The Backbone of Smart Lighting: How smartengine Powers Intelligent Infrastructure
Written by:
Mary Raby
Discover how smartengine powers intelligent buildings with integrated lighting, sensors, and control. From data-rich smartsensors to scalable smartdirector systems, it’s the infrastructure backbone for responsive, energy-efficient spaces.

In the evolving landscape of smart buildings, intelligence begins with the hardware. At the core of the smartengine technology lies a tightly integrated system of controllers, sensors, and infrastructure — built not only to illuminate, but to orchestrate responsive, data-rich environments. This is more than lighting; it’s the nervous system of the smart building.
smartdirector: The Brain Behind the System
The smartdirector acts as the central intelligence hub — connecting to a browser-based user interface, the smartmanager, that gives fusers real-time visibility and control over their lighting and infrastructure systems.
- Local storage of smartsensor data enables quick, reliable access to building insights.
- Offers REST, unified, BACnet/IP and MQTT API’s, streamlining integration with building management systems and IoT platforms.
- Coordinates a cluster of smartengines and enables flexible scaling across projects of any size.
Think of it as the brain of the smartengine system — providing data orchestration, interoperability, and scalability from one intuitive platform.
smartengine: Power, Control, and Communication in One
smartengine is more than a driver — it’s a comprehensive infrastructure solution delivering power, control, and communication for LED fixtures and smartsensors over a single low-voltage cable.
- Enables remote driver functionality — no LED driver is needed at the fixture, reducing heat load and simplifying installation.
- Provides UL924-listed emergency lighting capabilities, ensuring code-compliant safety when it matters most.
- With this streamlined, low-voltage architecture, lighting becomes the foundation for a smart, efficient, and scalable infrastructure.
smartsensors: Data Where You Need It
smartengine’s smartsensors do more than detect motion. They turn your building into a dynamic, responsive environment with real-time feedback on:
- Motion and occupancy
- Temperature and ambient light
- Power consumption
- Air quality metrics (when integrated with IAQ controllers): IAQ, CO2, VOC, Humidity, Temperature, Air Pressure
- Bi-directional iBeacon functionality for location-based services
These sensors support adaptive lighting strategies, daylight harvesting, energy savings, and intelligent automation — all while eliminating the need for complex or multiple infrastructures.
smartmanager + Interoperability: Turning Data into Insights
All sensor data collected by smartengine devices is centrally processed and accessible through smartmanager, a browser-based UI that provides live visualizations of occupancy, environmental metrics, and system status.
smartengine doesn’t just gather data — it shares it seamlessly across your building systems. Thanks to open API access (BACnet/IP, MQTT, Unified and REST), this rich data can be integrated with third-party platforms like BMS, BOS or other IoT platforms.
By integrating lighting, HVAC, air quality, and occupancy data into a single platform, facility teams can monitor, automate, and optimize the full building ecosystem — unlocking the true potential of a connected building.
Smart Wall Controller: Interface Meets Intelligence
For end users, control should feel effortless. The smartengine wall controller combines tactile feedback with real-time data, offering:
- 1-, 2-, 4-, or 8-button configurations
- Custom lighting scenes, including Human Centric Smart Lighting (HCsL) which adapts to the body’s circadian rhythm, occupancy-based adjustments, and daylight harvesting
- Optional IAQ monitoring for data on CO2, VOC equivalent, humidity, pressure, and temperature
It’s more than a light switch — it’s a programmable interface that puts the power of a smart building in your hands.
smartengine is the infrastructure platform for smart buildings. From efficient power delivery and intelligent control to rich environmental data and flexible integration, it’s all designed with one goal: enabling buildings that think for themselves.