Lunera to offer a no-money down lease for LED lighting

Much of the energy consumption in commercial buildings is by lighting. But replacing row after row of fluorescent lights with energy-efficient LED lighting can be expensive: typically $4 to $5 a square foot for materials, labor and installation. In a 20,000-square-feet office space, that's $100,000. Now Lunera, a Silicon Valley startup that designs and manufactures next-generation LED lighting, is borrowing a page from California's fast-growing rooftop solar industry. On Thursday, it plans to unveil a lease-to-purchase program that lets commercial building owners retrofit their lighting for no money down. The lease is believed to be the first in the commercial lighting sector.