
The Power of Value Engineering for Electrical Lighting Contractors
, 7 min reading time
, 7 min reading time
Value engineering (VE) allows contractors of all kinds to stay within the budget set by the client while providing as much value as possible. To achieve this, electrical lighting contractors often utilize alternative fixtures, optimized electrical layouts, and load monitoring and balancing systems. Even if you’ve never considered VE as a contractor in this field, you have plenty of options for integrating this practice into your business.
Value engineering is a concept that originated in the General Electric plants working to produce essential supplies for the war effort during World War II. Small replacements made out of necessity and shortages sometimes yielded better results than the original design. The practice quickly spread to the construction industry, and today, it’s used by many electrical lighting contractors as well.
The key principles of VE are quite simple. The practice seeks to maximize the function of the design, including the aesthetics of the design if that’s a priority for the client. This form of engineering also focuses on minimizing costs. That includes labor, material, design, and delivery. Finding the perfect balance between functionality and cost is the goal of every VE effort.
Many misconceptions abound about this kind of value-focused engineering.
Some critics confuse the cost planning stage of construction with VE. The VE stage is more extensive and focused, producing targeted cost reductions and functional improvements. Cost planning only involves researching and designating costs for various designs and project stages. Both parts of planning are important and inform each other, but they aren’t the same.
Singular practices like smart procurement, labor optimization, and workflow planning all fall into VE efforts, but they can’t provide the same results individually. Only a complete VE assessment and plan will optimize these details on an electrical contracting project.
More than downgrading fixtures or features to save costs, VE maintains or increases desired functionality without affecting the total cost. The finished design must balance both cost and features to ensure client satisfaction.
All value engineering projects, including those completed for electrical lighting designs, have six distinct stages.
Each VE approach begins with an information-gathering stage to understand all relevant project requirements and constraints. Skipping this step leaves you without the necessary data on costs, systems, and materials that guide the cost-cutting and function-increasing stages.
After the raw data on the project is gathered, it’s analyzed through several techniques to identify the functions of each part of the system. Components are described according to their function and then ranked by importance. An entire electrical lighting design is easily assessed this way to identify potential opportunities for improvement.
Once the major functions of each part of the project are outlined, it’s simply a matter of generating alternative solutions to each function. For example, switching to more efficient lighting fixtures for an entire facility could cut costs for the rest of the electrical system. Using innovative technologies and materials allows for creative solutions that might otherwise go overlooked.
While you can suggest potential alternatives for the components that make up the electrical lighting design, it's not enough. Each alternative needs evaluation to weigh details like cost savings, impact on workflow, material availability, and overall feasibility. Analyzing these trade-offs will highlight the best options, including when to stick to the original design.
Creating implementation plans and cost estimates for alternatives highlights the value aspect of VE. Detailing the chosen alternatives assures the client of the need for the changes and the potential benefits of making them.
Finally, the entire VE proposal is presented to all relevant stakeholders. The VE team must gain approval from the client and anyone else involved in the decision-making process. Once approval is achieved, the last step is planning the implementation of the revised project.
Potential benefits from VE don’t just attract the interest of product designers and general contractors. Electrical lighting contractors can benefit in many ways from this practice.
Cost Reduction
Improved Efficiency
Innovation and Adaptability
Risk Management
Electrical lighting contractors can put value engineering to good use on all commercial projects, from small-scale retail lighting designs to complete industrial or manufacturing systems.
Each project will provide more closely tailored lighting solutions, helping you meet your clients' goals while staying within their budgets. Energy-efficient lighting systems and fixtures make offering VE as part of your services easier than ever.
You’ll build long-term relationships and earn repeat business by delivering high-quality and cost-effective lighting solutions.
Differentiate yourself from the competition by highlighting your VE expertise. Positioning yourself as an innovator in electrical lighting contracting is as simple as utilizing this proven and easily learned skill.
Optimized and energy-efficient designs with less waste are eco-friendly. You can market your contracting services as contributing to sustainable construction goals and certifications such as LEED.
Value engineering goes beyond basic efforts to minimize unnecessary electrical lighting design and installation costs. It’s a complete set of practices contractors can use to produce the best combination of value and function for their customers. The importance of VE in the electrical and lighting industry will continue to grow as new regulations and restrictions related to energy use develop.
If you want to learn more about value engineering and the electrical lighting industry, contact us at ULE Group. Our team can make applying these principles to the biggest lighting design challenges easy. We also offer other resources to help you with VE for electrical lighting projects.