I recently had the opportunity to interview Kurt Vogel, Director, Product Development – Relight, Acuity Brands Lighting, for an article I wrote about the office building lighting upgrade market for The Electrical Distributor (TED) Magazine. The interview was extremely informative, and I wanted to share it with you complete here.
DiLouie: How would you characterize office buildings as a market for lighting upgrades? What factors, such as utility rates and utility rebates, put a project into the sweet spot for an upgrade?
Vogel: Most office buildings more than a few years old have lighting systems that are costing the owner more than they should in monthly operating costs, regardless of utility rates. The US DOE estimated in 2012 that there were still over a half-billion T12 fluorescent lamps installed in commercial buildings. That’s crazy. Even some older T8 installations are inefficient and wasteful due to overlighting and inefficient fixtures. All of these building owners and operators can see big savings and improvements in lighting from an upgrade done correctly.
Higher electricity rates and the availability of rebates make the savings that much greater, but nearly all buildings can benefit.
DiLouie: Starting with lighting quality, how office spaces are used has changed over time, while the lighting design often remained unchanged. What kind of lighting problems can this represent in the workplace? How could be addressed in a lighting upgrade?
Vogel: Most office space lighting in the past was designed around two main concerns: (1) getting a lot of light (70-100 fc) down to the desk for paper-based activities, and (2) keeping glare off that big convex glass monitor screen if you happened to have a computer on your desk. Neither of those is appropriate in today’s office environment, and in fact it’s resulted in some very harsh and uncomfortable lighting.
Recommended light levels have gone down significantly, and glare is seldom a concern with today’s monitors. More emphasis is being rightly placed on human interaction, where lighting on vertical surfaces like faces and whiteboards is far more important than how much is on the tabletop.
Lighting upgrades and well done retrofits can address these issues to improve lighting dramatically while still delivering significant reductions in monthly operating and maintenance costs.
DiLouie: How can distributors add value to a discussion about upgrading office lighting by incorporating lighting quality into the sell?
Vogel: Traditionally, distributors have sold lighting system retrofits purely as an opportunity to save energy and cut electricity consumption. This has led to a lot of lamp and ballast sales that didn’t result in any improvement in the quality of light (and in many cases decreased the quality of light).
A true lighting upgrade can deliver the same energy savings while significantly improving the quality of light and the entire “look and feel” of the space. It also greatly increases the value of the sale because it increases the relative value of the office space.
DiLouie: Moving on to energy, 4-ft. T12 lamps and magnetic ballasts have been largely eliminated by legislation, with specialty exemptions. What kind of opportunities has this created for distributors?
Vogel: Anyone with T12 lamps needs to upgrade. The question for distributors is whether they will sell a “lowest common denominator” simple energy-savings upgrade or a true lighting upgrade that delivers the same energy savings plus a true improvement in the quality of the lighting.
DiLouie: There are many older T8 lighting systems. What kinds of opportunities exist to retrofit these systems?
Vogel: Most T8 systems are designed to deliver footcandle levels that are far above what’s really required in today’s offices. That means they’re wasting energy, and they’re also using more lamps than are necessary to do the job. A lighting upgrade will not only reduce energy consumption and improve the lighting, but it will also reduce the number of lamps and ballasts in the space which results in significant savings in maintenance costs.
DiLouie: Many corporations demand very fast paybacks. What is today’s low-hanging fruit for lighting upgrades?
Vogel: Requirements for fast paybacks can result in some really crappy lighting retrofits that may end up costing them more in the long run. Fast paybacks are typically focused only on energy savings and don’t take into account the quality of the lighting delivered. These corporations need to understand the total cost involved over a period longer than the 18-24 months they’re typically looking at.
DiLouie: What advice would you give to distributors conducting an audit of an existing lighting system?
Vogel: Are they T12? Immediate opportunity for huge savings. Are they four-lamp fixtures? Immediate opportunity to deliver more appropriate light levels while reducing maintenance. Do they have inboard/outboard switching? Immediate opportunity to replace with bi-level ballasts using existing wiring. Are there opportunities to incorporate controls like occupancy sensors and photocontrols? Further enhanced value and energy savings.
DiLouie: LED provides deep energy savings but still presents a higher cost. How would you characterize the current opportunity for LED products in office buildings?
Vogel: Building owners need to look at lifetime costs, not just simple paybacks. They also need to consider the future integration of lighting controls. LED lighting provides them with greater opportunity to “future-proof” their building to address these opportunities while still recognizing immediate benefits.
DiLouie: What other lighting in the building should the distributor be looking at as potential retrofit targets?
Vogel: If it lights up and it’s more than a few years old, there’s probably an opportunity to retrofit it for some measurable benefit. Quantifying the benefits knowledgeably is the responsibility of the salesperson.
DiLouie: If you could tell all electrical distributors just one thing about office building lighting upgrades, what would it be?
Vogel: Selling a lighting upgrade instead of just a simple energy-savings upgrade can boost the value of the sale enormously. If you’re not talking about the quality of light at the same time you’re talking about energy savings, you’re missing a big opportunity.
