The transition out of a state of pandemic has been particularly complex for facility managers. As building occupants rejoin their colleagues at their places of work, many landlords have been charged with optimizing the operational performance of their buildings to give peace of mind to their tenants. Simultaneously, organizations across the country are struggling to retain employees, which creates pressure for employers to increase compensation and benefits as well as improve the work environment for their employees. With Americans spending about 90 percent of their time indoors, it could be beneficial to employees to know the facilities they work in are striving to support their well-being. Providing environmental improvements that support the health and well-being of occupants can also benefit facility managers and building owners by helping to improve tenant retention.

“Market penetration of [lighting] controls is about 1% with incentives, rebates, and code requirements” considered, senior vice president, product management and engineering Greg Galluccio said during our visit. While acknowledging that wireless controls have become popular in residential spaces, commercial and industrial end users — such as administrators and facilities operators with security concerns in educational, healthcare, government, and prison environments — are more wary of devices that can “forget to pair and loss connection,” Galluccio said. Still, wired-system costs estimated from $7,000 to $10,000 to pull new wiring for individual classrooms can be prohibitive, for instance, and interoperability is a major concern, he explained.

Energy Focus has launched its EnFocus™ which offers human-centric lighting with a simple retrofit installation without the need for rewiring for control capabilities. Offers a sustainable and affordable lighting control with LED lamps instead of replacing the whole fixture. The EnFocus™ boasts of 10-stage dimming and color tuning capabilities with an L70>60,000 hours.