As government tax credits and utility rebates and incentives dry up, energy-efficiency improvements have evolved beyond the low-hanging fruit of fixture replacement at low cost. While the funding was still available over the past decade, electrical contractor Abbott Electric Inc., Canton, Ohio, set itself apart as a provider of energy-efficient upgrades, swapping out fixtures, designing the new systems and calculating savings based on energy usage. Abbott Electric also made a practice of knowing what incentive programs were available and helped customers identify and apply for them.


By 2010, Abbott Electric was serving as a one-stop shop for commercial and industrial building owners that were seeking ways to lower their energy bill and cut their carbon footprint. Now, with the number of the government-subsidized projects dwindling, the company is providing a new level of service that involves its design/build expertise and is delivering a return on investment to owners based solely on energy savings.

Abbott Electric was founded in 1978 as a small commercial and residential electrical contractor. Today, it is owned and operated by founder Jim Abbott’s sons, Mike, Steve and Tony, and son-in-law, Brent Fatzinger. It has become one of the area’s largest electrical contractors, with two office locations in Northeast Ohio. In addition to performing many types of electrical work—industrial, commercial, institutional, design/build, residential and service work—the company also has specialty divisions: Abbott Fire & Security (phone, data, fire alarm and security alarm systems) and Stark Safety Consulting (a unique niche that includes electrical safety consulting, safety training and electrical-safety-related engineering services, including arc flash analysis throughout the United States).


Abbott Electric also has made a practice of bringing lighting-based energy savings to customers, in some cases going out to building owners who may not have considered retrofitting their lighting system. The contractor knows the incentive programs and the cost of using energy, as well as the degree of savings, and provides the calculations. This way, the customer knows what to expect from lighting show upgrades before taking on the financial burden. 


After all, a mistake can be costly. Simply switching fixtures may yield some savings based on energy use. However, it could take four to five years to realize the return on investment, and with new and better technologies always appearing in the lighting industry, the gains might hit at the same time the customer plans to install a new system.


Mike Abbott, company president, said the electrical contractor must take all of that into consideration, beginning with selling an installation that offers real gains, even as incentives dry up.


Like most companies, Abbott Electric saw a reduction in business as construction turned downward in 2008. That’s when the company began diversifying and found that commercial enterprises, schools and other facilities were benefitting from switching out their T12 light fixtures to T8s. In addition, metal halides were being swapped out for fluorescents. While there were very real benefits realized from this fixture swapping, the customers benefitted more from re-engineering the lighting layout. In some cases, the number or placement of fixtures could be changed entirely to bring the most effective illumination.


As a result, not only did Abbott Electric save its customers energy, but it also improved their lighting. Mike Abbott said he often jokes to customers that they might want to plan to replace carpet and paint at the same time as the lighting project. That’s because, after the improved lighting goes in, customers start noticing the flaws in rugs and wall treatments.


Abbott Electric won as many as 90 jobs in a five-year period in part because of the Construction Wireman and Construction Electrician (CWCE) program. 


RW Screw retrofit


Industrial lighting poses challenges in the sheer size of the retrofits. Abbott Electric upgraded lighting throughout an entire factory for RW Screw, an Ohio-based machine shop and manufacturer of precision screw machine parts. At that time, the local utility was able to pay 100 percent of the installation cost, and, since that installation, RW Screw has saved about $300,000 in electricity costs.


The facility is approximately 188,000 square feet and required a replacement of its existing metal halide system. Mark Bolanz, RW Screw Products’ maintenance supervisor, said the company first met with Abbott Electric about the upgrade in 2011. The company needed to modernize the lighting to improve light quality for staff members and to bring down energy costs. The 596 400-watt (W) metal halide high bay fixtures all needed to be swapped out with six-lamp T8 high bay fixtures, Bolanz said.


With the project, Abbott Electric also replaced 366 very-high-output two-lamp fixtures with T8 high-output fixtures, and 385 4-foot four-lamp T12 fixtures with T8 28W fixtures. At the same time, Abbott Electric installed lighting contactors for the entire facility for controlling the large lighting load.


Once the system was in place, RW Screw began to see the benefits right away.


“The return on our investment was immediate,” Bolanz said, adding that utility rebates made all the difference. “With First Energy’s rebate, the project was fully funded at no cost to us.”


“Our estimated savings in energy cost is $96,000 a year,” he said.


In addition to the monthly utility savings, Bolanz said maintenance costs dropped. Since the fixtures are not being replaced as often, the company avoids paying a disposal fee for lamps that have been replaced. 


He said lighting quality has also improved.


“The high-bay fixtures light level stays consistent compared to the metal halide,” he said.


The end of rebates


Now many of the utilities that once offered the rebate programs have run out of funds. Without the rebates, the one- or two-year payback has stretched out to three or four years, Abbott said. Regardless, the metal halide to fluorescent lighting retrofits are still underway, while light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have entered the arena for those who are using either T12 or T8 fixtures.


Government buildings are the most common customers to transition to LEDs, and commerical building owners may follow suit. 


“Each time technology changes, opportunities improve,” Abbott said.


Abbott Electric has learned to specialize in factoring what the existing costs and predicted savings would be for customers, which sets the contractor apart from its competitors. The company hires a specialist to accomplish this for each job.


“We also analyze maintenance savings,” Abbott said. 


For instance, Abbott Electric determines how much time staff at buildings might save replacing burned-out lamps. 


The retrofits have become easier to sell in some ways, Abbott said, because customers don’t need the education they used to. More often than not, if Abbott Electric approaches a company about its lighting, the owner has already been thinking about options.


Sales techniques have changed as the market has evolved as well. In 2010, selling energy-efficient lighting retrofit jobs was simple, Abbott said. Once the owner subtracted the utility rebate, which was usually 25–40 percent of the cost of the project, the overall cost to the customer would be realized fairly quickly in energy savings. After that time frame, all of the energy savings would be money in the owner’s pocket.


“There weren’t many business owners or CFOs that didn’t jump on that opportunity as soon as we showed them the numbers,” he said. “Today, we find ourselves working much harder to find the opportunities and spending more time analyzing the engineering methods.”


That’s where the expert analysis of a potential customer’s energy usage and savings come in.


When Abbot Electric started providing lighting retrofits in 2010, the work represented 15 percent of the company’s business. As construction picked up and incentives for retrofits disappeared, it now represents about 5 percent. That will change as LEDs become more affordable, Abbott said.


The company also provides retrofits in building-wide remodels, in addition to the 5 percent lighting retrofits alone.


Design work has become essential for the contractor.


“Ninety-five percent of the lighting projects we do are based on our design and recommendation,” Abbott said.


That means the company needs to be able to understand its customer well enough to know where the return on their investment will be and how quickly it will be achieved. The company often offers a guarantee when they predict the gains based on energy-use reduction will kick in.


“Sometimes we approach the customer because we see an opportunity for both of us—sometimes they approach us on their own,” he said. “Our ability to provide the complete package sets us apart, and we take great pride in completing a project from start to finish.”


Although lighting projects may be the low-hanging fruit in some installations, the results are something everyone notices.


“It can help workers see better or help the business’ presentation of their product to the consumer,” Abbott said.