Sustainable Technologies

Lighting solutions should improve the way a space functions, but it is also important that those solutions provide enhanced sustainability credentials throughout the product or technology's lifetime. Traditionally, those sustainability credentials have been met when the energy-savings box has been ticked. But that's no longer enough. How can we go further?

Understanding the complex balance between humans, local biodiversity and the night sky enabled our research and development teams to get this balance right. With so many challenges arising from outdoor applications, we set about developing new technologies that could further enhance the sustainability credentials of outdoor lighting solutions. NightTune and Variable Light Distribution are two of those technologies. They work by providing a warmer light and specialised optics to ensure nocturnal wildlife, the night sky and human safety do not pay the price for improving energy savings. This wider view on sustainability, which goes beyond the scope of LED technology, has been at the heart of our innovation and development over recent years, and is something we build on each and every day.

NightTune is our innovative lighting technology solution that meets the needs of delicate night-time ecosystems and the safety of people. 

NightTune is a system that automatically adjusts the level of light emitted by a light fitting, and its colour temperature, to suit the exact time of night and level of traffic. By doing so, it helps to protect the humans, ecology and dark skies.

We need outdoor illumination to support human health and wellbeing as well as our night-time economy and urban and rural communities. However, we have to be considerate in how we light these spaces. The night skies are extremely precious and have to be protected as much as possible. Spill light should not affect people or disturb residents. Equally important is the need to leave local ecology undisturbed, ensuring that we don’t make nocturnal wildlife vulnerable and unable to follow natural behavioural patterns, including finding shelter and food.

During the early night-time period, luminous flux is set to a higher level, providing a moderately warm colour temperature by mixing light from warm and cool coloured LEDs. For the mid-night-time period, the output of the cool LEDs decreases in line with lower traffic needs. The warmer colour temperature creates a more comfortable atmosphere while saving energy, enhancing safety perception and respecting the nocturnal ecosystem. As we come to the early morning hours, cool light is again mixed with the warm light, meeting the higher demands for attention and traffic safety.

Download the NightTune whitepaper:

English: https://connect.thornlighting.com/NightTune-whitepaper-EN
German: https://connect.thornlighting.com/NightTune-whitepaper-DE
French: https://connect.thornlighting.com/NightTune-whitepaper-FR
Italian: https://connect.thornlighting.com/NightTune-whitepaper-IT
Spanish: https://connect.thornlighting.com/NightTune-whitepaper-ES

Right Light, Right Place, Right Time – An intelligent lighting solution that constantly adapts to suit the activity happening in a given space. Thorn's Variable Light Distribution adapts both its performance and ambience to each project configuration. By mixing two light distributions and two colour temperatures into one luminaire, the Variable Light Distribution optimises comfort and security for all users in one common area, should they be pedestrians, cyclists or motorists. It delivers the most appropriate lighting level and colour temperature where it is needed. Adding a sensor into the lantern also enables optimisation of energy use as it will then only light the required area when necessary.

Sustainable buildings are becoming far more commonplace. However, we still have work to do. Our industry has gone a long way since upgrading old technology luminaires over to LED. Back in 2009, around 19% of global electricity use was attributed to lighting. In 2018, it sat at around 13%. This is positive progress. Nevertheless, we can further reduce this figure by optimising how each and every light point is controlled. To implement sustainable lighting principles, it’s essential that we only use artificial light when we need it. For example, beyond sustainable products, we may be able to dim our light points down whenever natural light levels are enriching a space. This may be a dim level of 50, 20 or maybe even 10%. Intelligent sensors can simply map the lux level on a given surface and feedback a command for our artificial light levels to be reduced. Some situations will also require no light or a very low background light level to be in place and it’s important that each unique space has this mapped and optimised to ensure our lighting solutions are installed and implemented as mindfully as possible.

BasicDIM wireless technology aims to implement simple, lightweight and flexible control into each luminaire installed across all indoor lighting application types. The basicDIM Wireless solution is based on Casambi Bluetooth Low Energy technology, the state of-the-art wireless technology and the only low power wireless technology in all modern smartphones, tablets and even smart watches, making it the mainstream and futureproof low-power radio technology in the world. The technology behind basicDIM Wireless provides a MESH network where the functionality is distributed over all nodes, and a high level of reliability is ensured. It also allows for firmware updates over the network, so any changes can easily be made over-the-air. The basicDIM Wireless control app works as one of the user interfaces in a basicDIM Wireless lighting control solution, as the commissioning tool as well as a remote gateway. The basicDIM Wireless app works with iOS and Android devices such as smart phones, tablets and smart watches. The app is free to download by any end user. The basicDIM Wireless app is made by user interface experts and in a way that anyone – regardless of technical proficiency – can use it easily. Possibilities for interaction are offered by basicDIM Wireless, with the smart phone, tablet and smart watch app being the most elaborate user interface. Besides the app, traditional wall switches and push buttons can be used.

How does BasicDim help me achieve my sustainability goals?

• Group luminaires
• Enable updates for improved UX
• Set and control scenes 
• Adjust the dimming level
• Adjust the colour temperature
• Control luminaires via the timer – including taking sunrise and sunset into account
• Adjust the colour temperature to people’s internal clock
• Integrate presence sensors and daylight sensors (combisensor)
• Simplify network and security management