What if value engineering meant distilling to essentials instead of cutting corners? 
 
Joel Fuoss, Principal at Trivers in St. Louis, joins hosts Lisa Reed of Reed Burkett Lighting Design and Avi Mor of Mor Lights to discuss adaptive reuse, historic tax credits, and collaborative design. How do you convince clients that lighting isn't optional? Fuoss explains how historic tax credits reduce costs by 40%, making specialty consultants financially viable. The conversation challenges traditional value engineering, reframing it as distillation to a project's essential mission rather than arbitrary cost-cutting. "We can design an incredible space...and then you turn the lights on, and it kills it," Fuoss warns. The discussion explores why architects need lighting designers as creative partners, not decorators, and how collaboration produces award-winning work like The Victor Building's recent AIA national housing award. 

In This Episode:  

• (00:00 ) Joel's adaptive reuse architecture 

• (04:10 ) Victor Building wins national AIA award 

• (07:05 ) Historic tax credits enable design quality 

• (12:47 ) Redefining value engineering as distillation 

• (18:42 ) How poor lighting destroys architecture 

• (26:11 ) Collaboration replaces master architect model 

• (32:18 ) Architects as conductors of design orchestra 

• (40:36 ) Favorite spaces lit through trees 

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About the show:  
Lighting Matters is hosted by Lisa Reed and Avi Mor. In each episode, we’ll dig deep into the meticulous process of creating lighting design for architecture, showcasing industry leaders who balance artistic creativity with technical precision, and listen as they share their successes and challenges in architectural lighting design.  

Resources: 
Joel Fuoss LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-fuoss-aia-leed-ap-a1121b4/ 
Trivers Lighting: https://www.triverslighting.com/ 
Lighting Matters Podcast LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/lighting-matters-podcast/ 
Lighting Matters Podcast YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbLkEKnB8XgSXoeDY0T8t3w 
Lisa Reed  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-j-reed-b198154/  
Reed Burkett Lighting Design http://www.rbldi.com 
Avraham Mor  https://www.linkedin.com/in/avrahammor/ 
Morlights  https://www.morlights.com/