Commercial lighting upgrades represent one of the most impactful energy efficiency investments a business or institution can make. But managing lighting incentive programs—with their complex fixture categories, variable rebate structures, and formula-based calculations—has traditionally been a paperwork nightmare. Our configurable non-residential lighting solution changes that.
The Challenge of Commercial Lighting Programs
Unlike simple prescriptive rebates, non-residential custom lighting rebates must handle:
- Before and after conditions — a walk-through assessment is necessary to record the existing fixtures to determine the efficiency baseline.
- Milestone workflow — The lighting contractor must first work with the program to determine eligibility and the available rebate value.
- Multiple fixture categories — old inefficient fixtures, replacement LED existing fixtures, specialty LEDs, and lighting controls must be accommodated
- Complex formula-based calculations — lengthy formulae must run to determine sum watts before, sum watts after, annual kWh saved, lifetime kWh saved, and peak kW demand avoid.
- Multi-tier rebate structures — Rebates are concluded based on a factor applied to energy savings and compared to a maximum of program cost, and some programs may impose matching conditions for partner utilities and/or building owners.
Managing all of this manually means spreadsheets, lookup tables, and significant risk of calculation errors. Our platform automates it all.
Three Fixture Categories, One Unified Workflow
The system organizes commercial lighting into three distinct sections, each with its own rule set:
1. New Fixtures
For new construction and major renovation projects where lighting is being installed for the first time. These typically qualify for the highest incentive rates since there's no baseline consumption to offset.
2. Existing Fixtures (Retrofits)
The most common category—replacing inefficient fixtures with high-efficiency alternatives. The system calculates savings based on the difference between old and new wattage, with rules that can factor in operating hours and facility type.
3. Other Fixtures
A flexible category for specialty lighting: exterior, signage, controls, sensors, and emerging technologies that don't fit the standard new/retrofit model.
Each category maintains its own dropdown of qualifying products, automatically filtered to show only options that match the customer's program, installation date, and facility characteristics.
Formula-Based Calculations
Simple per-unit rebates work for residential programs, but commercial lighting demands more. Our formula engine supports dynamic calculations using these variables:
| Variable | Description | Example Use |
|---|---|---|
[Cost] |
Fixture purchase price | Cap rebate at 50% of cost |
[Size] |
Primary size (watts, lumens, feet) | $0.50 per watt reduced |
[Size2] |
Secondary size dimension | Factor in fixture length |
[Size3] |
Tertiary size dimension | Account for lamp count |
[AmountPerUnit] |
Base rebate from rule | Starting point for adjustments |
[Quantity] |
Number of fixtures | Volume-based bonuses |
A typical formula might look like: [AmountPerUnit] * [Quantity] for simple cases, or ([Size] * 0.75 + [Size2] * 0.25) * [Quantity] for wattage-plus-length calculations, or MIN([Cost] * 0.5, [AmountPerUnit] * [Quantity]) to cap rebates at half the equipment cost.
The Bottom Line
Configurable non-residential lighting retrofit programs turn what used to be a complex, error-prone manual process into a streamlined digital workflow. Contractors get instant feedback on rebate amounts. Program administrators get clean data and accurate calculations. And utilities get faster throughput with fewer processing errors.
Whether you're launching a new lighting program or modernizing an existing one, our platform's flexible rule engine, formula calculations, and multi-tier support can handle it—without custom development.
Ready to simplify your commercial lighting incentives? Contact us to see how the configurable business lighting solution can work for your program.