Festival of Lights, Built Smarter

Author

Charlie Cichetti
December 21, 2025

Smart strategies. Sharp stories. Sustainability that sticks.

📬 Intro: Light With Intention

This week brings two celebrations of light. Hanukkah candles. Christmas glow.
Both traditions share something deeper than decoration. Light is about presence, care, and meaning, not excess.

Across commercial buildings this season, we are seeing the same idea show up in thoughtful ways:

Architects are designing light as part of the building, not on top of it.
Constructors are treating holiday installs like systems meant to last.
Operators are finding ways to create warmth without creating waste.

This week, we round up festive examples where sustainability and joy are not in tension. They reinforce each other.

🌱 Field Notes: Seasonal Joy, Built to Endure

đź’ˇ Iconic Light, Modernized
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree now uses tens of thousands of LED lights, dramatically reducing energy use compared to decades past. When the season ends, the tree is milled into lumber and donated to Habitat for Humanity. Tradition stays. Waste does not.
https://www.habitat.org/stories/rockefeller-center-christmas-trees-journey-habitat-home

đź“‹ Holiday as a Service
In New York City, many commercial buildings now rely on professional holiday decor providers who design, install, maintain, and store reusable systems. Modular frames, LED harnesses, and rented greenery mean less storage, less landfill, and better results. Holiday as a service is quietly becoming a smarter default.

 đźŚż Natural Materials, Better Experience
Hotels and hospitality groups are replacing plastic garlands and synthetic trees with greenery, wood, fabric, dried citrus, and living plants. The result cuts plastic waste while improving the sensory and indoor air quality experience guests actually notice.
https://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4130005.html

A MESSAGE FROM SKEMA

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🏛 BUILT TO LAST: Light as Design, Not Quantity

For anyone feeling boxed in by paperwork, here are the moves I see working across portfolios:

1. Be the person who identifies real savings

Walk the space. Check schedules. Call out the rogue VFD or the AHU fighting itself. When you surface real savings — even small ones — you become indispensable.

2. Translate data into something operators can act on

One chart, one finding, one recommendation. Don’t send a PDF novella. Bring a fix they can execute this week.

3. Build trust before you push change

Operators don’t need another outsider telling them how their building “should” run. They respond to respect. Ask questions and listen. Everything else gets easier.

4. Show leadership that performance beats optics

Your CFO cares more about demand spikes than slogans. When you help them see the tie between operations and savings, support shows up fast.

🧠TL;DR:

The best holiday decor respects the building, the grid, and the people who run it.

🧰 Action Step:

Review what you’ve worked on this year and ask one question. What here created joy without creating waste?

đź’¬ Quote of the Week:

“Light tomorrow with today.” — Elizabeth Barrett Browning

RETROFIT THIS đź–Ľď¸Ź

🔧TOOLS DOWN

Festive does not have to mean disposable.
Design fewer moments. Make them count.
Plan for reuse now, not cleanup later.

✍️ Brian Bollinger, our Head Writer, helps sustainability pros connect the dots among best-in-class results, resilience and innovation.

🌍️ Charlie Cichetti, our Fearless Leader and LEED Fellow, has guided >150,000 professionals in building careers that adapt—and thrive—through change.

Let’s Green Up together.

👉 [Explore Sustainability Credentials at GBES.com]
👉 [See what Skema’s building for architects]
👉 [Book a Waste2Zero audit before your next LEED renewal]

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