Qualifying a lighting professional to work with you can be a complicated process, fraught with pitfalls if you are unaware of what you should be searching for. Today we are sharing the four categories to be aware of in order to select the best lighting partner for your project.
At face value, energy efficient lighting projects may appear to be fairly straight-forward and easy: lighting audit, system design, equipment procurement and installation. In reality, each one of these steps represents a series of complexities and challenges and mistakes made in any stage can lead to exponentially more challenging problems as the project progresses.
Recognizing that lighting is not simple and that the evolution of lighting technology is making it more complex, is the key to taking the first steps toward a successful project. A successful project requires selecting a partner or service provider that is highly qualified and experienced in lighting audits, lighting system design, energy analysis, utility incentives, and project construction.
It is also this complexity that is driving the need to change the traditional model of specify, bid and build. The most qualified and successful lighting service providers bring value to every step of the process and each brings their own unique approach to the project. Allowing them to work in a model which helps the customer to benefit fully from the expertise of their lighting partner is imperative, the specify, bid, build model prohibits this by ignoring much of the value they bring. Specifically, it limits their creativity and may also result in a higher cost project.
It takes time and money to complete the tasks required just to propose an energy efficient lighting project. Rather than asking several companies to spend money developing a proposal, select a partner through a qualification process and ask only one company spend time and money developing a proposal. It is important to recognize that it can be virtually impossible to truly compare, on an “apples to apples” basis, 2 different lighting proposals. Avoid this mistake.
Having set the stage, how can one qualify a lighting service provider and what are some of the pitfalls of which to be aware? The qualification process can be divided into 4 categories: (1) financial stability, (2) experience, (3) capabilities, (4) references. A thorough investigation into each of these to answer questions like “will my lighting partner have the financial resources to develop a project and source materials in a timely fashion?”, “does my lighting partner have the experience to design the best systems for my application?”, “does my lighting partner understand the intricacies and liabilities of prevailing wage requirements?”, and “does my lighting partner have a track record of happy customers?” will go miles towards ensuring your project is successful.
At Envocore, we specialize in helping facilities operate efficiently while customizing solutions for every application and need. Contact one of our experts today to learn more.