The Right Way to Switch to LED Lights

When trying to make a building more energy-efficient, it’s tempting to go after the so-called “low-hanging fruit.” For instance, get the super to remove the outdated incandescent light bulbs in all common areas and replace them with state-of-the-art light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs and – voilà! – watch your electricity bill go down. Dumb move.

The board at a 35-unit co-op on the Upper East Side resisted this temptation and instead followed the Con Edison playbook for a building-wide lighting upgrade. By taking a more holistic approach, the board was able to take full advantage of Con Ed’s numerous incentives and rebates, not only on LED bulbs but also on buying new fixtures and retrofitting existing ones. As a result, the co-op is likely to see a far richer payout than it would have realized by simply plucking the low-hanging fruit. Smart move.