Emergency lighting in residential and commercial buildings is essential for safe evacuation during an unexpected crisis. Such fixtures need to be fail-safe and guaranteed to work during events that might require an emergency evacuation.
A building is classified safe when all emergency lights within it are fully operational. Shockingly, about 80 percent of buildings worldwide do not meet this requirement.
Buildings with self-contained emergency lighting can have up to a thousand separate units. Monitoring all of them, along with their batteries and maintenance records, might require disruption in power supply and lead building managers to extend the interval between system checks. Manual monitoring of so many units also has a high probability of human error. This translates into unsafe conditions for residents and office workers and is a violation of local regulations.
Installing a digital solution can resolve these pressing problems and make buildings safer than ever before. Connected lighting systems have their performance and safety data stored in the cloud, allowing building owners and managers to easily maintain and test emergency lighting without the need to visually verify performance or disrupt power supply.
Digital solutions, such as the Naveo®Pro, part of the ABB AbilityTM platform of connected devices, allow building managers to manage all operations remotely, giving them complete control wherever they are, whenever they need it. And it eliminates human error entirely.
Smart emergency lighting is scalable, meaning building owners can easily go from one building to many. The Naveo®Pro, for instance, can secure a connection with up to 500 emergency lighting units per Gateway. Such systems are also compliant with local regulations and require users to set up a schedule for regular inspection and maintenance. They are also flexible, and can be customized for educational, institutional, high security, architectural, healthcare and industrial applications.
Moreover, it is possible to set up the schedule according to the lifecycle of the emergency lighting’s parts, which allows for preventive repairs before any malfunction occurs. The manufacturer of the lighting units is also able to view this data and can ensure that parts likely to need maintenance are stocked. This ensures that the building manager is never left waiting for crucial spare parts and drastically cuts any downtime.
When a unit malfunctions, users receive a push notification on their smart devices, guiding them clearly to the unit that needs replacement. With all data stored in the cloud, the mobile app provides a 24/7 overview of all smart monitored buildings. Maps of buildings can be uploaded and overlaid on Google Maps, which enables building managers to get a clear and precise location of emergency lighting units.
Apart from allowing preventive maintenance, the system’s data can be analysed with account management tools to reduce operating costs dramatically. This capability leads to lower cost of ownership of buildings equipped with smart emergency lighting.
Devices like Naveo®Pro are ready for connected safety eco systems of the future. Learn more here.
