FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
John Woodnutt, an entrepreneur and inventor of electronic lighting control technology, has been awarded an MBE for services to business and entrepreneurship in the 2023 New Year Honours list.
The recognition is the culmination of more than six decades of commitment to creating smart, energy-efficient building technologies.
In the late 1950s, Woodnutt pioneered innovative electronic techniques which revolutionised the control of lighting and, in 1959, founded Delmatic Lighting Control to develop and commercialise these innovations. The products and concepts developed in those early years paved the way for rapid implementation of energy efficient controls during the energy crises of the 1970s.
Woodnutt’s continued innovations over subsequent decades, have generated many pioneering features such as daylight-linking and corridor-hold, plug-in LCMs (lighting control modules), presence detectors, and adaptive loadshedding.
Under the leadership of Woodnutt, Delmatic continues to innovate cutting-edge solutions for the latest smart buildings, merging wired and wireless DALI-2 devices across integrated IoT and converged IP networks and optimising efficiency through sharing of granular data via MQTT.
The first commercial application of lighting controls in the early 1960s provided individual programmable control of every light within a forty-storey London headquarters building – fully flexible control more than sixty years ago! Since then, Delmatic has equipped some of London’s most iconic buildings and projects including the NatWest Tower (Tower 42), the Gherkin, the Shard, Battersea Power Station and Crossrail Elizabeth Line. Internationally, the company represents the very best of British engineering and expertise, supplying leading-edge solutions to many of the most advanced global projects including the world’s largest smart lighting control system for the new terminal at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
In 2023, at the age of 96, Woodnutt is still actively involved in his company’s work and in the continued advancement, development and application of cutting-edge technologies to enhance sustainability, save energy, and meet the pressing demands for reductions in greenhouse gases and carbon footprints.
Speaking about his award, Woodnutt said: “I am delighted and honoured to receive this MBE. I share this recognition with my many colleagues – both within Delmatic and the wider industry sector – with whom I have worked over more than sixty years and, without whom, we could have not achieved all that we have achieved.”
In a highly cost-competitive and dynamic marketplace, to keep up with ever-expanding client demands and remain competitive, there is increasing pressure on FM organisations to effectively manage risk.
And with the growing challenges of dealing with multiple suppliers, contractors, and day to day processes, it has never been more important to have access to a compliant supply chain that you have full visibility of.
Market-leading Health, Safety and ESG risk management provider Alcumus, has produced a FREE GUIDE to learn how your organisation can become more resilient and well placed to create value across your supply chain network while saving time and resources.
Topics covered include:
- Overview of supply chain risks in FM
- Best practice supply chain tips
- How to increase value from your supply chain
To download the free guide click here.
