Our Process

Turnkey Lighting Upgrades

Hemma’s lighting upgrade services include everything from designing and installing your new lighting system to the disposal of old fixtures and assistance with warranties and rebates. We’ll take care of all these tasks for you, without disrupting your day-to-day operations. You can remain focused on running your business, while we get the project done in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. Here’s how our process works:

• Review your request for a lighting upgrade to decide whether our services would be able to help your business.
• Discuss how many stores or locations you have, what your operating schedules look like, which facilities are your busiest locations, and what your return on investment (ROI) goals are.
• If there are any particular lighting issues you are experiencing currently, we want to know all the details.

One of our trained auditor specialists will conduct an investment grade audit (IGA) at your facility. An IGA is a fixture-by-fixture, room-by-room summary of the site, resulting in a highly accurate comprehensive energy profile.

• Using the latest auditing and proposal development software, our auditor will examine your existing lighting equipment to pinpoint wasteful or under performing areas.

During the IGA, our surveyor will collect the following information:

• Quantity of light fixtures, controls, and sensors for each building or workspace
• Type of lamp used in each fixture, with full specs
• Condition of current fixtures
• Average burn hours of use for each fixture
• Lighting and circuitry design
• Light level measurements by room
• Photographs and/or videos of work areas showing current lighting
• Review of recent electricity bills (necessary to determine current energy costs per KW/h)
• Environmental issues such as humidity and high heat levels
• Installation or maintenance challenges for particular spaces (e.g., high ceilings, obstructions)

Once completed, the data is uploaded into our cloud network, where our lighting design engineers can immediately begin reviewing the information and generating a proposal tailored to your needs.

Hemma’s lighting upgrade proposals include a complete comprehensive analysis of your current lighting system including an inventory of all existing fixtures along with a list of potential solutions. Typically, we will draft more that one proposal in order to fine tune the scope of work.

The proposal will also include details relating to:

• How the aesthetics of the workspace can be improved and why this is beneficial
• Installation costs
• Utility rebates and tax incentives
• How the new lighting equipment can improve light levels while reducing energy consumption
• Energy and maintenance savings
• Environmental impact
• Time frame for completing a lighting installation
• Disposal and recycling fees for old ballasts and lamps
• Project payback time, cash flow analysis, and return on investment (ROI)

Also included in our proposal are engineering layouts that illustrate the lighting designs for your work spaces. We complete each proposal with lighting layouts that use photometric software to detail what light levels can be expected after the upgrade is finished. Once the proposal is finalized, we will then prepare for installation.

We begin the project by ordering all of the appropriate materials and hand-selecting the best outsourced crew for each location.

One of Hemma’s project managers will oversee the remainder of the installation, which will be scheduled at times that are most convenient for your business. 

Alongside the project manager, an installation crew will perform the installation safely, efficiently, and within the scheduled timeframe.

As we wrap up your installation, Hemma’s commercial lighting team will remove your old lighting equipment from your location and haul it to an EPA-approved recycling center. Many of these outdated materials contain hazardous waste (e.g., mercury), and you will receive an official certificate stating your discarded materials have been properly eliminated.

• Before our work crew is dismissed from your facility, our project manager will conduct a final walk through with you to inspect all of our work, review updated lighting levels, and discuss any programming and system maintenance requirements.
• Hemma will also notify your local utility company of the upgrade and schedule a post installation inspection.
• We will also provide you with our written guarantee for the work completed as well as warranties for the lighting products installed.
• Whenever possible, we will identify lamps, fixtures, etc. that qualify for government or utility company rebates or state/federal grants. If you’d also like us to process the paperwork for any of these financial incentives, that’s included as a part of our service.

Project Management

• To ensure continuity, we’ll assign a dedicated project manager to your lighting upgrade, who will personally oversee all phases of the project.
  • This includes:
    • Ordering materials and products,
    • Tracking and following-up on product deliveries,
    • Overseeing construction and installation,
    • Supplying dumpsters for waste hauling, arranging removal and disposal of old lighting fixtures,
    • Applying for utility rebates, supplying operating and maintenance manuals for the newly-installed lighting equipment, and post-project follow-up.
  • If you have any questions or concerns during the upgrade, the project manager is your primary contact point for information. To learn more about our project management and other services, please visit our services page.