REP'S PERSPECTIVE
Extending the Life of Your Design – The Role of the Agent in the Circular Economy of Lighting By JONATHAN SCHWENKE, LC
Form Lighting and Controls
My start in lighting was on the specification side, working for an MEP firm in Seattle, WA. The first LED luminaire I can recall being installed was for the City of Seattle in 2009, replacing 6” downlights in several restrooms managed by the city. The first few questions I remember hearing revolved around how they would maintain these new high-tech luminaires. The answer was simple…“That’s so far off in the future, you won’t even need to worry about it.” Well, here we are in the future. I am now playing an important role supporting the efforts of building maintenance professionals on what to do next. Agencies across the country are routinely hunting down warranty information, diagnosing issues, coming up with LED-to-LED replacement solutions, suggesting sustainable methods of recycling, and list goes on.
replacement parts, or their control system no longer works despite having been installed just a few years ago. We handle these scenarios similarly, except for the fact that one requires an immediate affordable solution and the other (holistic approach) gives us time to do some real investigating, typically with a larger budget at our disposal. Both, however, should not involve scrapping the initial design for the sake of selling more luminaires. Agencies want to satisfy customers, but the task is daunting at times given the variety of LED luminaires installed today. I’m hoping this article will help by starting the conversation, earlier in the process, of what to expect once a project is turned over.
Manufacturer Warranties Operating & maintenance manuals (O&Ms) are critical and can typically be found on site, but, in some cases, they’re missing important information. Most lighting manufacturers rely on the electrical distributor’s purchase order number to determine warranty status. With some lighting manufacturers giving a 10-year warranty, the O&M manual or network folder could be long gone. A better solution is to specify that the distributor’s PO number is added to the label on the fixture itself. Most manufacturers can include a printed label during manufacture at little to no added cost. One might ask why the project name or building address would not suffice to identify a product’s origin? The reasons are plenty: the product was purchased on a stock order, was part of a national account purchase, NDAs required building name to be generic, the address given was a staging area, etcetera.
Engineered custom kit being fit tested in an 8’ four lamp T5HO direct/indirect wall mounted luminaire (shown with opaque lens removed). Credit: Jonathan Schwenke
I’m thrilled that the idea of a circular economy is gaining traction in lighting. Lighting agencies are in the trenches, aiding in the decision to re-lamp, retrofit or replace fixtures in existing buildings. Holistically, agencies will help specifiers evaluate vintages, light quality, potential energy savings, control methodology and future maintenance requirements. Agencies will also get the dreaded call from building maintenance professionals stating that they can’t find
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Without good information, warranties can take weeks to figure out. What usually happens is that your customer pays for a new fixture to replace one that’s still under warranty, plus attic stock if they didn’t order any in the first place. It’s worth noting that electrical distributors might not make project records accessible for as long as the fixture is warranted, so relying on distribution to find order information may lead you to a dead end. Agencies are responsible for vetting their manufacturers. Working with a lighting agency should give you peace of mind that the manufacturers they partner with are credible and stand by their product and warranty terms. The size of