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Wireless Lighting Controls: A Total Cost Analysis

As lighting tech continues to advance, so does the opportunity for additional cost savings — particularly when it comes to wireless lighting controls.

Our partner, EnOcean, published a whitepaper covering important insights and analyzing the cost implications of implementing wireless lighting controls. Here are some of the key points.

Concerns and Opportunities for Building Owners

Building owners are constantly pressured to manage costs while enhancing building functionality and sustainability.

With rising electricity rates and increasing demands for energy efficiency, wireless lighting controls are a strategic solution that aligns with economic and environmental goals. These systems are pivotal in reducing reliance on costly energy sources and minimizing greenhouse emissions.

Efficiency and Cost Savings

Wireless lighting controls significantly reduce electricity consumption by optimizing lighting usage through advanced technologies such as occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting, and personal control settings.

Studies indicate that lighting accounts for a substantial portion of energy used in buildings, with a considerable percentage being wasteful. By integrating intelligent lighting controls, buildings can save between $0.60 to $1.00 per square foot in energy costs.

Flexibility and Enhanced Productivity

Wireless controls offer unmatched flexibility, allowing for easy installation and reconfiguration without disrupting conventional wiring methods.

This adaptability extends to controlling individual lights, groups, or entire building systems from a centralized or remote location. Research also highlights that proper lighting improves workplace productivity and employee satisfaction, further justifying the investment in these modern systems.

Imagine a design that boosts productivity and satisfaction with simple controls

Wireless Systems for Long-term Value

Wireless and smart lighting control systems outperform wired ones in certain retrofit scenarios due to lower installation costs and minimal structural disruption.

While the initial material cost for wireless systems might be higher, the overall expenditure, when factored with installation labor and future flexibility, positions wireless as a more cost-effective solution over time.

Energy Harvesting: A Sustainable Future

A pivotal advantage of modern wireless lighting controls is their ability to operate without batteries, utilizing energy harvesting technologies. This innovation captures energy from environmental sources like solar, kinetic, or thermal energy, reducing dependency on batteries and their associated maintenance and disposal costs.

Specific Use Cases

Wireless lighting controls can see usage across many different industries and in several use cases. Here are some examples:

• Office space - Wireless sensors can help building managers optimize lighting usage in offices and eliminate any unnecessary costs.
• Restrooms - With wireless sensors, building managers can better understand how often restrooms are used to optimize maintenance and keep customers happy.
• Hotel and campus projects - Despite these facilities often being unoccupied, appliances that use energy are often left on — including lighting. Wireless sensors can switch these appliances off to conserve energy.
• Assisted living projects - As healthcare facilities become more expensive and less available, wireless occupancy sensors can help reduce costs in different ways, such as turning off lights when rooms are empty.

Use Cases

EnOcean also published fact sheets to dive into specific benefits by project type.  Here’s a quick summary of a few of them:

• Open Office Area - Installing wireless sensors and controls in an office environment demonstrated a payback period of just 2.3 years, with a 41% cost saving over wired alternatives.
• Classrooms - In educational settings, where lighting controls included occupancy sensors and daylighting, the technology achieved a payback period of 3.3 years, offering a 39% savings compared to wired systems.
• Warehouses - For industrial spaces, wireless controls centered around occupancy sensors delivered a payback in less than a year (0.8 years), emphasizing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of wireless solutions in large, energy-intensive environments.

Read the Full Whitepaper From EnOcean

To learn more about the wireless lighting controls cost and dive into the details, you can read the whitepaper from EnOcean here.

As a valued partner, GRE Alpha also carries a wireless dimming module compatible with EnOcean switches. You can find more information on the ENO-DIM dimming module here.

GRE Alpha’s Dimming Modules Power a Luxurious Atmosphere at the Janu Hotel in Tokyo, Japan

Janu Hotels is known for its commitment to exemplary design, and its development team carefully cultivates the right mix of components to make its vision come to life. Using GRE Alpha’s dimming modules, the Janu Hotel was able to craft a luxury look and experience for guests.

As a new luxury brand from Aman Resorts, the Janu Hotel wanted to create an unforgettable ambiance and experience for guests in the lobby. Using GRE Alpha’s GLD-DIM-DMX4I-L, the hotel could emphasize a warm and welcoming atmosphere and build on the luxury experience that they’re known for providing.

The hotel was part of a large development called Azabudai Hills, designed by visionary architects Pelli Clarke & Partners. The three towers also include offices, residences, retail shops, restaurants, and more.

Illumination behind the front desk at the Janu Hotel — powered by GRE Alpha’s GLD-DIM-DMX4I-L.

GRE Alpha appreciates the opportunity to provide products that help create the spaces that brands like the Janu Hotel wish to create. We look forward to future partnerships and seeing these spaces come to life.

About The Janu Hotel

Janu Tokyo stands as the premier property within the Azabudai Hills area, representing a modern urban hub brimming with greenery, culture, and artistic endeavors. Developed over thirty years, this fresh and dynamic district embodies Janu's core values by fostering meaningful interactions and community cohesion.

 As the sole hotel in this expansive project, positioned within Residence A Tower crafted by the renowned Pelli Clarke & Partners, Janu Tokyo features 122 spacious, light-drenched rooms and suites. The hotel sets a new standard in luxury with its extensive amenities, including eight venues for dining and social activities, alongside a top-tier wellness center spanning 4,000 sqm—one of the largest in Tokyo.

 Janu Tokyo embraces the city's diverse cultural offerings through its dedication to fine dining, art, and design. It enhances Tokyo's vibrant social landscape and acts as a prime access point to the city's finest attractions, conveniently located near the districts of Roppongi and Toranomon.

About GRE Alpha

GRE Alpha® Electronics, Ltd. specializes in designing and manufacturing solid-state lighting power supplies and lighting control accessories, which are the lifeblood of indoor and outdoor LED lighting systems. Their superior performance products are the power behind LED lighting systems. GRE's unique modular approach allows its dimming modules and drivers to be used in new or existing installations.

For more information, visit GREAlpha.com, follow us on LinkedIn, or contact:

GRE Alpha Electronics, Ltd.

Sales and Marketing TEL: +813-5403-6364

Email: yoshihito.mori@grealpha.com 

GRE Alpha Partners With JDI On LumiFree Lighting Technology

Tokyo, Japan: GRE Alpha has partnered with JDI — a leading lighting solutions and technology developer.

The alliance forged in Japan will focus on groundbreaking LumiFree technology. JDI developed LumiFree based on its deep expertise in backplane and frontplane technologies, which it has developed over many years in the display industry.

 LumiFree makes it possible to control the light distribution characteristics of lighting at any given time, enabling the right amount of light delivered at the right time and place.

 JDI is working to contribute to realizing a sustainable society by creating value through new lighting effects, reducing energy consumption by optimizing lighting for each usage scenario, and reducing light pollution.

 The partnership between GRE Alpha and JDI enables further expansion of LumiFree-compliant products. It will facilitate the development and sale of dimming modules that allow simultaneous control of LEDs and LumiFree and develop interface products that enable using LumiFree in existing lighting control systems.

Through partnerships like this, GRE Alpha and JDI can further expand the capabilities of lighting controls. Moving forward with collaborative R&D and advances in lighting is critical to providing the modern lighting solutions consumers are looking for in today’s market.

At GRE Alpha, we deeply value our collaborators, particularly those whose goals resonate with our own: to craft and distribute innovative lighting products and solutions to our worldwide clientele. We are thankful for the opportunity to work alongside JDI and look forward to the possibilities with LumiFree and other lighting projects.

About LumiFree

JDI has developed LumiFree off the back of its deep expertise in both backplane and frontplane technologies that it has developed over its many years in the display industry. LumiFree makes it possible to control the light distribution characteristics of lighting at any given time, enabling the right amount of light delivered at the right time and place. JDI is working to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society by creating new value through new lighting effects, reducing energy consumption by optimizing lighting for each usage scenario, and reducing light pollution caused by the excessive use of lighting.

About GRE Alpha

GRE Alpha® Electronics, Ltd. specializes in designing and manufacturing solid-state lighting power supplies and lighting control accessories, which are the lifeblood of indoor and outdoor LED lighting systems. Their superior performance products are the power behind LED lighting systems. GRE's unique modular approach allows its dimming modules and drivers to be used in new or existing installations.

For more information, visit GREAlpha.com, follow us on LinkedIn, or contact:

GRE Alpha Electronics, Ltd.

Sales and Marketing TEL: +813-5403-6364

Email: yoshihito.mori@grealpha.com

GRE Alpha Returns to Light + Building 2024 With Innovative LED Dimmers

For another year, GRE Alpha will be returning to Messe Frankfurt for the 2024 edition of Light + Building.

As one of the leading trade fairs for innovative lighting and building services, GRE is excited to showcase some of our latest developments in lighting control.

"We're excited to have representatives from Japan, Hong Kong, and North America attending the show this year, and we look forward to meeting and introducing our latest lighting control solutions to customers and lighting partners around the world,” says Richard Fong, Director at GRE Alpha.

GRE Alpha Products at Light + Building 2024

At Light + Building 2024, GRE Alpha will be showcasing several innovative products created in tandem with some of our valued partners, including:

• Casambi

• Xicato

• DALI

• EnOcean

• And more

You can learn more about GRE Alpha’s products on our website, and check out the catalog here.

As always, we’re looking forward to networking with other professionals and demonstrating our products this year. Visit GRE Alpha’s booth at D10 in Hall 9! 

About GRE Alpha

GRE Alpha® Electronics, Ltd. specializes in the design and manufacturing of solid-state lighting power supplies and lighting control accessories, which are the lifeblood of indoor and outdoor LED lighting systems. Their superior performance products are the power behind LED lighting systems. GRE’s modular approach allows their dimming modules and drivers to be used either with existing systems or new setups.

For more information on GRE Alpha products and services or to speak with a service representative and set up a one-on-one appointment with a technical expert, visit https://grealpha.com/contact/

GRE Alpha to Showcase Innovative LED Controls at the LEDucation Trade Show and Conference

 February 15, 2024 - NEW YORK CITY - GRE Alpha, a leader in lighting controls, will exhibit LED dimmers and drivers at the 2024 LEDucation Trade Show and Conference. The premier event will be held at the New York Hilton Midtown March 19–20, 2024. LEDucation provides insightful presentations and addresses topics exploring emerging industry-related issues.

 In the spirit of highlighting the latest technologies and lighting trends, the GRE Alpha team will be on hand to meet with lighting professionals to discuss important topics such as:

 Sustainability: Showing how their innovative technologies promote energy efficiency and sustainability in the lighting industry. Educational demonstrations will demonstrate how GRE Alpha’s LED dimmers and drivers play a role in reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions without sacrificing quality.

Specifications and Best Practices: GRE Alpha will be on hand to discuss current specifications and preview products under development. Based on extensive experience and testing, it will also share best practices for various lighting scenarios, including residential, landscape, façade, and emergency lighting.

At the GRE Alpha booth, attendees can experience the newest products firsthand.

"We are excited to be a part of LEDucation as it brings together professionals ready to experience new technologies and expand their knowledge base," said Richard Fong, Executive Director at GRE Alpha.

GRE Alpha is proud to demonstrate products featuring compatibility with some of the world's leading partners, such as Casambi, Tuya, and Enocean. These exciting collaborations appeal to a broad audience and offer customers unprecedented access to innovative solutions that exceed global safety and efficiency standards.

The team looks forward to continuing our work with these partners and creating an even greater network in the future.

Here are some of the featured products for 2024:

• Model GLD-DIM-TW-CB2. - 2-channel dim-to-warm/tunable white constant current Casambi BLE-based dimming module. Users download the Casambi app to their iOS or Android device to control all their enabled light fittings

• Model SLD-DIM–CB2-UL - 2-channel, multi-function Casambi BLE-based dimming module that can be set for tunable white, dim to warm, and 100% dimming via the Casambi app

• Model SLD-DIM-CB5 - 5-channel, RGBWW Casambi BLE dimming module for use in RGB and tunable white strip lighting applications

 GRE Alpha will also preview the upcoming XSP120 and 40W CC drivers. See GRE Alpha’s product catalogs or contact their team for more information.

About GRE Alpha

GRE Alpha® Electronics, Ltd. specializes in designing and manufacturing solid-state lighting power supplies and lighting control accessories, which are the lifeblood of indoor and outdoor LED lighting systems. Their superior performance products are the power behind LED lighting systems. GRE's unique modular approach allows its dimming modules and drivers to be used in new or existing installations. For more information, visit GREAlpha.com. Follow us on LinkedIn: GRE Alpha.