Black cat, white cat, any cat that catches mice is a good cat. The point of this quote is that the color of the cat is irrelevant, the way to judge a good cat is whether it catches mouse or not. In the same way, a good lighting control system should be judged objectively.

1. Feature evaluation
   1. Can the lighting control system effectively save energy?
   2. Can it be combined applications that require dimming?
   3. Can it be used with regular sensors and classic wall switches?
2. Cost considerations
   1. Material cost
   2. Setup service
   3. After sales service cost
   4. Future expansion of additional circuits
3. System safety
   1. System failure
      It should be able to avoid having a single component failure causing the collapse of the entire system.
   2. Backup
      When a failure does occur, there should be a means of backup control which would not affect normal operations.
4. Maintenance and reliability
   1. Maintenance cost
      This is a big point. One should avoid being able to afford the initial cost but not the maintenance cost. It should not be such that once the warranty period is expired, the entire system becomes a fancy but useless ornament.
   2. DIY maintenance should be simple and easy
      Maintenance shouldn’t be reliant on the vendor, the building manager should be able to do replacements or perform maintenance by themselves, setup should likewise be easy to perform.
   3. Reliability
      Portions involving high voltage electrical power should be internationally certified. It should be designed to match the special characteristics of certain lamp types.
5. Operation and management
   1. Operation
      A lighting control system is equipment that needs to be operated, it should be able to satisfy the needs and be convenient to both the local user and the remote administrator.
   2. Real time response
      The response time from when a command is issued from the centralized control touch panel to its execution and feedback response should be fast and in real time.
   3. Schedule should be easy to set up
      Setting up the automated control schedule should be simple and easy (almost as straightforward like setting up a digital alarm clock)
6. Third party integration
   1. It should be possible for third parties to integrate into the system.
   2. It should be able to accommodate both the safety and alarm capabilities.