LED Lighting Can Save Both the Planet and Your Budget
The environmental impacts of LED lighting are well-known, and a strong motivator behind a lot of businesses’ recent shift to more sustainable lighting. In fact, the North American LED lighting market reached $20.5 billion in 2023, and has an estimated growth rate of 8.6%. This boom can be attributed to the rising interest in sustainability efforts. However, the financial benefits of LED retrofitting your business are equally as important and should be explored further.
LED retrofit projects enhance the value of your commercial space, and are more cost-effective than completely replacing the entire lighting system. Before you embark on LED retrofitting your business, you should understand the financial advantages that may come your way. Here, we’ll explore the cost-savings associated with LED retrofitting and share an example of a business who transformed their commercial spaces without damaging their budget.
How Can LED Retrofitting Save You Money?
LED retrofitting your lighting systems throughout your facilities will result in reduced maintenance costs because LED lighting requires less upkeep than incandescent bulbs. That’s because LED lights have a much longer lifespan. They last an impressive 20,000 to 60,000 hours. Compare that with incandescent bulbs, which typically only last 750 to 2,000 hours. That’s an instant cost-savings because businesses don’t have to repeatedly invest in replacements. You also won’t have to spend money on maintenance labor. Those resources can instead be directed elsewhere.
Additionally, the energy savings that come with LED retrofitting your facilities means lower utility bills. LED lights generate very little heat and use less electricity, so expect savings across the board, from lighting and energy to HVAC. LED retrofitting can cut these expenses anywhere from 40% to 90%.
Government incentives also help offset the initial investment of LED retrofitting your business. Depending on facility locations, certain rebates are available to pay a percentage of LED project costs. You can also take advantage of other nationwide incentives or tax deductions. For instance, EP Act 179, enacted in 2020, offers tax deductions for commercial businesses that improve the energy efficiency of their buildings.
LED retrofitting is also much more cost-effective than completely replacing all light fixtures. LED lights are more versatile than traditional lighting, and can be fitted into existing fixtures, eliminating the extra cost of replacing them. Those expenses can add up, so this flexibility is key.
In general, an experienced partner will ensure that an LED retrofit project disrupts the daily operations of your business as little as possible. Let’s take a look at a recent example of how CLS Facility Services supported a client with their LED retrofit project.
Example: Proper Planning for LED Work Produces Optimal Results
Recently, a major financial services firm partnered with CLS Facility Services for a complete LED retrofitting in more than 1,000 office locations across the country. Organized project management was key for this large endeavor, and allowed it to be carried out on time and within budget.
Ensuring that daily operations in these commercial spaces were not interrupted was paramount, and proper planning allowed for this. Technicians built their work schedules around the hours of operations of these offices so as not to disrupt business. They also ensured that they were not interrupting the offices during peak season times.
In addition, LED project routes were established to better optimize the labor of these technicians. For example, seasonality and weather conditions were noted to make sure weather would not impact travel conditions for the technicians. Partnering with an experienced LED retrofitting expert like CLS Facility Services ensured that this financial services firm would not have to shut down any locations and lose out on businesses, thus saving money in the long run.
Proper planning also allowed each location to achieve rebates where available, which helped to pay for 10 to 20% of LED retrofitting costs. CLS Facility Services was able to maximize savings, utility rebate potential, and enhance the value of each project for a stronger ROI. In the end, we completed 1,300 LED retrofits for the financial services firm, which resulted in an astounding 62.1% energy savings.
LED Retrofitting: Eco-Friendly and Budget-Smart
Of course the ultimate benefit of LED retrofitting is helping the planet, but the financial perks are certainly hard to ignore. When selecting a partner for your LED retrofit project, CLS Facility Services is hard to ignore, too.
We have extensive experience with organizations across multiple industries to help them benefit from the environmental and financial impacts of LED retrofitting. We provide you with facility asset management services that you can trust to help your organization operate at peak performance while also achieving your financial and sustainability goals.