Did you know our federal government and our local municipalities offer utility incentives and even government rebates for installing LED lighting? These incentives and rebates help offset installation costs as well as save you money with lower utility bills and lower maintenance costs.

Most of these incentives and rebates require the LED lighting that you purchase to meet specific certification qualifications like Energy Star or DLC (Design Light Consortium). Any LED lighting system you are buying should have their certification indicated with the product. 

Installing LED lighting in your business is also a significant step toward becoming LEED Certified. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a rating system devised by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to evaluate the environmental performance of a building and encourage market transformation towards sustainable design.

Read about additional information regarding federal and local incentives and rebates that your business may qualify for by visiting these links:

• The national database for local and federal rebates and incentives: Click Here
• Information on LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification: Click Here
• Information on the 179D Federal Tax Deduction for Lighting: Click Here

LEED is a rating system devised by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to evaluate the environmental performance of a building and encourage market transformation towards sustainable design. The system is credit-based, allowing projects to earn points for environmentally friendly actions taken during construction and use of a building. LEED was launched  to develop a “consensus-based, market-driven rating system to accelerate the development and implementation of green building practices.” 

The LEED rating systems are grouped into five main categories:

• Building Design and Construction
• Interior Design and Construction
• Operations and Maintenance
• Homes
• Neighborhood Development

Building Design and Construction

The first category, Building Design, and Construction contains 10 LEED rating systems. These rating systems are guidelines for new buildings and old buildings undergoing major renovations. Schools, hospitals, retail, data centers, warehouses, office buildings, and apartment buildings are all examples of buildings that would fall into this category.

Interior Design and Construction

The second category is Interior Design and Construction, which was designed specifically for tenants leasing a portion of a larger building. Interior spaces in commercial buildings, retail, and hospitals would fall into this category. For example, a company leasing commercial office space or for a Starbucks in a strip center would pursue this option.

Building Operations and Maintenance

The third category is Building Operations and Maintenance, which can be used by building owners and operators to measure operations and maintenance as well as make minor improvements. Schools, hospitals, retail, data centers, and warehouses can fall into this category.

LEED for Homes

The fourth category is LEED for Homes, which was specifically designed for single and multi-family residential structures that are three stories or less. LEED for Homes is modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency’s successful ENERGY STAR for Homes program and became available to the public in 2008. It applies to single- and multi-family residential units up to three stories tall.

LEED for Neighborhood Development

The fifth and final category is LEED for Neighborhood Development, which integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism, and green building into the first national program for neighborhood design.

It’s a no-brainer that a big building uses up a lot of energy and can produce a lot of wasteful issues during the construction. Nowadays, conserving energy and making areas greener is a top priority among most cities when it comes to new construction. Going green in commercial construction has an incredible amount of perks, with vaguely zero downsides. To put this into better perception, buildings, including commercially owned, are responsible for 40% of the energy usage across the planet. That’s the PLANET; not country, not continent, but the whole she-bang. Imagine a world where every building went green, here is what would be accomplished.

• Thought the initial cost of the construction is higher to go green than conventional buildings, it has been proven that the amount saved on energy, water, and maintenance costs far outweighs the potential sticker shock.
• Insulation used in green construction is typically recycled and sustainable. Some companies even use a material very close to fiberglass, except its denim! Old jeans that are tossed aside, ruined, or wasted are given new life to insulate the walls of an eco-friendly building.
• Dual plumbing allows for less water consumption, using reclaimed water for the toilet and landscape irrigation and potable water for everything else.
• Going green can be quite literal in eco-friendly construction. Buildings built with green in mind have the abilities to  grow gardens on the rooftops and have what’s referred to as “living walls.”  Living walls, also known as bio-walls, reflect solar radiation, improve air quality by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, and absorb rainwater that would otherwise be runoff.

In short, going green in the commercial construction of new buildings is the smartest decision one can make before breaking ground. It will save money and also help save the earth, one construction site at a time.

Source 1, 2, 3

For business owners, saving money is one of the critical factors in maintaining a profit business. Saving starts from the inside out, making sure office and retail space is used efficiently, and money isn’t wasted on utilities. A business owner with a retail shop needs to have adequate lighting all day and sometimes even at night, but burning so much energy has got to be costly. Not when you make the switch to LEDs!

Most retail shops typically have fluorescent lighting. It is a less expensive alternative to incandescent bulbs, as well as consuming much less power, but it is not the most pleasant lighting. Fluorescents also don’t react well to drastic changes in temperature; a cold snap could cause the lighting to flicker and hum loudly. LED lighting uses 20% less energy than a fluorescent light, and lasts much longer too. They’re not made with any  harmful chemicals like the ones found in fluorescent bulbs (mercury, noxious gasses). Even the bulbs themselves are typically shatterproof.

The initial installation cost of a LED lighting system can come with a sticker shock, but the benefits of switching over substantially exceed that of a minor one-time expense. They consume 95% less energy than an incandescent bulb, and still manage to save more energy than the fluorescents, as stated before. This adds up to your power bill, especially when in a commercial building where lighting may be used 24/7.

Make the most of your new year and your business and switch over to LEDs. A bright future for your business starts with a well-lit shop!

Source

Nicole Stevens

Having and maintaining a business is incredibly awarding, and also requires a lot of hard work. During  all that hard work, business will increase, as will the chances you will need to expand. Expanding may include changes to your building, and the likelihood of adding new construction to your business is high. If you’ve never had experience constructing new work space, it’s difficult to figure out where to begin. Below you will find a few pieces of advice into a smooth transition to add on construction to your business.

• First, decide if it would be more cost-effective to begin new construction or look for a new location. Typically the addition of new construction would be less costly.
• Make sure your business is on solid ground. This has two meanings; first being to make sure construction wise that the ground you are adding on to is stable and will remain level with the rest of the building. The second meaning is to build according to your business’s stability. If you’re struggling, now is probably not the best time to add new construction to your plate.
• Plan out a blueprint of new construction areas. Play with different ideas on various layouts of the construction plans. Will it all be one story? Are you adding another level to the building? What type of reinforcement will you need? Having several blueprints will also allow for a better way to calculate an estimate of costs and see which one comes out most cost-effective.
• Contact a local certified and licensed contractor to begin the process of the new construction add-on. They will help provide with proper estimates of cost and get things squared away before building begins.

Beginning new construction onto your business can seem like a stressful task but taking it one step at a time helps make the right decisions for the expansion of your business.

by Nicole Stevens

Saving money on your electrical bills every month is great, but what’s even better than not spending money? Making money on your electric bill! How is something like that even possible, you may wonder? Well, thanks to the introduction of new state-of-the-art LED lighting systems, you can now gain incentives while you enjoy your new efficient lighting system.

Lately, power companies have been adopting the plans of giving consumers incentives to make the switch to LED lighting. Some of the major companies, like Duke, have partnered up with Victory Lights as a Trade Ally, which gives business cash incentives for the switch! They also pay for upwards of 75% of the cost of installing the LED lighting system.

Besides the money back incentives given by the power companies, a huge benefit of switching to LED lighting is the money you’ll save in the long run. This is all at no loss of efficiency either, as itactually betters the building for high-efficiency equipment without the shock of a high-priced power bill.

Money is probably the main thing on someone’s mind when it comes to maintaining a well-ran office or place of business, though it isn’t everything. What about a longer lasting impression, maybe an environmental one? A moral incentive that comes along with LED lighting is that of reducing your carbon footprint and not relying on natural resources and operating your business in a greener space.

The best part of all of this? It’s not just one set plan; it can be worked out for the right specifications of your business and its needs. Flexible options, money saving, environment saving, and lucrative, what more could you ask for from your lighting system? Get LED today!

by Nicole Stevens

Going green has become a top priority with most business, big and small, over the years. A successful business knows how to save money, and the best place to start is where the business happens! Green commercial buildings not only save money, but they also help keep our environment clean. But what exactly does that mean and how does it all work? Is it all just some environment-friendly buzz-words or do these green buildings serve a meaningful purpose in our communities? Let’s go over a few facts on green commercial buildings and see what adds up.

Let’s start off with some energy statistics; on average green buildings consume 25% less energy. That’s a 25% deduction off your electric bill already! Alongside energy consumption, green buildings use 11% less water and 19% less in maintenance costs (Green Building Facts, USGBC). On top of saving on energy bills every month, it cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions by a whopping 34%. Saving money and saving the planet come hand in hand in the construction commercial green buildings.

So what exactly makes those changes in consumption so different? There are varying methods but most popular would be solar or wind power. This eliminates the use of fossil fuels, immediately exterminating any  emissions from entering the atmosphere. Solar panels have come a long way in the past few years, becoming more affordable and accessible thus allowing more business to take advantage of solar power. Wind power works mostly the same as solar power and obtains the same outcome.

The best part about building green buildings? It can have all the glitz and glamour of a non-green building without having to cut back on anything but energy usage, at no extra cost to the consumer!  Unlike most “organic” or green items, a green building doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg to construct. It also has the same amount of build time, if not less in some cases, as a non-green building. In fact, the only difference between a non-green and green building is that one will wind up costing consumers more in the long run, money-wise and earth-wise. A business that makes an earth-conscious decision makes a smart decision every time. 

SOURCES 1, 2, 3

There are some of reasons, as electricians, we recommend LED lighting over compact fluorescent bulbs (or CFL’s) for your business. The three main reasons we’ll discuss here are Light Quality, Cost Effectiveness, and Environmental Concerns.

Light Quality – LED lights to give off a whiter light than traditional compact fluorescent bulbs- resulting in less strain on your eyes when trying to read or focus. This is such a great benefit to reduce the strain your eyes already undergo during a day of staring at a computer monitor, spreadsheets or measurements. LED provides you with a clearer view of what you are looking at. Compact Fluorescent bulbs cast objects in a yellow glow, and light that is focused in one direction.

Cost Effectiveness – While the upfront purchase price of a LED light bulb is higher than that of traditional CFL’s, this cost pays for itself over the life of the LED bulb. According to one study done by the Environmental website Eartheasy [Source: http://www.eartheasy.com], a LED light would cost $95.95 to run for 50,000 hours while a CFL bulb would cost $159.75 to run for the same period and would have to be replaced about five times during the process. Recognizing these cost savings for your business could make a real dent in your bottom line!

Environmental Concerns – Lower your business’s carbon footprint with LED Lighting! CFL light bulbs contain mercury – a highly toxic metal that poses serious health risks, while LED lights contain no such toxic chemicals or metals. Studies performed by the United States Department of Energy and scientists from Carnegie Mellon both found that LED lights are as efficient to manufacture as CFL lights and LEDs will become even more efficient in the future. With a market that’s rewarding businesses for going green by offering incentives for energy saving methods, LED lighting could benefit your business in more ways than one!

Source

Crisp, organized, attractive decor and furnishings are essential elements in making customers feel welcome and comfortable in your business, but too often, the value of attractive, aesthetically pleasing, welcoming lighting has many benefits. Beyond energy savings, a more efficient, greener lighting control system can change everything.

When customers want to sit and stay awhile, get to know you, carry on conversations, remember your business and want to come back – lighting is almost always a factor.

A thoughtful lighting plan creates and encourages a pleasant and inviting atmosphere. It also generally enhances your customer’s experience of spending time in your environment. Among other things, it leads to better employee productivity, helps reduce operating expenses, and makes for an all around better environment. All these factors add up to a more profitable business for you.

The right lighting in a retail establishment draws in a greater number of customers and helps keep those customers in the store for longer periods of time. Factors to keep in mind when creating a business lighting environment include choosing the right mood inducing colors and specific types of light sources to positively affect the appearance of products. Lighting factors go hand in hand with the right music to create an environment that appeals to people’s senses. In fact, some customers are so sensitive that the wrong lighting and music puts them in an instant rush to leave.

For example, overly harsh lighting makes certain items of clothing appear cheaply made, or accentuates minor flaws that would otherwise be of little concern to buyers. Consider how less appealing items of clothing in a gas station appear to you compared to items in a boutique or specialty store. Beyond the “cheap factor” – your general environment scheme should include creative use of placement, include accent lighting, and make your establishment feel interesting and inviting to your customers.

Proper lighting conjures up most any effect you’re looking for to accentuate your products and appeal to the clientele you’re trying to draw. Proper lighting also benefits your employees (and your bottom line). Contact Victory Lights today and let us take your lighting to the next level.