As a business owner, there are three main factors to consider when upgrading your commercial lighting: 

-Light Quality
-Cost Effectiveness
-Environmental Concerns.

Upgrading from compact fluorescent light bulbs to LED lights for your office covers all three bases at once.

Light Quality – For starters, LED lighting gives off a whiter light than traditional bulbs, resulting in less strain to your eyes, and even enhancing your mood and your employees’ moods and productivity. LED lighting provides a clearer view of what you’re looking at, and makes everyone feel better!

Cost-Effectiveness – Ready to put a dent in your business’s bottom line? While the initial purchase of LED lighting is typically higher than that of traditional CFL’s, the lights pay for themselves over their lifetime. Example: an LED light would cost $99 to run for 50,000 hours while a CFL bulb would cost $160 to run for the same period AND needs to be replaced about five times during the process.

Environmental Concerns – Did you know the federal government (when it’s open lol) offers tax write-offs and incentives for businesses that lower their carbon footprint? Traditional CFL bulbs contain highly toxic mercury, while LED lighting contains no toxic chemicals or metals. With a market that’s rewarding you for going green, LED lighting benefits your business in more ways than one!

Victory Lights, Inc. can help you with all of your commercial lighting needs. Contact us today! 

Solar power has become increasingly popular in the last decade.  A lot of people have decided to take that leap and stop using power companies to light up their home. Instead, solar panels are installed on your roof or in a large open area near your home, and the sun is now your power company. An utterly renewable energy source that can cut your energy bill in half. But what exactly does using solar panels do for the environment? The list goes on and on, but we’ll just name a few key benefits for your today!

It’s renewable! As stated before, your getting your energy from the sun so there is no chance of you running out of power after the panels soaked up all the sun during the daytime. This means no fossil fuels are being used and your carbon footprint will shrink!

A significant reduction in greenhouse gases. No fuels are being burnt to create any source of energy in the home.

The sun’s energy is 100% free, whereas big corporations charge ridiculous amounts of money so that people can live comfortably. This saves the consumer money in the long run. It’s not an environmental benefit, but it’s a considerable benefit nonetheless.

Solar energy reduces respiratory and other related health issues. There are little to no air pollutants when it comes to solar power, so this saves your lungs as opposed to using coal or natural gas.

All in all, solar energy is becoming more popular for an excellent reason. It’s an expensive up, but it’s well worth the money spent to save the planet, and yourself, from harmful things lurking in our light switches. It’s time to go green, one solar panel at a time!

For many people, there isn’t anything more beautiful than the night sky. All those stars, constellations, even planets lighting up the sky like a gigantic Lite-Bright is a breathtaking sight. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t ever get to see that beautiful sky thanks to light pollution. Major cities keep lights on 24/7 365, and it completely drowns out a naturally lit up night sky. It seems almost hopeless to see the stars in a big city – that is until they discover dark sky lighting!

Dark sky light fixtures combat light pollution by containing the light it puts out. This means that all these specific fixtures have covers on the tops and sides of them as not to let the lights pour out and up into the sky. It is also a smart idea to install motion detectors for these lights and not a basic switch. This will ensure that no light is wasted if you forget to turn it off, as it will shut off on its own. It can also double as an alert when someone or something is near that part of the house. 

The effect light pollution has on us isn’t just the annoyance of not being able to see the stars at night, it can cause health problems as well. This applies to humans and wildlife, though it’s mostly animals that get the rougher end of this. Animals such as newly hatched sea turtles who get confused by the glowing artificial lights and can’t find their way to water. Or birds who collide with the source of the bright lights, or even other birds in their states of confusion. With humans, it can cause disorientation if someone has trouble seeing at night already. Take Las Vegas; for example, all the glowing neon can make a person’s head spin if they’re already squinting as is. It can also severely mess with a person’s sleep schedule! A lit up sky at night can cause our circadian rhythm to go out of whack and keep you up at night if you’re not fortunate enough to have blackout curtains. 

The International Dark-Sky Association is the group that certifies the fixtures deemed “dark-sky friendly” and will always include the IDA’s seal of approval upon purchase. If these types of fixtures were installed in major cities and parks, it would cause a humongous decrease in the light pollution put out. But as these lighting fixtures make their way more into the mainstream, you can make a difference by installing them into your home. Keep the night sky beautiful and turn down the brightness, become dark-sky friendly!

Going green has become more than a trend, it’s slowly becoming a way of life for many people. If you’re in the market to start building a new home and want to go about it the most environmentally friendly way possible, then you’ll find some useful information here. There are innovations in green building construction every day; here you will find 5 top tips to make sure you’re getting the most of an energy efficient home. 

1. Let’s start with the building blocks of the home; the wood used to create it all! One of the best options out there nowadays is a type of lumber called “Accoya Acetylated Wood.” This is a type of pine that goes through a process called acetylation which uses a combination of heat, pressure, and a strong vinegar to alter the hydroxyls in the pine into stable acetyl groups. Those hydroxyls are the reason wood can swell or shrink over time or due to extreme weather. The Accoya Acetylated Wood is much more resistant and can take a pretty severe beating and withhold it’s structure, whereas a natural piece of lumber with naturally occurring hydroxyls can not. 
2. Now, what about the roof? Well with green building construction, you can turn your roof into a home for solar panels, or turn it into a beautiful garden. Commonly known as “Green roofs,” this style of roofing lets the consumer go outside the box with standard home planning and bring literal life into the structure. This is a popular option for city living if allowed, as it brings that unique pop of green into an ordinarily grey area. 
3. Speaking of solar panels in the last tip, this is an essential and highly recommended tip in going green for your home. Solar panels give the consumer a renewable source of energy and also keeps the utility bills at all time lows. Though the initial cost of solar panel installs can be quite high, there are constant innovations beings made on how these panels are installed. There are also companies working on interchangeable solar paneling, meaning that if and when you decide to move, you can take your solar panels with you and continue to be green. 
4. Let’s shed some light on the subject of green home lighting! Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) provide a big punch in a tiny package. A light that can last up to twenty years, instantly turn on (no creepy flickering in the middle of the night here!), and never overheat, it’s a wonder why everyone doesn’t use LEDs already! These types of lights can also run solely on batteries, and even when plugged in use up minimal amounts of power. 
5. Last but not least, you’re going to want to take a shower and wash dishes at some point in your home (let’s hope you don’t wait too long), but imagine all that water you’ve wasted in the past. Well, high water bills will be a thing of the past once you begin recycling and filtering your water! Installing a rainwater collection system can do just that for you. Just like with solar paneling, this is a renewable source of energy as well since whenever it rains, that water is collected and filtered correctly, even the potable water. 

Going green can be a fun project and a crucial one as well. Learning about all the ways to help preserve the Earth brings us one step closer to saving it. If you’re considering construction on a new home, go green and go farther! 

Sources 1, 2

There have been many trends in home building lately, but one is starting to stand out more than the rest. As most know, building materials are probably the most crucial part of constructing any new building, and the trend lately has been using metal materials to build. Besides being a sturdy structure, building with metal has many more qualities. But it can also have some drawbacks too. If you’re on the fence about how to build your next project, check out these pros and cons of building a metal building.

PROS:

• The endurance of a metal building is by far the best quality it has. Especially in Florida where severe weather takes places every summer. Metal buildings are made to survive in any weather, hurricane or snow.
• Maintenance costs are low and easy to keep up with.
• Spend less time building and more time living! A metal home can be constructed in as little as three weeks. Frames are pre-made, so they’re a breeze to put together and complete a finished home.
• Nice to the environment. The materials used for the metal houses can be easily made from recyclable material, including but not limited to one of the best insulation systems a home can offer.
• Much more open floor plans. In metal buildings, there are no walls beside the exterior which allows for more ideas in creating rooms and areas within the building. This works excellent for buildings used as offices is something business related, not just for leisure.

CONS:

• Although the open floor plan gives plenty of room to create in, metal buildings are not the best option if you’re looking to build more stories onto the building. They stick more toward warehouse/barn style if you want a taller option, and can personalize to your liking in the interior.
• Unfortunately there is no customizing your framework for a metal building. The steel frames are already made and can’t be constructed into new forms.
• Metal buildings can withstand harsh weather, but there is a lingering threat of metal corrosion if exposed to more tropical climates. Though with the proper maintenance, this issue can be avoided and treated correctly.
• The price tag on a metal building is a little steep, but compared to the lifeline of the steel materials versus a typical building material like wood, it is well worth the cost.

Metal buildings are a trend that will stay with the times. If you’re tired of traditional homes and buildings, and the pros outweigh the cons for a specific situation, then give metal buildings a try!

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Are you the type to drive through a neighborhood and scoff at the sight of the same house over and over again? Do communities with the same visual design and assembly line styles make you want to scream for some originality? Do pre-made house plans bore you to tears? Well then maybe it’s time to break free from the cookie cutter homes and begin a new adventure, custom building your own home!

Having a new home is an exciting achievement in itself, but custom building your own home takes you to a whole new level. When it comes to designing your blueprints for your new home, you have to consider many things. Here you will find a few helpful tips when venturing into the world of customizing your new to-be-built home.

To start would be how many rooms will you need? This means every room, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, living areas, hallways, etc. Utilize your space wisely! Do you want a small craft room or should you make it into a personal bathroom with a large tub? Do you want to have small sets of stairs in small lifts throughout the home, or add a whole new story? Do you have an outdoor pool and would you want to create a small pool room? Or if it’s cold where you live, would you want to have a small closet space near the front door for jackets and coats? Don’t sell your space short, and don’t cram too much into one spot.

Outlets are important! Use thoughtful planning when placing outlets in your custom home. Make them easily accessible, yet out of harm’s way (i.e., near any water sources). Also, utilize the natural light that can come through your home with the installation of various windows throughout your home.

The installation of all the “hardware” of your new custom built home is just as important as the visuals and functionality of it. The HVAC system in your custom home should be paid particular attention to and installed according to the surroundings. If a unit is not the proper size, this could cause issues in the central air and heating of the home and cause other problems to surface if not addressed immediately.

And the most important tip of all is, do what you want! This is your home; it’s custom built to fit your needs and personality and functions the way you want it to. A custom built home gives you the freedom to express yourself and live in something you helped create from the ground up!

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!

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