Zumtobel and Bosch partner up for IoT lighting solutions. The first case study is the Austria-based Life Cycle Tower ONE .(All Photos Courtesy of Bosch Software)

Zumtobel Group, an international lighting group and a leading player in the field of innovative lighting solutions and components, and Bosch Software Innovations, the software and systems house of the Bosch Group, will cooperate for more energy efficient and intelligent commercial buildings. In a development partnership project, the companies will initially focus on remote monitoring and space management in the area of smart lighting solutions for connected buildings.

“We are delighted to team up with Bosch Software Innovations – a leading player in the world of IoT* software and solutions, to bring smart lighting solutions into a new era of data management and new value propositions for our customers. Bosch Software Innovations perfectly matches with our strategy to work with leading software partners outside the lighting industry, in order to develop new solutions and applications. Given our expertise in state-of-the-art lighting solutions, smart lighting components and our understanding of the applications, this partnership will certainly drive innovation in lighting”, explains Ulrich Schumacher, CEO Zumtobel Group.

Since buildings are responsible for almost half of the world’s energy consumption, the lighting infrastructure is anticipated to play a key part in enabling a number of use cases for saving energy and costs. It is predicted** that the majority of building-based IoT device installations by 2020 would be installed on the back of lighting installations. Lighting provides a dense network in- and outdoors as it is everywhere and connected to a power source. Apart from that, data is already collected through the luminaires like presence of people in a room. Up to now this data has only been used for lighting controls but in the next step it can unleash much more value when being deployed outside the lighting world, enabling e.g. space management.

“Bosch Software Innovations’ deep IoT system and integration expertise is key for Zumtobel Group’s ambitious connected building projects. Connectivity allows for real data insights into commercial buildings. This insight is the basis for new value-added services in the areas of predictive maintenance or condition monitoring for building operators and facility managers”, says Rainer Kallenbach, CEO of Bosch Software Innovations.

First joint project: Life Cycle Tower Building

A collaborative effort between Zumtobel Group, Bosch Software Innovations, Dassault Systèmes, a world leader in 3D design software, and Modcam, a digital image recognition start-up, is driving forward a successful pilot project at the Life Cycle Tower Building in Dornbirn, Austria. The modern Life Cycle Tower ONE owned by Rhomberg Group, and equipped with a state-of-the-art Zumtobel lighting solution including a smart Zumtobel controls system, is an ideal innovation ground for a connected building as it aims at the highest standards of sustainability and user comfort.

The overall system provides real time insights into the building’s status and technical health. Areas covered are for example energy usage and savings per luminaire, per floor or for the entire building, visualizations of presence data and use of spaces. A heat map shows occupancy in a space to help optimize usage efficiency. On the maintenance side, it provides luminaire failure notifications and gives insight relating to operating hours and the usage history of the lighting system. Knowledge about preferred lighting scenes helps optimize light settings and, as a result, increase end user satisfaction.

“Connectivity will be a key topic for construction companies and building operators. I am excited that Zumtobel Group and Bosch Software Innovations are joining forces to enable our tenants to save energy and maintenance costs. Moreover, the pilot will provide valuable information for our tenants on how to better use their office space and improve the user experience in the Life Cycle Tower ONE building. Ultimately, IoT enabled by lighting will create additional revenue streams through new data-driven services offered by building operators or facility managers,” says Hubert Rhomberg, CEO of Rhomberg Group.

The Life Cycle Tower ONE Building pilot project will be presented at the Bosch ConnectedWorld (Berlin, March 9-10, 2016) and the Light + Building trade fair (Frankfurt, March 13-18, 2016).