Cost effective lighting management

The designers of lighting layout schemes for commercial offices operating under a number of constraints which limit their freedom of action and which, inadvertently, lead to the inefficient and wasteful use of electricity. Traditional installation and control methods severely restrict the freedom of the electrical engineer to modify such layouts to meet the changing needs of the client and/or achieve a reduction in general lighting running costs. The authors describe how the internal telephone network can be used to obtain totally flexible control over the local lighting environment. An installation is described where use of the system has eliminated the need for general switchwiring, the running cost of the lighting has been dramatically reduced and the client has total flexibility to alter switching patterns to meet constantly changing occupant requirements