Going Wireless with Lighting - Energy Harvesting Offers Flexibility for Olympic Village

[...] Whether taking the form of a laptop computer's Internet access or a mobile phone, the benefits of going wireless have alway been tied into the technology's ability to provide flexibility for users. However, avoiding a hardwired solution can also be freeing for designers and building owners.
The Olympic Village townhomes in Whistler undergoing significant floor plan re-configurations, took advantage of this concept by using self-powered wireless lighting controls. Now that the XXI Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games have come to a close, walls will be removed to revert back to floor plans more suitable for single families. Specifically athlete bedrooms will become living and dining areas.
In order to keep pace with major re-configurations, Cheakamus Crossing Village managers chose energy harvesting and wireless lighting controls - a decision that had them save 70 per cent in installation and renovation costs when compared to hardwired solutions.
The lighting control application is unique, but illustrates the benefits of the technology and how it could be widely applied. The system incorporates the self-powered and wireless attributes inherent to the open proprietary EnOcean standard. (EnOcean is not a manufacturer - rather it is a true, interoperable protocol subscribed to by 150 'Alliance' members that create various systems and products comptabile with the standard). [...]

(Source www.kenilworth.com)