Hosts Jason Shearer and AK kick off Distilled Building Tech with their cocktail ritual. Guest David Robinson, Director of Automation at MECHO, goes classic with an Old Fashioned (Maker’s Mark or Knob Creek). Jason pours Sweetens Cove bourbon aged in sugar-maple barrels, and AK enjoys a Penelope Four Grain.

With over 30 years in lighting and daylight control, David’s career spans South Africa, the UK, and the U.S. He now leads automation for MECHO—part of Springs Window Fashions, the largest window covering manufacturer in the U.S.—bridging the gap between artificial and natural light.

David explains MECHO’s move from electric lighting to daylight automation. Their SolarTrac system models each building in 3D, tracking the sun’s path and using rooftop radiometers to measure visible, infrared, and UV light. Algorithms compare those readings to ASHRAE standards and dynamically position shades for optimal thermal comfort and daylight balance.

Automated shading boosts both comfort and savings:

• Reduces HVAC load by blocking solar heat gain before it enters the space.
• Dims artificial lighting through daylight harvesting.
• Saves time and labor—one Los Angeles project saw full payback in under a year from eliminating manual shade adjustments.

MECHO systems connect through BACnet, dry contact, or increasingly API integrations. Their Power over Ethernet (PoE) motors provide low-voltage power and addressable control, with each motor supporting up to eight API addresses for flexible zoning and sequencing—mirroring how advanced lighting systems are orchestrated.

Moving from line voltage to PoE drastically simplifies cabling, lowers installation cost, and enables software-defined control. Each shade motor runs on Cat6 cabling directly from a PoE switch—no heavy conduit, no localized power panels—making systems faster, scalable, and future-proof.

As networks merge, MECHO designs with full TLS and 802.1X security, ensuring smart building systems meet enterprise cybersecurity standards. The team stresses resilience over isolation—secure, connected automation beats “air-gapped” legacy setups.

David also serves as President of the PoE Consortium, uniting 30+ companies to set standards, interoperability, and education for PoE. The mission: make low-voltage, network-powered systems mainstream across lighting, shading, and building automation.

Learn more at poeconsortium.com and mechosystems.com/poe.