Practical advice on commercial lighting from LED retrofits to lighting design.

If you've spent any time in construction, you've been in this scenario: you get plans for your next project and start the bid-gathering process. Most estimates come back within a typical range, but the bid for lighting is way out of budget. Other times, the lighting bid may look good, but there's a late-in-the-game surprise — a 12+ week lead time that's now throwing a wrench in your schedule.

Now what?

In situations like this, value engineering a lighting package tends to come up. We've value engineered countless projects, and we've also written about ways to avoid the value engineering crunch and still save money. There is value behind value engineering — when you do it the right way.

When you're working on a new construction project, value engineering and savings seem to go hand-in-hand. But we like to take a different approach to value engineering and saving our clients money.

A new building project is on the horizon. Between designing, budgeting, and scheduling, getting the project off to the right start can be one of the biggest challenges.

Often, the more complex the project, the more likely it is that challenges will arise.

Have you tried to find a 3500K lighting product with no luck? While there are plenty of products for sale, we've recently noticed that some products are becoming harder or impossible to find.

LED technology has brought about new innovations and more options in the lighting industry. Manufacturers are constantly coming out with new products that give the consumer more options.

One of those recent innovations: Color and wattage selectable LED fixtures. 

It goes without saying that we are in unprecedented times.

Can you think of another time when construction nearly came to a complete stop?

As projects start to pick up again, it's a great time to reassess your plans and prepare for the future. Ideas that might have worked pre-pandemic might not work anymore.

Color consistency is a critical issue that has surfaced with the popularity of LED lighting.

How do you know that the color of your lighting will be consistent from one product to another?

Do you feel like lighting is throwing a wrench in your project schedule and you’re scrambling to get a lighting package value engineered? And then, after you go through V.E., are you left with a package that doesn’t meet the original design intent?

There’s another way to do lighting.

Here’s a common dilemma: a company hires a general contractor to oversee a large-scale renovation or new construction buildout, or a series of projects. But when it comes to lighting, the company isn’t sure who should purchase the products.

I get asked all the time what the right color temperature and color rendering index (CRI) should be for various applications. Although there are rules of thumb that typically provide a positive outcome, color can be so subjective. With LED, your options have become almost limitless. Selecting the right color for your application can be pretty overwhelming.