146 million tons. That is the average amount of waste that finds its way into US landfills each year according to the EPA. This number is unfathomable due to its magnitude yet this is what we’re facing as a nation.
With growing mountains of trash crowding our skylines, we can no longer turn a blind eye – making sustainability evermore relevant. Companies are being pressured and, in some ways, forced to take action and become more conscientious about the impact they’re having on the environment; whether it’s through installing light sensors to minimize the use of electricity when their offices aren’t in use, to converting from fluorescent to LED lighting. Both solutions seem obvious because it saves on energy consumption and is less expensive for the organization, yet certain states are mandating updated building codes to save on energy and elicit this kind of action.
The more progressive companies who have proactively taken these steps are now considered more desirable to consumers and younger generations who have turned to thrifting and buying second- hand in record numbers to lessen their environmental impact. While lessening the consumption of energy is a step in the right direction, it leaves the issue of the 146 million tons of garbage. How does a specifier or electrical engineer provide a desirable solution for a client that wants to be environmentally conscientious, when they know full well the electrical installations in buildings, new and old, require an exorbitant number of hardwired materials? It’s a problem Casambi has solved by creating our Bluetooth LE-based wireless technology which essentially eliminates the need for a majority of hard materials altogether. This smart design, fashioned to be compatible with all sensors, switches and fixtures, has a cascading effect on much of what is needed to build a more sustainable future.
Casambi’s technology was conceived with an emphasis on simplicity, and flexibility which can be found in the design of our system architecture resulting in less physical product in the installation. In order to truly understand how this impacts the environment and landfills we must look at everything we eliminate from the process. From the get-go, we have circumvented the process of pulling resources and components from the earth for manufacturing, and the entire manufacturing rigmarole for the products we are not using. In a traditional installation, specifiers and engineers are obliged to arrange the delivery and installation of resources, which consumes time, energy and manpower. Casambi’s innovative technology allows one to leap ahead because all of these added layers of “stuff” have now become obsolete. Where sustainability is concerned, it must be acknowledged the ripple effect of our approach. Less material getting installed = less waste on site and fewer raw materials extracted from the earth (petroleum, copper, iron, etc.). Less material = less time to install and fewer people needed to install = fewer truck rolls = fewer carbon emissions.
At Casambi, we’re also about extending product lifecycles to reduce waste. We use over-the-air updates to deploy the latest firmware, new software, and security features to the installed base – enhancing the performance of devices already in the field – keeping them safe and active for much, much longer.
It’s clear that tackling the topic of sustainability is somewhat complex as we aren’t only measuring the impacts of waste, we’re looking at the overall compounding effects of energy consumption. Part of the sustainability approach includes making buildings eco-friendly through the materials used (or in our case not used), and becoming more energy efficient. We know how it’s impacting us today, but what do the projections for the future look like and what little actions can we take that will make big changes? Casambi’s innovative wireless technology addresses these pain points with our streamlined application allowing the end user the freedom to schedule lighting operations, and shade controls based on their business needs, all on a low- energy Bluetooth-based network. This smart design makes for easy maintenance because after the customized functionality is programmed through our app, it’s completely automated.
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