The Internet of Things has a lot of hype, but also plenty of hope
that it will make a Jetsons-like future a reality. But the number of
companies that have been able to penetrate the public consciousness and
acceptance into U.S. homes is considerably small. Outside of Nest,
SimpliSafe, and maybe iRobot, adoption of IoT devices by the general
public has been relatively small.
The Internet of Things, however, has made inroads outside of the home
and in the industrial building space. And the reasons are two-fold.
First, many organizations want to find ways not only to be more
“green,” but also — and maybe more importantly — to project a brand
consciousness that comes with an association of energy-efficiency and
being “planet friendly.” It’s the “Hey, we are so Green!” type of
branding that has done wonders for organizations like Patagonia and
Chipotle. The second advantage of the commercial Internet of
Things is
the bottom line. Energy-efficiency has become far more cost efficient
than it was 10 years ago. And making it cheaper to run warehouses,
manufacturing plants, and other large facilities can save organizations
the costly expense of keeping buildings comfortable, operational, and
connected.
Lucid,
an Oakland-based commercial energy saving software platform optimized
for smart buildings, announced that it has raised $14 million in Series B
funding from a group of investors including GE and Autodesk.
The company says that the new funding, which also included backing
from Formation 8 and Zetta Venture Partners, will help it become a
central cog in the growing commercial Internet of Things space. Lucid’s
software, which it refers to as an operating system for buildings, is
meant to help companies, landlords, and commercial real estate
operations reduce energy consumption by serving as a dashboard to
control Internet of Things connected hardware and other building energy
management systems.
Already, the likes of Disney, Sony, and Stanford University are using
Lucid’s BuildingOS software to save money by tracking energy usage data
and manage connected devices, like smart lighting and heating/cooling
systems, in a more effective way.
While Lucid is positioning itself as the control system for
commercial IoT customers, another company, Digital Lumens has found a
way to successfully integrate its smart lighting system for the unique
needs of organizations as varied as Dartmouth College, Dassault Falcon
Jet, Coca-Cola, and California’s Stone Brewing.
Earlier this week, Digital Lumens
announced that large-scale deployments of its intelligent LED lighting
systems have made it one of the largest IoT lighting operations in the
world. According to the company, its smart lighting fixtures have been
installed so widely that they cover more than 200 million square feet of
commercial and industrial space globally.
One of the company’s largest intelligent lighting deployments has
been at the Leverone Field House at New Hampshire’s Dartmouth College.
The installation of smart LEDs has saved the college 75 percent in
lighting costs. The operation has been so successful for Digital Lumens
that it just launched a new product offering geared towards sports
facilities. It’s new SportsPack offering will make it easier for sports
venues, like hockey rinks and multi-purpose athletic facilities, to
manage their lighting costs in a more efficient manner.
As companies like Digital Lumens and Lucid continue to expand their
offerings and prove to be cost-saving on a large-scale basis, the IoT
industrial space will grow. That may potentially lead to a trickle down
effect for the consumer Internet of Things by making useful devices more
price-friendly for homeowners, and by making software management for
IoT products easier to use.
However, we are still a long way off from luxuries like those enjoyed by Marty McFly in Back to the Future II. But one can still hold out hope that our house will cook pizza for sooner than later.
(Pando)
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