Herman Miller, Inc. (Herman Miller) has formed a strategic alliance with Legrand North America, a subsidiary of Legrand SA, to develop complete energy management solution for commercial buildings. The alliance is intended to widen the reach of energy management strategies to fuel the adoption of flexible, sustainable spaces, ultimately minimizing real estate and building operating costs while enhancing worker productivity.
The companies noted that demand for more energy efficient solutions is intensifying, with commercial buildings currently accounting for 18% of the nation’s total energy consumption, and energy dependence and management topping the agendas of key influencers.
In this agreement, technology from Herman Miller’s Convia, Inc. (Convia) subsidiary will be implanted into Wiremold wire and cable management systems from Legrand North America. These incorporate modular power and lighting distribution systems, floor boxes, poke-thru devices and architectural columns, which offer flexible, accessible power distribution to building owners and managers. Convia technology combines a facility’s power delivery and other infrastructure and technology applications, inclorporatng lighting, HVAC, and occupancy and daylight harvesting sensors into energy efficient, easy-to manage platform. In this new alliance, Convia-enabled Wiremold systems will improve this capability by adding control and monitoring of office plug loads (the amount of energy drawn by devices from an electrical outlet) and lighting loads. The Convia-enabled Wiremold offering provides a truly integrated control solution for end-to-end power applications. Convia-enabled building infrastructure products will be marketed and sold by Legrand North America to building specifiers and owners through its electrical distributors. Additionally, the two companies will continue to advance energy management strategies through the ongoing development of innovations that leverage the Convia technology for the built environment.
Buildings are rigid, yet change is constant, stated Brian Walker, chief executive officer (CEO), Herman Miller. While technology continues to change our lives and how we work, building infrastructures have remained static, relatively inflexible, and largely unable to keep up with the evolving needs of the people and organizations who occupy them. Our partnership with Legrand supports the adoption of energy management strategies across organizations with technologies that work together seamlessly, and can be easily programmed and adjusted as needs change. By combining Herman Miller’s expertise in problem-solving design in furnishings and interiors technology with Legrand’s superior wire and cable management for building infrastructure and its deep distribution network, we can successfully deliver the ultimate solution to maximize energy efficiency across all parts of a building.
At Legrand, our culture is grounded in innovations that translate into customer benefits, stated John Selldorff, CEO of Legrand North America. This alliance allows us to enhance the capabilities of our current Wiremold system. The result is a modular, flexible wiring system now equipped to support energy conservation.
Together we can create products that truly address all the needs of our customers and allow for end-to-end power applications, added Walker. Roughly 80% of people say they are uncomfortable with their workspace. When you consider that 50,000 commercial buildings are demolished each year, and that 45% of the world’s greenhouse gases are produced by commercial and industrial buildings, it’s clear we need to rethink how our buildings are created, used and changed. This alliance will enable us to offer solutions that give occupants more control over their energy consumption, and help them keep up with the fast pace of change in a digital society.
Herman Miller is a US-based provider of interior furnishings and related technologies and services.
Legrand North America is a manufacturer of electrical and network infrastructure solutions.