The term ‘value engineering’, or VE for short, gets a bad rap in our industry. Landscape architects, landscape designers and project managers are often asked to examine the overall costs or constraints of a project in order to value engineer a different result. The common approach is to look at details, features and items on a punch list, and determine which can be cut or changed, without sacrificing too much from the original vision for the project.
But what if there was a way to double or triple the value of a landscape design project without doubling the cost?
In our industry, landscape lighting typically makes up about 10-25% of the overall cost of a landscape design project. Once you make a decision to incorporate landscape lighting into a project, you immediately increase the enjoyable, usable time of your outdoor spaces. Especially relevant during the winter hours, when darkness starts earlier in the evening, landscape lighting allows you to enjoy outdoor spaces after work and after dinner. On the weekends, landscape lighting provides more options for evening entertainment, as well as additionally safety and security on pathways and across the whole property.
Our most satisfied clients feel that the investments they make on landscape lighting for their properties deliver a greater enjoyment return on investment (Enjoyment ROI) than the actual cost of the outdoor lighting systems. They felt that as a percentage of overall cost of the landscape design project, that the investments they made on landscape lighting was one of the highest value items they included in the project. They found that the total value they received and enjoyment ROI from including outdoor lighting in their finished project was many factors higher than the overall cost of the lighting system, before even factoring in the added value and benefits of safety, security, curb appeal and increase in overall home/ property value.
If your project needs a boost in enjoyment ROI, we’d love the opportunity to look at your current outdoor lighting project specifications, and make recommendations on intelligent, value-focused, lighting system components and fixtures that make the most sense for you, your project and your property. Signature Illumination Designs is an independent designer, installer and distributor of the world’s top outdoor lighting manufacturers. The landscape lighting systems we design and install deliver a lower total cost of ownership, have lower maintenance requirements and are customizable and flexible to adapt to the way any outdoor space is used and enjoyed. Contact us today for an outdoor lighting consultation.
