Who writes the design decides who can bid
On many projects the lighting controls “design” is a layout drawn by a manufacturer’s representative and attached to a quote. It costs nothing up front and plenty later. The bid has one realistic bidder. Substitutions are rejected because the sequences only make sense in one product’s vocabulary. Service, spare parts and firmware run through one channel for the life of the building.
We write the design the other way around: behavior first, products second. The question for you is whether your controls design should belong to a product line or to the building.
NLC, LLLC, or both
The first design decision is architecture, and it is made per space type, not per building.
| Approach | How it works | Best fit | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Networked room controls (NLC) | Sensors and switches per room or zone, wired or wireless, on a shared network | Private offices, classrooms, conference rooms | Sensor placement and zone changes need rework later |
| Luminaire-level control (LLLC) | A sensor and controller in every fixture; each fixture can act as its own zone | Open offices, warehouses, retrofits, spaces that get reconfigured | Can tie you to one ecosystem unless the sensor interface is open, such as Zhaga-D4i |
| Hybrid | LLLC in open areas, room controls in enclosed spaces | Most mixed-use buildings | Two toolsets for facilities; one Sequence Book has to cover both |
| Standalone controls | Local sensors and time switches, no network | Small, simple spaces with tight budgets | No central schedules, no energy data, usually smaller incentives |
DLC estimates average savings of about 49% for NLC and 63% for NLC with LLLC. Those averages are useful context, and they are a reason to look at LLLC seriously. They are not a reason to put a sensor in every fixture of a storage closet.
Sequences before products
A sequence of operations is the contract between the design and the building. A representative open-office sequence from one of our Sequence Books reads:
- Occupied: zones at task trim; daylight zones dim continuously as daylight rises.
- Vacant: after the vacancy delay, drop to a low background level while neighboring zones are occupied; off when the whole area is vacant.
- After hours: a scheduled sweep turns off anything left on; local override restores light for a set period.
- Demand response: on a utility signal, trim all zones by a fixed step and restore when the event ends.
Every line names a state, a level and a time. That is what makes the design testable during commissioning, and what lets any manufacturer show how its product meets it.
Specifications more than one manufacturer can bid
Our specifications require performance and openness, not product features:
- dimming range and method at the driver (0-10V, DALI-2 or D4i);
- sensor coverage, response and adjustment ranges;
- energy monitoring and open data export;
- DLC Qualified Products List listing where incentives depend on it;
- configuration reports in ANSI/NEMA C137.9 format where the platform supports it;
- cybersecurity requirements, firmware policy and functional testing.
Proprietary feature names stay out. If a requirement can only be met by one product, we either justify it in writing or remove it.
Network design is controls design
A lighting network is now an IT asset. We design the topology, gateway locations and wireless coverage, list every BACnet point the building automation system will see, and write the requirements your IT team needs to approve: VLANs, addressing, remote access and update procedures. Doing this before bid avoids the common scene where the system is installed and then waits months for network approval.
Working with your engineer of record
Lytbit does not stamp drawings. Your electrical engineer of record does, and remains responsible for the stamped set. We supply the controls content and coordinate the parts that cross over: circuiting for zones, emergency lighting on controlled circuits and the UL 924 devices that requires, and panel schedules. Engineers tend to like this arrangement, because controls are where their schedule and their fee usually get squeezed.
