4 minute read
Revolutionizing Museum Lighting Controls
A Deeper Dive into SAAM’s Advanced System
By Parker Allen
Photo Credit: Scott Rosenfeld
In October of 2023, we wrote about the lighting design at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). During the AIA conference in June of 2024, Scott Rosenfeld, the museum’s lighting curator, along with Eileen Pierce of Pierce Lighting Studio, presented a live demonstration of the museum’s lighting system, with special attention paid to the sophisticated controls.
After contacting Rosenfeld again in September, we realized the advanced controls implemented at SAAM were worthy of a follow-up article. His insights into the control system’s capabilities highlighted just how groundbreaking this system is within the museum lighting industry.
A Next-Level Control System
Designed in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery’s lighting designer, Alexander Cooper, who served as the software architect, the system offers an unparalleled level of precision and ease-of-use.
“We’ve only scratched the surface of what this system can do,” Rosenfeld noted. The control system, via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), manages over 10,000 lights, many of which offer color control, allowing for shifts between warm and cool lighting. The versatility is combined with an impressive user-friendliness. Even non-technical staff, like event planners and art historians, can manage the lighting with confidence.
Yet the system’s sophistication is unmatched, processing over 1 million packets of data every two minutes. Each light fixture is independently controllable, with digital drivers that ensure flicker-free dimming. This system integrates with the museum’s CAD program, enabling seamless control of each fixture and developing sophisticated, data-driven lighting behaviors, such as motion sensing and conditional logic.
Efficiency Meets Preservation
One of the standout features of this control system is its database-driven architecture, which allows the team at SAAM to access capabilities Rosenfeld had only dreamed of when he first started testing retrofit lamps with the DOE in 2011.
“The system can report exactly how long each fixture has been set to a specific preset, allowing us to not only conserve energy but also preserve artwork more effectively,” he explained. By monitoring usage and adjusting light levels accordingly, the museum can maintain optimal preservation conditions and reduce energy consumption simultaneously.
Additionally, the team is developing sophisticated data-driven behaviors using connected sensors that respond to motion and light, with full access to conditional logic. This allows the system to automate adjustments based on real-time environmental conditions.
CAD Integration for Seamless Control
Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of SAAM’s lighting control system is its integration with the museum’s CAD program. Rosenfeld explained how the computerized lighting plot automatically populates the graphical user interface (GUI) within the control software. This allows the team to control each fixture directly from the CAD interface. “We can even add grouping and symbol information to our CAD program, and the system sends that information directly to the fixtures,” he said.
This level of integration provides an organizational backbone that is crucial when managing such a vast lighting system. Rosenfeld compared this breakthrough to the Wright Brothers’ realization that flight and control had to be developed together—SAAM’s system similarly merges organization and control into a unified platform.
Platform Agnostic and Future-Ready
Another significant feature of the control system is its platform-agnostic nature, allowing it to communicate with a wide variety of lighting, AV, and industry protocols. The system is compatible with Xicato, BLE, DMX, Artnet, UDP, and Modbus, among others. It also has the ability to communicate directly via TCP/ IP, develop scripts using LUA, and includes built-in drivers for PJ-link, Crestron, and ETC Mosaic.
Rosenfeld’s favorite feature, however, is the ability to control nearly anything within the museum. "The system’s flexibility ensures that we can continually adapt to new technologies and demands, keeping us future-ready."
The museum added a lighting staff member to maintain, operate and to (constantly) integrate new fixtures into the system as exhibits change. The upside is that the museum stopped depending on facility management staff for lamp changing now that maintaining lighting is now an IT responsibility.
Scott Rosenfeld and his team at SAAM have pushed the boundaries of what a lighting control system can achieve in a museum setting. The sophisticated control system not only enhances the visitor experience but also ensures the museum is at the forefront of energy efficiency and art preservation. As Rosenfeld put it, “We’ve only scratched the surface,” which suggests that the future of museum lighting is just beginning to be illuminated.
For more on the lighting design at SAAM, revisit the original article here.
