zPoint Products´s Lighting Solutions

zPoint Products designs and manufactures the tiny wireless computers for Smart Devices. We also deliver the embedded software and network software for those computers. Our clients apply this technology for deep Energy Efficiency savings from lighting retrofits in commercial and industrial buildings.

Our solution is like getting free money. Warehouse owners don’t realize that new technology can reduce their lighting bills by $¼ million per year, with payback in under two years. Learn more in our brochure.

A new equation—improved savings from energy efficiency plus lower cost to install/commission plus new grants—is tipping the balance for building managers from Let’s wait and see... to I can’t afford not to!

We combine the newest and best dimmable ballasts for fluorescent lights, from our partner EasyLite ILS, with zPoint Products’s wireless controls, sensors, and software. This creates a two-way system: schedules and controls IN, detailed data OUT.

This technology hugely improves the Energy Efficiency (EE) of a lighting retrofit:

• The lights and ballasts are the most efficient (lumens/Watt), and the most cost-effective ($/lumen used) on the market.
• Lighting fixtures become smart. Lights are suddenly a lighting system.

• Motion sensors dim the lights in unoccupied areas, saving energy.
• Light sensors dim lights when sunshine will do the job: daylight harvesting.
• More sensors provide more possibilities for optimization, beyond what can be done with a central computer (a disaster when it fails).

• no control wires means lower installation cost and less disruption, and wireless controls mean simpler, faster commissioning.

But think about this idea: The lighting system is now the communications backbone for further Smart Green Buildings and Intelligent Building initiatives ... saving yet more energy.

Let’s put it this way:

Smart Devices allow Smart Rooms allow Smart Buildings™.

Standards

ZigBee is an open standard for building automation. It specifies a self-forming, self-healing, mesh network, that relays wireless messages through a device´s neighbors to the destination, much like the Internet. We apply the strict industry standards for a ZigBee wireless network so that our Smart Devices can all talk to each other. These include:

• lighting fixtures
• sensors for occupancy, light levels, air quality, etc.
• wireless dimmer switches
• touch screen control panels
• and communications gateways

The gateways support many other industry standards so a ZigBee network can talk to:

• BAS: building automation systems,
• EMS: energy management systems,
• Internet: access data and controls from your PC, and
• Smart phones: Of course, why not? It works!

Variable Lighting

Turning fluorescent lights on and off reduces the lifetime of tubes and ballasts. You can avoid that maintenance cost, and the embedded energy costs, by using our technology to dim the lights to 10% brightness. This is not darkness, and saves an amazing amount of energy.

Example: a meeting room with a presentation at the front (dimmest lighting) but still bright at the back of the room where people are entering. At the flick of our switch, the room is evenly lit to any brightness you choose.

Example: a big warehouse with tall shelves beside each aisle. Keep the aisles dim during working hours, but smoothly brighten and dim the lights as people come and go. Easily done with occupancy sensors as a part of the wireless controls!

Example: a school room with windows down one side. Smoothly dim the lights next to the window according to exactly how much sunshine is entering. Better lighting means better learning… saving energy and money is just a nice side effect.

Go ahead, install lots of sensors and save lots of energy. This is all locally controlled by the smart lighting fixtures, so complicated rooms do NOT make complicated buildings.

A zPoint makes this possible. Adding a 32-bit computer and wireless radio (like a smart phone) to a light fixture makes it smart and adds it to the lighting network. Now it can be scheduled (by zones), respond to light sensors and occupancy sensors, and receive overrides from wireless switches and touch panel computers. Plus, each light fixture will send regular reports about just how much energy it is saving.

Results: Do well by doing good!

We monitored the change in lighting energy efficiency from the retrofit of a large warehouse in New Jersey. The client is happy: their lighting bill decreased from about $25,000/month to about $7,000/month from the high-efficiency lighting with occupancy sensors. The estimated payback time for that retrofit is 1.4 years. We predict saving another $2,000/month by adding better scheduling and more sensors. The ongoing saving will be almost $¼ million per year, with better quality lighting as a side effect.

This fast payback time and high return on investment applies to any warehouse retrofit that replaces HID lights with dimmable fluorescents and wireless controls. Nobody can match the ROI of our solution. Learn more in our case history.

Bi-level

There are alternatives to variable dimming, appropriate when light levels only need to be changed a few times per day. Many light fixtures have 3 or 4 fluorescent tubes, so why not just turn some off while leaving others on? This is easily accomplished with a wireless dual-relay. When there are 3 tubes, put one on the first relay, and two on the second relay. That gives you 4 levels of brightness: no tubes, one tube (just the first relay), two tubes (just the second relay), three tubes (both relays). Good enough to meet new building codes that require dimmable lights. Perfect for convention centres: dim for set-up and knock down, medium for normal use, bright for cleaning and emergencies.

Our Dual Relay makes this simple and cost-effective to install. It’s a type of zPoint, so it makes the light fixture smart and allows the light levels to be scheduled by time of day or by zones, or from a dimming switch.

White Papers

Large warehouse lighting retrofit resulting in 80% improvement in energy efficiency.