In commercial buildings, lighting accounts for up to 40% of total energy cost. Reducing this energy consumption has become a major goal for building owners, governments, utilities and many other stakeholders. It’s no secret that replacing existing lights with more energy-efficient lighting sources (such as LED) is one of the ways to reduce this massive […]
The Value of Wireless Lighting Control Read More »
Dear Reader: It should be comforting to the Facilities Manager to know that there is oversight being provided the manufacturers on the efficacy of each fixture manufactured, particularly those that stand to qualify for various rebates, tax credits and other forms of subsidies. This is provided by a non-profit organization known as DesignLights Consortium, which
The DesignLights Consortium as ‘Big Brother’ Read More »
Dear Reader: Some Facilities Managers are serious about squeezing the maximum amount of waste out of their systems – in this case their lighting systems – and converting it to profit. The more a lighting system is optimized, the more efficient it operates, and the more savings it generates, driven to his/her company’s bottom line.
Reduce Your Burn Times; Reduce Your Energy Bills Read More »
Dear Reader: There are two ways to lessen the kWh consumption of your lighting system: 1. install higher efficacy LED fixtures, and 2. include a control system. One (new fixtures) involves a smaller kW draw than your existing system, and the other (controls) results in less time the new fixture will be ‘on’ as compared
Every Thoughtful Controls Strategy Results in Less kWh Consumption Read More »
Dear Reader: There are two ways to cross the crevasse between the language of the manufacturer – lumen output of a fixture – and the language we typically use in planning, designing and executing a new lighting plan and mix of LED fixtures: Install thousands, such that your experience base enables you to be able
Use Point by Point Computer Simulations Read More »
Dear Reader: The specification sheet for any lighting fixture typically includes a great deal of information on the fixture – perhaps more than you want or need to know. That said, there is one set of data the Facility Manager may want to tune into, given its importance to the design and layout of any
Photometrics, a Quick Primer Read More »
Dear Reader: Facilities Managers won’t be surprised when learning there is sometimes a surprise around what he/she thought they were reading from a specification sheet, and what they see in terms of performance in their plant. The science of lumens is susceptible to that, as manufacturers and Facilities Managers have no choice but to talk
Lumens Don’t Matter. Delivered Lumens Do. Read More »
Dear Reader: If you were to read the literature, it seems the industry throws around two terms almost as if they were interchangeable – efficacy and efficiency – when, in fact, they mean two very different things. Efficacy is the measure of the overall lighting fixture, simply the amount of work it provides (lumens) divided
Efficiency versus Efficacy .. What’s the Difference? Read More »
Dear Reader: Time has value. And as such, a part of the analysis as to what the quality of an LED lighting system investment would is to determine what the return on that investment would be over time. Because dollars invested today are not available for other investments once they’ve been deployed (spent) on a
Factor In the Value of Time with Internal Rate of Return Read More »
Dear Reader: We’re pretty negative on the value of the Simple Payback metric in assessing the investment quality of a potential LED lighting retrofit, as it alone doesn’t do a very good job in modeling the complete benefits of LED. We ‘get’ the need to produce it, as the vast majority of management personnel need
Simple Payback Isn’t a Key Performance Metric Read More »