FRANKFURT, Germany — ABB and Philips have announced a collaboration to simplify the integration of building automation and connected lighting systems for commercial buildings. The companies said that combining ABB’s knowledge of building automation with Philips’ expertise in lighting will benefit systems integrators, commercial building owners, facility managers, and the people who work in these buildings.

Philips’ connected lighting system will interface seamlessly with ABB’s automation software to offer the ability to control a commercial environment including lighting, blinds, building access, and HVAC. The introduction of this solution from ABB and Philips will make it much simpler to reconfigure spaces, said the companies. In a shopping complex, for example, a building manager can more easily change the access, HVAC, and lighting when a single unit is split into smaller ones.

Tarak Mehta, head of ABB’s Low Voltage Products division, said, “The future is the ability to reconfigure spaces at the touch of a button, while reducing energy consumption. ABB and Philips will work together to offer a simple, scalable solution to streamline the introduction of this technology in commercial buildings.’’

Currently, reconfiguring different building systems requires entering lines of code for each separate element. By enabling the control of all the different elements of building automation through compatible software, building management is simpler and more affordable to install and maintain.

For more information about ABB, visit www.abb.com. For more information about Philips Lighting, visit www.usa.lighting.philips.com.

Publication date: 4/14/2014

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