Manufacturers’ innovation and experience centers across the country showcase cutting-edge building controls and electrical systems. We sat down with experts at four companies who shared the latest happenings at their centers and a taste of what could come in the future.

Andy Hennig, communications manager who leads tours for 3M’s Innovation Center, St. Paul, Minn.

There are about 50 3M Innovation Centers worldwide, and five in the United States—St. Paul, Minn.; Austin, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Murray, Utah; and Silver Spring, Md.

3M is divided into four business groups—safety and industrial, transportation and electronics, healthcare and consumer. The Innovation Center in St. Paul at our global headquarters is broader in scope, covering all business groups, while others have a very specific industry focus. The centers exist to help 3M tell its story on how we innovate.

On our tours, we first talk about the culture of innovation at 3M. We have a “15% Culture Rule,” in which every 3Mer—in addition to directed projects in their area of expertise—also has the ability to work on projects they personally pick, whether or not it relates to their own job. This unleashes the power and passion in every one of us to combine 3M’s technologies with our own creativity to solve problems.

We conduct innovation center tours for a variety of purposes, including employee recruitment and for business customers. Every one of our tours is different with no prescribed script, though I always talk about how 3Mers can innovate to help solve problems.

The goal is to get tour participants to think about things they’ve never thought about, and to then engage by asking us questions that could lead us to help them. That kind of conversation doesn’t necessarily center on the products or technologies they may already understand, but more so on an underlying problem they’re trying to solve.

For example, we helped energy customers solve a problem by developing a product called aluminum conductor composite reinforced, or ACCR, a high-capacity power line. For power transmission, the typical distance between towers is between 500 and 1,000 feet, and when power is conducted along those lines, the aluminum wire and steel core heats up, causing the power line to sag. If the line sags too much, it can potentially produce an arc to the ground and create blackouts.

Instead of steel as the core, 3M developed the ability to coat thin ceramic fibers that are very resistant to heat with ultra-pure aluminum. That way, the power line doesn’t sag, and energy companies can either conduct twice as much power with their existing towers or, for newer lines, put up far fewer towers.

Conversations with customers about problems they may have can lead to innovations like this, and then I encourage them to do the same.

Dan Carnovale, director of the Eaton Experience Centers, Eaton Corp., Cleveland

The Eaton Experience Centers in Pittsburgh and Houston are focused on training and education across application environments, showing how power systems and electrical equipment work from utility applications to receptacles in homes. They provide a hands-on and visual learning environment to safely explore how power systems work with equipment that’s live.

In addition, the Experience Center in Houston, which historically focused on oil and gas industry applications, now incorporates microgrids, electric vehicle charging systems and energy storage.

Our Experience Center in Pittsburgh incorporates solar, wind, EV charging and a microgrid that help power our facility. While these application environments are new to our Experience Center in Houston, we at Eaton have longstanding experience and technologies that help customers safely add renewables, energy storage and EV charging—and these application environments have been in place at our Experience Center in Pittsburgh for years.

In Raleigh, N.C., we have a training environment focused on data center environments; in Milwaukee, our educational center focuses on utility and larger-scale power systems; and the St. Louis center focuses on fuse and circuit protection and more broadly across the lower- and medium-voltage electrical equipment as well.

The Eaton Experience Centers focus on training and demonstrating how electrical power systems work and can be reinvented because of the energy transition. We host different kinds of groups, including 5th graders in STEM classes, high schoolers learning about careers and customers, as well as electrical contractors and other organizations in the energy industry.

With NECA, we just hosted the NEXT Leadership Academy, which provides interactive learning. Programs like our Power Up training support early-career power systems design engineers, providing real-world experience and customized education on a variety of electrical design topics.

Eaton’s Experience Center in Pittsburgh offers a look at multiple types of installations, including residential EV charging.

Our customers can see how equipment works before they apply it in their facilities. Whether they are putting in switchgear, or new circuit breakers, or metering to help them save energy, they can see that equipment energized and working at the Eaton Experience Centers. We’re providing a systems-level view, showing how technologies can be applied.

We also use the Experience Centers for recruiting and training. Moreover, we train staff about applications across the electrical industry—maybe someone understands how transformers work and are designed, but needs to see how the entire system works.

At the Eaton Experience Centers, we show how microgrids, EV charging and energy storage can be incorporated into new and existing electrical systems. When you need to supplement power coming in from the utility, microgrids can help optimize your energy infrastructure, balancing sustainability, affordability and resiliency. Electrical contractors get to see these systems work.

In addition to our in-person training and education sessions, we have an extensive library of videos, so you can explore electrical applications wherever you are. Our Experience Centers contribute toward a better understanding of power systems for the industry.

Amrita Khemchandani, vice president of product management, building automation systems and controls, Johnson Controls, Milwaukee

Innovation requires intentional study, experimentation, failure, design, development and continuous testing to ultimately bring a successful solution to market. At Johnson Controls, innovation is core to our DNA and one of our foundational principles. We empower our 100,000-plus employees around the globe to bring the best solutions to the market, backed by world-class innovation centers located strategically around the world.

Our innovation centers are staffed by subject-matter experts in HVAC, building automation, fire, video, card access, critical environments, cloud-based analytics and more to provide focused think tanks to incubate new ideas today to drive tomorrow’s solutions. Relying on nearly 140 years of experience in the field, our teams can identify both solutions to provide new outcomes for facility owners and occupants.

Within the building automation and controls domain, we’ve deployed some of our most notable product launches and enhancements by leveraging the work happening at our innovation centers. Our world-class Metasys interface, which was first launched in 2015 and born out of thousands of hours of contextual research, is uniquely designed to clearly identify relationships between HVAC equipment and the spaces they serve, maximizing building operator efficiency.

We were also able to bring our Verasys Building Controls System, designed for the specific needs of the light commercial market, to market. Other recent enhancements born out of our innovation centers include Metasys fault-detection and diagnostics capabilities; our latest wireless system offering; our industry-leading, ring-enabled IP controller solution to enhance network resiliency; and our 4-in-1 NS8000 Series network sensors.

Currently, Johnson Controls innovation centers are focused on designing the next generation of building automation systems to drive solutions for smarter buildings, campuses and cities. We are incorporating the latest technologies in machine learning, cloud connectivity and cybersecurity to evolve today’s solutions into solutions for tomorrow. 

Brian Donlon, vice president and general manager of commercial sales and service, USA, Lutron Electronics Co., Coopersburg, Pa.

Lutron Experience Centers are designed to showcase the latest innovations in automated lighting and shading systems and intelligent fixture solutions for residential and commercial spaces. Within the centers, visitors are fully immersed in the Lutron experience as they watch rooms and artwork transform before them with the press of one button.

We also have all the products, the pieces and parts that make up our systems, available and on display so that visitors to our centers can understand how our systems work, right down to the wiring.

Lutron Experience Centers help customers explore a “day-in-the life” scenario of living with a custom Lutron system, including wall control colors, finishes and shade fabrics.

Lutron Experience Centers are located throughout the United States, Canada and London. Visits are by appointment, and electrical contractors are encouraged to schedule a tour with their local distributor partner or design professional.

Lutron’s Commercial Experience Center in New York displays products from intelligent lighting to automated shading to wiring. 

The 3M Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minn.,  covers all the company’s business groups.

Johnson Controls / eaton / 3M / Lutron