Echoflex Controller Support For IECC Mesh Networks
Question
What does IECC Mesh Network entail?
What Echoflex controllers support IECC Mesh Networks? How do they support this?
Answer
IECC Mesh Networks Overview
In compliance with the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), Mesh networks allow Echoflex lighting controllers to communicate individual occupancy states between each other on the same mesh, allowing for zone level control of spaces based off states of individual controllers.
Controllers within the same mesh will dim to partial off when unoccupied if there exists a controller within the mesh with an occupied state. Once there are no controllers within the mesh which are occupied, all controllers within the mesh will proceed to turn off.
Mesh Network Setup
Mesh Networks can easily be set up with Garibaldi Pro ahead of installs, or can be configured on-site if one can access each controller within the network. To set up with Garibaldi Pro, each controller within the same network should share the same Open-Plan Shared Occ ID value, where each other mesh network should utilize a different Open-Plan Shared Occ ID value. You can also specify an Open-Plan Shared Occ Timer value, which dictates the length of time between the last transition to vacant amongst controllers in the mesh and the controllers within the mesh all turning off. Open-Plan Shared Occ ID by default is 0, which disables the functionality. Open-Plan Shared Occ Timer defaults to 30 seconds.
Typical Use Case
A floor of an office building is set up as a mesh, with 3 different ELED1 controllers controlling dimmable lighting fixtures over 3 different workspaces. Each ELED1 controller is linked to an occupancy sensor which detects occupancy within its respective individual workspace.
- Initially, there’s one worker at each workspace, which means lighting fixtures are fully on.
- Two workers then leave, which allows two of the ELED1s to transition to Partial Off, dimming the lighting fixtures of their workspaces to a pre-configured value. The remaining ELED1 is still fully on, as there is still an occupant within the workspace.
- The final worker leaves, and the final ELED1 occupancy state transitions to unoccupied. The Open-Plan Shared Occ Timer begins.
- Once the Open-Plan Shared Occ Timer expires, it is known that there are no occupied controllers within the office floor. Thus, all three ELED1 controllers open their relays at the same time.
Operational Logic
Occupancy status disable
If a controller's Open-Plan Shared Occ ID is set to 0, it will not send any occupancy status messages, nor will it act on any occupancy status messages it receives. IECC functionality is effectively disabled.
Occupancy status enabled
If a controller has a non-zero Open-Plan Shared Occ ID, then IECC functionality is enabled. The controller will send occupancy status messages and will act on occupancy status messages it receives from controllers with the same Open-Plan Shared Occ ID.
- Occupancy Status Message — Controllers with Occupancy status enabled will periodically transmit occupancy status messages. These messages will be sent on changes in occupancy state. Occupancy states are "occupied," "unoccupied," and "transitioning to relay open." The "transitioning to relay open" status message will include the time until the controller will open its relay.
- Local transition to relay open — If partial-on is enabled, the transition to relay open will begin when the occupancy timer expires. If partial-on is disabled, the transition to relay open will begin when the grace timer expires. When beginning a transition to relay open, the controller's dimming output will go to its partial-off level. At this time, the controller will send a "transition to relay open" status message, which will also specify a transition time. The controller will also start a transition to relay open timer for the transition time specified in the message. If, while this timer is running, the controller receives an 'occupied' occupancy status message from a controller with the same Open-Plan Shared Occ ID, the controller will stop its transition to relay open timer and keep its dimming output at its partial-off level. If the transition to relay open timer expires, the controller will open its relay, as the entire Mesh is now unoccupied.
- Remote Transition to relay open when occupied — If a controller is occupied and it receives a "transition to unoccupied" status message with a Open-Plan Shared Occ ID that matches the controller's Open-Plan Shared Occ ID, the controller will transmit an "occupied" status message after a pseudo-random delay that is no longer than half the time specified by the "transition to unoccupied" message. This will inform other controllers in the mesh that it is still occupied.
- Remote transition to unoccupied when unoccupied — If a controller is unoccupied, its relay is closed, and it receives a "transition to unoccupied" status message it will start its transition-to-relay-open timer at the time specified by the status message. If, while the timer is running, the controller receives an "occupied" status message from a controller with the same Open-Plan Shared Occ ID, the controller will stop its transition-to-relay-open timer and the controller will keep its dimming output at its partial-off level. If the transition-to-relay-open timer expires the controller will open the relay.
- Open-Plan Shared Occ ID sharing — Holding clear and pressing learn button five times will cause a controller to send an Open-Plan Shared Occ ID share message. If a controller had an Open-Plan Shared Occ ID of 0, before it sends its Mesh-ID-share message it will generate itself a pseudo-random Open-Plan Shared Occ ID. During normal operation, controllers will ignore Open-Plan Shared Occ ID share messages they receive. When in learn mode, however, if a controller receives an Open-Plan Shared Occ ID share message, it will change its Open-Plan Shared Occ ID to the Open-Plan Shared Occ ID from the message.