It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.
Upton Sinclair in The Jungle
Quoted by Al Gore in Inconvenient Truth
…Money is much more than neutral. It represents a positive good for humankind. In its early days, money was stamped with divine images, for money itself was divine. The divinity of money has two aspects. The divinity of money has two aspects, which are ultimately the same: freedom and integrity.
To people all around the globe, money represents freedom from care, want, hunger, drudgery. And, in a subtle way, every financial interaction embodies integrity. As we exchange money from hand to hand, as we arrive mutually agreed-upon price, money stands for integrity – with each other, in relationship, and inside ourselves.
George Kinder on page 113 in Seven Stages of Money Maturity
Part of Knowledge is understanding that, without integrity at the root of our economic exchanges, society will collapse, our relationships will be tainted, and we ourselves will fail as persons. A market system works only with moral foundations. Without integrity there is no confidence in fairness of prices. Markets become free-for-all anarchies driven by corruption, special deals, and special interests. In time the entire system comes down---precisely what happened to the corrupt right-wing dictatorships of Latin America and the equally corrupt left-wing dictatorships of Russia and Eastern Europe.
Unless we understand money’s virtue, entering the realm of practical Knowledge is like wandering into the valley of darkness and wrapping ourselves in a cloak of evil we will never take off. Fearing that this cloak is all there is, some of us refuse to learn money’s practical side. But the cloak of evil is our projection onto the whole world of money, a projection of our painful financial experiences and our own failures to maintain integrity when it is challenged and of an endless stream of news reports that capture the significant but little bits of daily evil.
George Kinder on page 122 in Seven Stages of Money Maturity
There is a saying I repeat often to myself: “It takes a thousand acts of kindness to undo one unkind deed.” When we violate the integrity of money by acting wrongly in the economic realm—by being crabby, pinched, or dishonest in our financial dealing—we do such harm to our deep selves that it can take years of atonement to regain an uncompromised integrity. The effects of wrongdoing are profound. They harm us spiritually and psychologically, and they have a damaging effect on the way we do business.
George Kinder on page 123 in Seven Stages of Money Maturity
I would appreciate your feedback on this subject, because it is not an easy subject to address. When I asked one person for feedback on this article, he said I was too idealistic. But my experience confirms ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ when Macy’s told customers that for certain items that they would be better off at Gimbel’s and that Gimbel’s told customers for certain items that they would be better off at Macy’s. This increased sales in both stores. The purpose of this column is to help people reflect a little more on what really is the right thing to do for the customer and in doing so, becoming more profitable.
Whenever I see or hear a person or company with a vested interest, the ‘follow the money’ light bulb goes on in my head. Do they want to provide the best solution to the end customer or just want to sell what they have?
Stan
Walerczyk in Follow The Money
It is not always easy to follow the money when an ‘independent’ talks or writes about a certain manufacturer’s product. So he or she should be open with the audience, by communicating if and how he or she is getting a commission, being sponsored by or on retainer from that manufacturer.
I firmly believe that attendees and readers deserve to be aware, so, for example, I list sponsors, which help cover my travel expenses for seminars done at conferences that do not pay honorariums or reimburse for travel expenses. Although I try to the best of my ability, not to allow the money from manufacturers to sway my presentations, informing the audience allows them better to judge the degree of my unbiaseness.
Stan Walerczyk
I have a question. Do lamp manufacturer and distributor sales people push 25 – 30W F32T8s because best for them or best for the end customer? Sales people may be able to sell these lamps without the customer having to find the money or a contractor for an optimal retrofit project. Profit may be higher on these lamps. Even if a comprehensive retrofit project is approved, the contractor may buy lamps from another manufacturer or distributor.
Stan Walerczyk in Generic Best Practice Lighting Report
In every retrofit
project that I have compared reduced wattage T8s with high lumen full wattage
ones, I have been able to save more wattage with the high lumen full wattage
ones by delamping and/or using lower BF ballasts.
Stan Walerczyk
Before you hire Stan and me there is something you should know. Do you remember “Hal” the
computer from the movie, 2001 Space Odyssey? Well, Stan and I work a bit like Hal. Sometimes we have to put the project ahead of the bureaucrat approving it because it has our name on it. Our work usually endures a lot longer than the people that review and approve it.
Brooks Sheifer at a pre-hire interview with Sun Industries (2000)
Those who like the simple payback method argue that it is easy to use and a simple way to determine the profitability of a proposed action. In fact, however, it is actually a risk assessment tool posing as a profitability metric. This is seen by examining the question the method answers. It does not answer the question, is a certain investment profitable? Rather, it responds to the concerns of the person who is unsure about the future and hopes to recoup the investment as soon as possible. If getting money back is the primary concern, then there is no reason to make the investment at all. If no investment is made, then that money is available immediately, and the payback is zero years, the ideal result of a simple payback calculation.
IESNA Handbook (pages 2 – 3, chapter 25, 9th edition)
Do you really want the shortest payback or the most money in your pocket after so many years?
Stan Walerczyk
Reading October's Over & Out
in LD+A, confirmed my experience that very few lighting designers check with
maintenance and facility people two to four years after their buildings have
been built. If more lighting designers asked maintenance and facility people
what they think of the number of lamp types, lamp life, lamp costs,
accessibility inside fixtures, and ease of maintaining lighting control systems,
I think that many lighting designers would change how they do design. A good
chunk of my retrofit business is from end users in buildings that have good
quality and energy efficient lighting, but the maintenance costs are very high.
I appreciate the business, but would prefer if more lighting designers would
walk a mile in the shoes of maintenance and facility people in the first place.
Stan Walerczyk in letter to the editor in
December 2005 LD+A Magazine
Yes, smaller diameter lamps can improve fixture efficiency. But T8 fixtures can be just as efficient as T5HO fixtures, if the reflector chamber is enlarged proportionally, which is not that big of a thing since T8s are only 3/8” larger. I am sick and tired of fixture manufacturers that state that T5HOs are better than T8s when they optimize reflector cavities for T5HOs and then use that same design for T8s. This applies to suspended indirects, hibays, etc.
High performance T8 lamps and ballasts are about 18% more efficacious than typical T5HO lamps and ballasts, which can usually significantly more than offset if the T5HO fixture has a slightly higher fixture efficiency.
Stan Walerczyk in modified letter to the
editor in September 2006 LD+A Magazine
Some fluorescent hibay manufacturers design reflectors for T5HOs and then use T8s in those same reflectors. It is highly recommended to only buy T8 hibays that the bottom of the lamp is above the bottom of the reflector and the reflector is at least 4” wide for each lamp. When the ballast is above the lamps a 6 lamp T8 hibay should be at least 24” wide. Also avoid hibay manufacturers that use basic grade T8s and generic electronic ballasts
Stan Walerczyk in MH vs. FLUORESCENT – 10 Rounds In The Hibay Arena
There are also many lighting designers, engineers, and architects that do not appear to care that much about energy efficiency, so significantly more carbon dioxide is emitted from power stations. I have seen way too many times that the lighting specifier used California Title 24 or other regulations as a backstop, using as much wattage as allowed. Maybe lighting specifiers that go for high power densities also think it is okay to drive gas-guzzling SUVs. A good lighting project is more than just a great photo to help get the next lighting project. Although artistic freedom in lighting design is important, that should be subordinate to what is best for the planet now and for future generations.
I would appreciate your feedback on how we can educate those who need it in the lighting community, clients and end-users. For example it is quite easy to get below .7 watts per square foot in typical offices for new construction and retrofits with high performance high KelvinT8s, extra efficient ballasts and upscale kits or high performance fixtures. Maybe some lighting specifiers, who continue to have high power densities, will start to lose business to lighting specifiers, who have low power densities and explain to their clients and end-users how this will save them on electricity costs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Stan Walerczyk in letter to the editor in
October 2006 LD+A Magazine
Fluorescent dimming ballasts and associated control systems are often promoted as the Holy Grail for daylight harvesting and peak load shedding. Unfortunately, I have been involved with dimming system projects in offices, schools and warehouses, and feel sorry that the end customers are burdened by those systems…
…Many dimming ballasts consume 10 - 20% more wattage at full light output than equivalent extra-efficient fixed BF ballasts. And, since dimming ballasts get less efficient the more they dim, when the system is assumed to be dimmed at the start, it can consume 20 - 30% more power than an energy-efficient on/off system. This means that the ballasts are going to have to dim a lot just to break even. What they save during the day, they can more than lose at night compared to extra efficient fixed BF ballasts.
Stan Walerczyk in Dimming Ballasts – Buyer Beware
What is the lighting version of T & A? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Task and Ambient lighting
Stan
Walerczyk
This book is the story of how I built the Diamond Division at Andin International, using principals culled from the ancient wisdom of Buddhism, from nothing into a worldwide operation generating many million s of dollars per year. I did not do so alone, nor were my views the only ones followed, but I can say that the majority of the decisions and policies in our division during my tenure as vice president were driven by the principles you will find in this book.
What, in a nutshell are these principles? We can divide them into three.
The first principle is that the business should be successful: that it should make money. There is a belief in America and other Western countries that being successful, making money, is somehow wrong for people who are trying to lead a spiritual life. In Buddhism though it not the money which is in itself wrong; in fact a person with greater resources can do much more good in the world than one without. The question is rather how we make money: whether we understand where it comes from and make it continue to come; and whether we keep a healthy attitude about the money.
The whole point then is to make money in a clean and honest way, to understand clearly where it comes from so it doesn’t stop, and to maintain a healthy view toward it while we have it. As long as do these things, making money is completely consistent with a spiritual way of life; in fact it becomes part of the spiritual way of life.
The second principle is that we should enjoy the money; that is, we should learn how to keep our minds and bodies in good health while we make the money. The activity of creating wealth should not exhaust us so much physically or mentally that we cannot enjoy the wealth. A business person who ruins his health doing business is defeating the very purpose of business.
The third principle is that you should be able to look back at your business, at the end, and honestly say that your years of doing business have had some meaning. The end of every business enterprise we engage in, and in fact the end of your lives, must come to every person who ever does business. And at the most important part of the business—at the end, when we are looking back on all we have achieved—we should see that have conducted ourselves and our business in a way that had some lasting meaning, that left some good mark in our world.
Geshe Michael Roach, on pages 4-5 of
The Diamond Cutter – The Buddha On Managing Your Business and Your Life
September 6, 2007 version