Redwood Systems' Intelligent Lighting Platform Drives Energy Efficiency at Volkswagen Group's Research Laboratory

Redwood Delivers Energy Savings and Building Intelligence in Support of Car Manufacturer’s Plans to Enable World-Class Facilities
April 29, 2011 FREMONT, Calif.

Redwood Systems, a leader in networked LED lighting controls and building intelligence, today announced it has been chosen to provide lighting controls for all of the LED fixtures at Volkswagen Group’s brand new center for R&D, unveiled today at an open-house event in Belmont, Calif. By using Redwood Systems’ platform, Volkswagen will realize sizeable energy savings and improved control over lighting at the facility.

“By partnering with Redwood to deploy an intelligent lighting system, we are now bringing a similar level of innovation to our facilities as we do to building cars,” said Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, executive director at Volkswagen Group’s Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL). “With Redwood’s flexible and efficient lighting platform we are able to add new functionality and simultaneously evaluate different approaches very quickly, accelerating our ability to deliver on our global environmental goals.”

The ERL is an in-house think tank for Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Volkswagen. It focuses on providing customers with smarter cars, and aims to identify new technologies and accelerate their development into future production vehicles. Its presence in Silicon Valley allows the Volkswagen Group to work directly with the world's leading high-tech companies, start-ups, and universities to develop innovative features and applications for Volkswagen Group vehicles. Its staff includes a team of 100 engineers, social scientists and product designers working on accelerating automotive innovation (http://www.vwerl.com/).

Due to the significant power demands of a cutting-edge research facility, Volkswagen turned to Redwood Systems’ intelligent lighting control technology to get the most energy savings from its LEDs. The ERL facility benefits from Redwood Systems’ impactful blend of energy savings and innovative applications, including smooth, full-range dimming from smart phones. This functionality allows users to control preset lighting levels, as well as dim lights to their desired brightness, directly from a mobile device. In addition to providing best-in-class functionality, Redwood’s platform is also easy to commission and provides near immediate return on investment of LED installations.

“I was impressed with the simplicity of commissioning Redwood’s lighting system. Their innovative approach reduces the cost and time involved in installing and commissioning lighting,” said David Whitney, Principal of Whitney Polcyn Architects, the architectural firm for the project. “Working with Redwood Systems to develop a smartphone-based lighting control app for the ERL highlights the utility and flexibility of their control system, as well as their team-based approach."

This is the fourth customer win for Redwood Systems announced this month. On Monday, April 11, Redwood announced strategic customer installations at Johnson Controls, Atheros Communications, and Fenwick & West.

“We’re thrilled that a company as innovative and visionary as Volkswagen has chosen Redwood Systems to help decrease its R&D facility’s carbon footprint, while reducing the company’s overall operating costs,” said Dave Leonard, CEO of Redwood Systems. “The traction we are receiving in the market is a testament to our ability to deliver the energy savings and building intelligence functionality we set out to when designing this innovative technology.”

About Redwood Systems

Redwood Systems provides the industry’s only LED lighting control and building intelligence platform proven to deliver both ongoing energy savings and workspace productivity enhancements. Using patent-pending networking technology, Redwood has developed a unique and cost effective way to power and control lights using high density sensors with a flexible, scalable, open platform. With a growing roster of market- leading customers and partners, Redwood is building a reputation for customer success. For more information, visit http://www.redwoodsystems.com/

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