Speaking with Bob Kwartin. (EPA Green Lights Program head) (Green Lights in Action)

Good implementation is as important as good engineering, says the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Green Lights program, Bob Kwartin. Here's how to do it, and how the EPA can help.

Q: What issues are on the table with the Green Lights program?

A: When we go to a major organization, there's a menu of issues that come up.

Number one is just getting |an organization's~ hands around what the program is, and what energy efficient lighting is. A lot of businesses really don't have any experience in energy efficiency in any area, much less lighting.

The next question is "How do we finance our participation in Green Lights?" They have to be paid for up front, and people wonder how they can budget it, or if they can get someone else to finance it.

Other questions that come up are, "How are we going to staff this internally? Who's going to work on it?"

And there are bureaucratic issues: Which operation in the organization is going to be in charge of this? The facilities department? The energy department? The procurement department? These things have to be worked out.

Q: How do you suggest that a facilities manager approach the bureaucratic issues?

A: It's really something that's going to depend on the corporate culture. But as a matter of structure, we encourage them to have a single point of contact for us, and also a second layer behind that number one person, who spans all the different pieces of the organization. We want to make sure that people -- like energy, environment, and public relations …