As energy and operational efficiencies became critical to business operations, the telecom giant could no longer rely on its existing system to draw opportunities for energy savings and operational efficiency. The old system was limited to time-clock control, and had no intelligence on occupancy or building behavior. It was time to change the defunct lighting contactor based control system in both facilities

The UC Santa Cruz campus building were costly to keep illuminated at current levels. Daintree Networks attempted to reduce costs by retrofitting the entire campus building, and address limitations in the existing infrastructure. For example, as part of the retrofit, the team also considered the illumination levels and found that the levels were significantly higher than industry recommendations, a situation all too common in campus buildings.

Mack Technologies had been researching more efficient lighting to meet aggressive operational cost reduction goals, but concerns about the initial cost of replacing several thousand fluorescent bulbs made the manufacturer cautious about conversion. Mack Technologies also wanted to be a leader in corporate social responsibility. To do that, the company needed to significantly reduce its energy consumption and enhance employee working conditions while minimizing the cost of investment.