Following these four steps can help facility managers decide how to move ahead with LED retrofits
1. Start with your facility’s primary goals: Highest ROI / quickest payback? Cut carbon footprint? Get LEED points?
2. Realistically assess any limitations: Fixture age/condition? Available budget? Energy codes?
3. Sell the upgrade to the C-suite by focusing on its possibilities: Cut energy spend? Capture incentives? Upgrade property value and attractiveness?
4. Incorporate those characteristics into a RFP that elicits proposals from lighting contractors experienced with LED options. Many have already “gone through the mill” with various options and will (through their responses) offer expertise and competitive pricing. Ask those that make your short list to install mockups of their proposed equipment at your site to assess what’s available within your budget.
It doesn’t make economic or environmental sense to wait for this technology to “settle down.” Years may pass before that happens. The immediate benefits (both financial and climatic) instead call for building owners and facility managers to seize today’s LED opportunities.
