, provided the internet speeds keep pace with bandwidth requirements.
Fact File
Typology: Commercial
Project: DLF Chanakya
Location: Chanakya Puri, New Delhi
Client: DLF Ltd
Client’s Firm: Riveria Commercial Developers Limited
Principal Architect: Rockwell Group, New York
Design Team: Focus Lighting, KSA Mumbai
System Integration & Automation: ATPL
Lighting control systems: Lutron
Photographer: Akshat Jain
No amount of technological innovation can be fruitful if it does not translate for its intended end-users. ATPL seeks to bridge this gap by creating an immersive environment where homeowners can be familiarized with their options and brought up to speed with how technology can make life easier for them. Thus, home automation can be installed into both new and existing homes, and depending on the complexity and range of the requested functionality and device interoperability can be customized for each home owner. With today’s smart phone and tablet technology, and voice commands now getting increasingly mainstream with Alexa and Google Home, homeowners should have little to no difficulty operating their smart home.
ATPL has been integrating various systems to enable a single point of control to the end-user in homes for the past 15 years.
The Chanakya, New Delhi – A Case Study
The DLF group has always been a front runner of the retail revolution in the country. The Yashwant Place Shopping and business complex was built more than 40 years ago and the adjoining Chanakya cinema complex is well-known in Delhi. Both the complexes were closed down until DLF decided to convert these into a swanky, new Mall called ‘The Chanakya’. Spread across 2,50,000 sqft, three meticulously designed floors showcase some of the foremost national and international premium luxury brands in upscale stores, a PVR Cinema and a number of high-end restaurants.
The Lutron Lighting control system for the mall has been supplied and commissioned by Anusha Technovision Pvt. Ltd. (ATPL). Focus Lighting Designers, a well-known NYC-based Lighting design firm, conceptualized and designed the lighting schema of the Mall in collaboration with Kanchan Puri of KSA, Mumbai. The lighting of the building has been designed such that the dynamic lighting accentuates the high-end interiors and the upscale stores.
The Mall’s entire lighting control systems have been designed by ATPL, based on the lighting load schedule, in two phases. Phase-1 areas include the Glass Box and Canopy, Main atrium, Ground floor, First Floor and second floor. Phase-2 areas include the MKT restaurant with Asian, Mexican, Italian Restaurant, Grill and Dessert Kitchens, NOI-BAR, the Food Hall entry Atrium, and Food Hall.
Design Intent
The designer’s mandate called for a system that could be easily operated, and more importantly be able to handle the huge lighting loads in the main Atrium area, BAR area, Restaurant, over a long period of time with reliable performance and offer convenience to operations staff, increase lamp life and allow for energy saving.
A lighting control system is an intelligent network of dimming and switching modules, that allows one to have control of the lights in a space. There are various types of lamp load, wattage and the dimming protocol available in this project, and 3 types of Lutron dimming modules which are 230V Direct Dimmable Module, 0-10V dimmable Module and DMX Control (for color changing LEDs) have been provided.
Emergency circuits have been provided in each area to avoid blackout situations in case of power failure. All these have been tied in together as one system and the entire project has been controlled through a network of two processors installed at the Phase-1 Atrium and Phase-2 restaurants.
Simple, yet powerful keypads throughout the space allow for the ability to control lights in various ways. Programming allows one to recall lighting scenes and dim the different groups of lights with the press of a single button.
Features of Lutron HQP6 System
Centralized System: A centralized lighting control system that has all the lighting circuits in a space, running to a central location instead of running to the wall switches throughout the space. The processor is the brain of the system, that allows for additional control and various programming features.
Mood Lighting: Fine Dining is largely dependent upon not just food but the ambience. So, creating the right ambience with lighting specifically “Mood Lighting” plays a very important role.
Scheduling: An Astronomical Time Clock (pre-set setting for dusk & dawn) is used where timers are utilised to turn on and off the outdoor and indoor lights at specific times.
Smart Controls: Controlling the system using smart keypads gives the ability to set one of three pre-programmed scenes with the press of a single button. One can also adjust lighting levels, turn lights on or off and program-specific, timed events all from a smart device app.
Increased Energy Savings: The energy-saving light controls delivered by ATPL provide a comfortable and aesthetically beautiful visual environment. Through its lighting control solutions, better lighting cannot only reduce the energy consumption of a building, but also highlight the interior space to provide an appealing environment.
Increased Efficiency: Life of lamps and ballasts is extended due to dimming, which reduces time spent on maintenance, and lowers overall maintenance expenses.
Green certifications: Advanced control systems can provide valuable points and credits towards LEED and other similar programs, above and beyond the credits that basic controls offer.
