If you manage several buildings, the site with the largest electric bill is not automatically the best first lighting project. Its bill also pays for cooling, equipment, and other loads. A useful shortlist starts with a lighting inventory, operating patterns, project constraints, and the utility serving each address. This guide shows how to rank sites for a first commercial LED upgrade without pretending that a whole-building bill measures lighting alone.
Start with a comparable site record
Create one row per building. Record the facility type and area, electric utility, recent bills, normal and seasonal operating hours, major lighting zones, fixture types and counts, control schedules, maintenance problems, and any planned renovation. Use actual bills and site observations; mark missing information instead of filling it with assumptions.
EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager benchmarking guidance explains how to compare a building’s energy use with its own history and similar properties in a portfolio. That comparison can identify buildings worth investigating. It cannot, by itself, tell you how much of a building’s electricity comes from lighting. Compare similar use types, and account for changes in occupancy and operating hours before treating one site as an outlier.
Estimate the lighting opportunity, not just the bill
For each site, inventory representative fixtures by type and zone. Note existing input wattage, quantity, controls, and realistic annual hours. A preliminary annual lighting-use estimate is connected kilowatts multiplied by operating hours; keep every assumption visible. Separately record where lighting is already off, dimmed, or needed for safety and tasks.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lighting Measurement and Evaluation Protocol calls for documented fixture counts, power, operating hours, and appropriate light levels when evaluating a retrofit. Its publication date is October 1, 2012. The method remains useful for planning, but the actual design and measurements must reflect the current facility.
Controls need their own treatment. A simple reduction in installed wattage can be estimated from the equipment inventory, while occupancy sensing, scheduling, and dimming can change runtime or power over time. Do not stack a generic controls percentage on top of a fixture estimate. The DOE protocol recommends measuring representative use where controls make operating hours difficult to infer.
Rank each candidate on four practical questions
- Energy opportunity: How much lighting power and runtime can plausibly change after preserving the required light levels? Flag unknown fixture wattages or schedules for field verification.
- Operational need: Are there dark task areas, failed fixtures, frequent lift rentals, or a scheduled shutdown that make one project more valuable or easier to execute? Document the condition rather than assigning an unsupported savings value.
- Delivery readiness: Can the site provide access, ceiling heights, panel and circuit information, a decision maker, and a workable installation window? A promising site with no access plan may belong in a later phase.
- Utility path: Which electric utility serves the meter, and what current program may apply to the specific equipment and customer? Confirm eligibility, application timing, and documentation with the utility before treating any incentive as committed.
A simple scoring sheet can assign each question a consistent low, medium, or high rating, with a note explaining the evidence. Keep estimated kilowatt-hours, project cost, and the rating separate. This avoids a precise-looking total score built from guesses. Visit the highest-potential sites first and revise the order after an on-site assessment.
Check the utility before approving the scope
New Jersey businesses should identify the actual electric utility at each address. JCP&L’s business efficiency page, PSE&G’s Direct Install page, and Atlantic City Electric’s Prescriptive and Custom page describe different pathways that include lighting or controls. Program fit depends on service territory, customer and equipment eligibility, and current rules. These pages were reviewed November 13, 2026; confirm current terms with the utility before ordering equipment or starting work. This is a planning check, not a promise of a rebate.
Pilot one site, then make the next site easier
Choose an early project that combines a credible lighting opportunity with a workable installation plan. Before installation, keep the fixture inventory, control settings, baseline hours, and proposed light levels. Afterward, record installed quantities, final settings, and any field changes. This makes the result easier to review and improves the assumptions used for the next site.
A portfolio rollout should also preserve lessons about access, disruption, fixture fit, and controls behavior. Reuse the process and documentation, but recheck each site’s tasks, utility, and operating hours. A warehouse aisle, office, and parking area should not inherit the same lighting design merely because they belong to the same owner.
What to ask for in the first assessment
- A zone-by-zone inventory with counts, existing equipment, controls, and observed light-level issues.
- A proposed scope that explains fixture and control choices, exclusions, installation access, and commissioning.
- An energy estimate that shows input wattages, hours, and assumptions separately from any incentive.
- A utility eligibility check for the specific meter and proposed equipment.
- A plan for post-installation verification and a record of changes from the proposal.
NexVolt’s commercial LED lighting upgrades page explains its site assessment, planning, installation, and verification process. If you are ready to evaluate a New Jersey facility, request an energy upgrade assessment and bring your site list and available utility bills. For help reviewing bids before committing, see the commercial LED proposal comparison guide.
Sources and information date
Information reviewed November 13, 2026. Sources: EPA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager benchmarking guidance (undated webpage, accessed November 13, 2026); U.S. Department of Energy Lighting Measurement and Evaluation Protocol (published October 1, 2012); and the official JCP&L, PSE&G, and Atlantic City Electric business program pages (accessed November 13, 2026; terms may change).
