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



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LIGHTING 9
light output accordingly. This not only saves
energy, but also provides Amstein + Walthert
with information about which areas are
frequented how often: a database that can
be used to reliably estimate future space
requirements and to increase the efficiency
of spaces.

“Demand is coming particularly from
companies who need a lot of space for
their employees,” says Ian Abegglen from
Zumtobel. “The current rule of thumb is that
0.8 desks are needed per employee. Due
to increased digitalisation and established
home office concepts, this has changed
significantly. Now companies need to find out
how much space they actually need in the
light of these new work models. Our surveys
help them decide whether and how they will
use their office areas in the future.”
Data as the starting point for further
applications Using the smart building infrastructure, a
continuous energy monitoring system can
be created or a reservation system can be set
up for workplaces and meeting rooms, for
example. Presence data can also be used to
set up a smart cleaning system, in which only
the workplaces or areas that have actually
been used are cleaned. And with the help of
the asset tracking function, office equipment
such as flip charts or projectors can always be
located. It is also possible to set up an indoor
navigation system that allows people to find
their way quickly and easily in an unfamiliar
environment. According to Ralph Schmid, the important
question for Amstein + Walthert was
whether the information from the building
infrastructure could also be easily transferred
to downstream platforms such as booking
systems. “Our customers want to remain
in possession of their data – and be able to
use it whatever the platform. We have been
able to achieve this thanks to Zumtobel’s
infrastructure.” From digital twin to real benefit
In order to integrate the showcase as
seamlessly as possible into the ongoing office
operations in the Andreasturm, Amstein +
Walthert kept its employees fully updated
at all times. “Communicating well was
very important to us in helping to keep our
colleagues on board,” says Senior Project
Manager Ralph Schmid. After the installation,
operations continued smoothly: “It felt as if
that’s the way it had always been.”
The basis for Zumtobel’s installation was a
3D scan of the premises: using a 3D scanner,
Amstein + Walthert scanned the entire floor
and produced a three-dimensional digital
model of the building (BIM model). The
model then served as a starting point for
Zumtobel’s project design, helping them
find the best positions for the sensors
and luminaires. Before the new building
infrastructure was approved for use in August
2021, the lighting designers from Reflexion
AG inspected the project design in the model
to ensure, for example, that brightness
requirements and standards had been met.

One system, numerous advantages:
Leveraging potential with smart building
infrastructure The use cases show only one small aspect
of the overall benefit of a smart building
infrastructure. “Our concept pays off at all
levels,” says Ian Abegglen from Zumtobel.

“Employees benefit from an optimal
work environment and convenient digital
applications such as workplace reservation
via app. Building owners and managers can
operate with increased energy efficiency and
cost savings. In light of the EU Green Deal –
the EU-wide aim of becoming climate-neutral
by 2050 – this is becoming increasingly
important.” There are also benefits for real
estate service providers: remote monitoring
enables technical maintenance work or
building cleaning to be planned and invoiced
as required.

“Our collaboration shows that the state-
of-the-art lighting solutions of today are
digital and IoT-ready,” sums up Ian Abegglen
from Zumtobel. “They make lighting and
the building environment measurable and
qualifiable, offering enormous potential for
improvements.” Now that the test phase
has been completed, Amstein + Walthert
and Zumtobel are making their combined
expertise available to interested companies.

After all, there is still some potential to be
tapped with the help of digital applications
throughout the building life cycle.

Photo credits: Faruk Pinjo