LIGHTING
8 SMART LIGHT
FOR CUSTOMISED
OFFICE AREAS
Digitalisation, home office and new work
models: the office of the future is facing
major challenges today. In a smart building
environment in Zurich’s Andreasturm,
Zumtobel and Amstein + Walthert
demonstrate what future digital applications
based on lighting infrastructure might look
like and how important it is to collect the
right data for this.

When it comes to offices, many companies
are asking questions like: Do we still really
need so much space? Can the power
consumption be optimised? And what
do employees need in order to be able to
concentrate on their work and generally
feel good? A joint showcase project in the
Andreasturm in Zurich by Zumtobel and
Amstein + Walthert, one of Switzerland’s
largest consulting and engineering
companies, provides some answers. It
brings together both partners’ expertise
along the value creation chain of an office
building, including the surveying of existing
building data, the project design and
implementation of the lighting and technical
infrastructure, and the continuous analysis
and improvement of processes.

“We want to learn more about the
opportunities offered by the Internet of
Things (IoT) for office management,” says
Ian Abegglen, Sales Consultant End User
Digital/IoT & Finance Services at Zumtobel in
Switzerland. “The aim is to integrate the right
infrastructure into an existing lighting system,
cost-effectively and quickly – for the benefit
of building owners, tenants and operators.”
To this end, Zumtobel provided 19 high-
quality EPURIA free-standing LED luminaires
– all equipped with an integrated presence
and brightness sensor and wirelessly
controlled via Wireless IoT Mesh based
on Bluetooth. In addition, six air quality
sensors and a gateway were installed and
integrated into the network. With the help of
the gateway, the luminaire and sensor data
are transmitted to a cloud-based monitoring
and analysis dashboard that can be used to
evaluate and analyse the acquired data at a
glance. The dashboard uses a cloud-based
IoT platform from Axonize, which Zumtobel
calls the Smart Building Platform. Three asset
tags also enable physical goods such as flip
charts or printers to be identified and located.

Improving the quality of indoor spaces
with sensors
Air quality in the office has been extremely
important since long before the pandemic.

It also makes sense from the employer’s
viewpoint to ensure, literally, that there is
a good atmosphere: employees will feel
good and perform at their best in rooms
that are pleasantly ventilated. With the help
of Zumtobel air quality sensors, Amstein +
Walthert can now measure CO2 content, air
humidity and temperature as well as VOC
values. The latter refer to the levels of volatile
organic compounds in the air, which may
be emitted by cleaning products, paints or
adhesives, for example. The system sends an
alert when certain limits are exceeded or not
reached, and action is required.

A real-life example shows that smart building
monitoring pays off, particularly when it
comes to employee health. “After a large-
scale cleaning of the building, the VOC values
were too high – and we were able to search
for the cause together with the cleaning
service provider,” says Ralph Schmid, Senior
Project Manager Consulting Real Estate/
Facility Management at Amstein + Walthert.

Thanks to the documented increase in the
system, it was possible to ventilate quickly
and remove the unwanted vapours. In short:
“Smart building monitoring also allows us to
identify environmental factors that you can’t
see, smell or perceive directly.”
For the showcase, Zumtobel provided 19
high-quality EPURIA free-standing LED
luminaires – all equipped with an integrated
presence and brightness sensor and
wirelessly controlled via Wireless IoT Mesh
based on Bluetooth. In addition, six air
quality sensors and a gateway were installed
and integrated into the network.

Getting the best use out of workplaces
With home office regulations still in place
at many companies, it is no longer the
norm for all employees to be in the office
at all times. The EPURIA luminaires from
Zumtobel serve as sensors and data points.

They automatically detect presence and
ambient light and dynamically adapt their