The EU’s revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), adopted in 2024, is accelerating digital system and energy efficiency upgrades across Europe’s commercial building stock. The EPBD is driving change not just for the largest facilities, but for smaller offices, warehouses, and retail spaces as well.
This is great news, but for many electrical professionals, the directive feels like a moving target. Smart lighting systems are not only helpful for navigating the changing landscape, but essential for making smart building technologies understandable and accessible.
This article busts five common myths about EPBD and building technologies. It shows how Signify's connected lighting solution Interact Pro, now evolving with its own in-app AI assistant named Bulbi, can play a crucial role in making small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) smarter and more accessible.
The reality: The updated EPBD is raising expectations for all non-residential buildings—including small and medium-sized ones. While big facilities may already use complex building management systems, most SMEs don’t have the budget or technical team to manage them.
Interact Pro bridges the gap. It offers an intuitive way to retrofit lighting, monitor energy use, and control systems remotely—all without the cost or complexity of traditional building management systems. For SMEs, it’s the perfect companion that can grow with their needs. Interact Pro comes ready for integration with other building systems and services. For example, it can help businesses realize deeper energy savings through refining HVAC control based on lighting occupancy data or adapting lighting systems to reduce demand when the power grid is under stress.
Interact Pro offers lighting zones, occupancy-based dimming, scheduling, and energy data — delivered straight to a cloud dashboard with remote access. It’s smart lighting without the complexity and expense.
The reality:
When connected and outfitted with sensors, lighting becomes your eyes and ears, capturing data on occupancy, usage trends, energy consumption, and more. Interact Pro delivers this kind of intelligence in real time, giving facility managers and installers actionable insights that can lead to significant operational savings. It’s lighting, but smarter—and it sets the foundation for broader digital integration.
The reality: AI has arrived, and it’s starting with lighting. In fact, AI is already delivering real-world value in lighting and building operations.
In 2024, Signify launched Bulbi, an AI assistant for Interact Pro. Bulbi helps installers during commissioning by answering contextual, real-time questions like “How can I add a switch to control this group of lights?” or “How many more lights can I connect to my Factory Floor zone?” With Bulbi, installers don’t have to rely on manuals or guesswork. Instead, they benefit from fast, personalized guidance based on live data from their specific setup.
But this is only the beginning. Imagine a world where Bulbi can seamlessly collaborate with other digital agents in your building—something like Clima, a smart assistant managing the building’s HVAC. Based on real-time sensor data from lights and occupancy patterns, Bulbi could make suggestions like “Hey Clima, we’ve had no movement in Meeting Room 3 for the last two hours. Let’s dial down the cooling.”
This isn’t science fiction. It’s where connected lighting, building data, and AI are heading. The goal is to make building management as intuitive as having a conversation with a helpful colleague—but one who never sleeps and never forgets.
The reality: The EPBD isn’t just about ticking boxes. It’s about future-proofing buildings. With the rise of digital energy monitoring and automation, regulatory compliance is evolving into a competitive advantage. Interact Pro allows installers and integrators to deliver a new kind of value-added service— one that doesn’t stop at lighting but connects to broader building efficiency goals. You can start simple, prove ROI quickly, and grow capabilities over time.
Interact Pro: fast, scalable, future-ready
Smart lighting is no longer just a tech upgrade—it’s a strategic lever for building owners navigating EPBD, energy targets, and digital transformation. Interact Pro makes it easier to get started, easier to scale, and easier to stay compliant. And with Bulbi leading the charge in AI-powered support and automation, the future of building management might just be a conversation away.
To learn more about Interact Pro, contact us at the link below, or visit https://www.signify.com/global/specifier/interact-pro.
Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) is the world leader in lighting for professionals, consumers and the Internet of Things. Our Philips products, Interact systems and data-enabled services, deliver business value and transform life in homes, buildings and public spaces. In 2023, we had sales of EUR 6.7 billion, approximately 32,000 employees and a presence in over 70 countries. We unlock the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world. We have been in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index since our IPO for seven consecutive years and have achieved the EcoVadis Platinum rating for four consecutive years, placing Signify in the top one percent of companies assessed. News from Signify can be found in the Newsroom, on X, LinkedIn and Instagram. Information for investors is located on the Investor Relations page.
