This is what changes
when your agency reps Sage.
You stop watching specs lock in central battery emergency lighting from the one rep in your market who carries the line. You start writing those specs. Your principals stop hedging when the architect asks "what about Sage?"
Architectural-grade central battery,
available to the agencies who've been losing without it.
Patent-protected. UL 924 listed. NFPA 101 compliant. Buy American Act compliant. Assembled in the USA. The brand that lets your engineers stop hunting for an answer at the edge of every project — and your reps walk into the design review with a code-bulletproof system already on the page.
Emergency lighting used to be a checkbox. That changed.
Bug-eye heads dotting a $40M lobby ruin a project. Lighting designers got specific about emergency. Recessed. Concealed. Architectural. Most emergency-lighting brands could not deliver — they were industrial, not designed. Sage CB Fixtures answer directly: low-profile, recessed, surface, and pendant fixtures designed CB-native.
One cabinet powering an entire building, monitored from a single dashboard, eliminating the per-fixture battery replacement schedule — moved from data-center / hospital / mission-critical into commercial spec. Once the architect's lighting consultant has seen one work, they spec it on the next project.
NFPA 101's 30-second egress mandate, UL 924's testing requirements, increasingly local code expectations around fault notification — turned remote diagnostics from nice-to-have into a competitive requirement.
Every market with active commercial construction has architects writing CB-monitored emergency into specs the local rep cannot fulfill — unless that rep carries the line. In most markets, exactly one agency does. That's the gap Sage fills.
Your specifier opens with code. Sage closes with code.
Engineers and specifiers expect a brand to know NFPA 101 inside and out. Sage does — and answers all of these by design.
| Code requirement | Threshold |
|---|---|
| NFPA 101 — minimum egress illumination | 1 ft-candle average on path of egress |
| NFPA 101 — uniformity ratio | 40 : 1 (max to min along path) |
| Local code variations (some cities) | 0.1 ft-candle minimum anywhere in the egress space |
| NFPA — monthly test | 30-second illumination check, all fixtures, every month |
| NFPA — annual test | 90-minute full-burn battery integrity verification |
| NFPA 7.9.2.3 — single-circuit failure | EM activates in the affected zone even with utility power elsewhere |
| NEC — generator startup gap | 10-second max acceptable dark period before EM activates |
| UL 924 | All Sage equipment UL 924 listed |
Three competing ways to deliver code-compliant EM. Sage is the right answer for the spec-driven work where the agency wins on craft.
| Integral battery packs | Sage Central Battery | |
|---|---|---|
| Battery footprint | One battery per emergency fixture — hundreds per building | One cabinet powers the entire building's emergency lighting |
| Maintenance | Per-fixture testing every month; replacement every 4–7 years on rolling schedule | Centralized testing; one replacement event per cabinet; low-voltage swap (no licensed electrician required) |
| Specification posture | Generic / commodity — competes on price | Architectural — competes on design, compliance, total system cost |
| Line-voltage inverter | Sage Central Battery | |
|---|---|---|
| Real-estate footprint | Refrigerator-sized floor unit, 600+ lbs, dedicated mechanical-room space | 24″ × 30″ wall-mounted cabinet |
| Battery proprietary lock-in | Brand-locked replacement at 4–7 year intervals at manufacturer's price | Standard lead-calcium — sourced locally from any commercial battery distributor |
| Service window | Factory-authorized tech required for diagnostics + battery work | Building's own maintenance team handles routine service |
| Emergency generator | Sage Central Battery | |
|---|---|---|
| Code role | Backs the entire building's electrical load — required for life-safety beyond EM | Backs egress + life-safety lighting only — dedicated EM layer |
| Cost / complexity | Six-figure capital + fuel storage + emissions inspection + ATS coordination | Capital orders of magnitude lower; no fuel, no emissions, no ATS coordination |
| Code gap | 10-second startup gap can violate NEC without supplemental battery support | Activates instantly; no startup gap. Sage rides the generator cleanly in the same code framework. |
The agency that brings Sage closes the spec.
Real-project economics on the two configurations agencies see most often. The dollar values are project-specific; the order-of-magnitude advantage repeats.
Redesigned to 7 Sage cabinets (84 test points). The agency that brought Sage closed $31,500 of equipment + a compounding maintenance relationship.
Generator-only vs Sage CB + generator BOM math, line-by-line. The agency that walks this BOM into engineering review is the agency that closes the spec.
29 products. 5 categories. Front of house and back of house.
Architects choose Sage CB Fixtures for design reasons. Engineers choose Sage Luminaires for compliance reasons. Both end up in the same building — both ship under one Sage purchase order.
Keystone (500W cabinet), Volta (1000W cabinet), Olympus (Local Circuit Monitor — pairs with KEY or VOL to satisfy NFPA 7.9.2.3). UL 924 listed.
Wall-mounted in mechanical / electrical rooms — or anywhere the architect has 24″×30″ of wall.
SR1, SR2, SR3, SR6, SR7, SR03. Modules that convert any standard LED luminaire to emergency operation. Programmable 5W–60W per fixture.
In-fixture or driver-side, on the relay-converted general-lighting fixtures. Sage's engineering picks the relay per fixture per project.
Aspen, Obsidian, Onyx, Orion, Phoenix. Recessed, surface, and pendant fixtures designed CB-native.
Front of house — architect-spec'd. Lobbies, corridors, public-facing volumes.
Atlas, Basalt, Cypress, Ember, Hawthorne, Reed, Willow. Architectural general-lighting fixtures that pair with Sage Relay.
Front-of-house when the architect cares; back-of-house when the engineer just needs compliance.
Jasper, Luma, Opalite, Rowan, Cove, Pulse, Vista, Zephyr. Combo exit signs and standalone emergency units.
Egress paths, exits, public corridors — anywhere code calls for marked emergency lighting.
Sage's KEY (Keystone) and VOL (Volta) cabinets ship with the ASA (Active Shooter Alert)ordering option — named for Alyssa Alhadeff, killed at Parkland. When triggered from a wall switch or WiFi activation, every dedicated emergency fixture and exit sign flashes. No additional sensors, wiring, or fixtures. The system already there. For school-district pursuits in any Alyssa's-Law state, this is state-mandated regulatory compliance — and a complete category your agency can own.
Most brands give a customer a PDF. Sage gives a customer a toolkit.
Available at sageem.co, no login required. The specifier's first interaction with Sage is using Sage to do their job — nothing else in this category does that.
Type any competitor part number → instant Sage equivalent.
A specifier with a competing product already drawn in gets the Sage SKU in one click. Substitution friction collapses.
Egress coverage from generic space inputs.
Reps walk into the meeting with a defensible recommendation, not "we'll get back to you."
Generates a full CSI Section 26 specification.
One button. Sage is now basis of design.
Branch-circuit voltage-drop + load math pre-configured for Sage CB.
Engineering questions answered in 90 seconds during the call, not three days later via email.
Interactive dashboard with 200 fixtures, 9 zones, event log, fault history, self-test schedule.
Post-install: this is how the building owner manages the system. Maintenance contract for the life of the install.
Ceiling height + space type + architecture preference → Sage product recommendation.
Pre-qualifies the conversation.
Engineer / firm logo stamp + project name on every Sage spec sheet.
Submittal packages come pre-stamped. Engineers stop hand-editing PDFs at midnight.
Every Sage feature is also a sales lever.
Sage establishes a Base Price; every dollar above it on each invoice is yours. No agency split. No cap. The industry-standard manufacturer cut on rep overage doesn't exist at Sage.
Every Sage CB system ships with the full interactive monitoring dashboard at no additional cost. Pitch the building owner a real-time facilities tool, not a monthly PDF. Most CB competitors charge for monitoring or don't have it at all.
Sage's engineering team performs the egress photometry, picks the right relay per fixture per project, and provides schematic wiring diagrams as part of the relationship. Your engineers don't have to.
When a contractor pushes for a cheaper alternative mid-construction, Sage hands you the spec-defense file: code-citation cross-reference, performance-equivalency analysis, CSI Spec Writer output. Substitutions become hard to win against Sage.
Sage uses standard lead-calcium batteries available from any commercial battery distributor. Pitch building owners zero proprietary lock-in — inverter brands force them back at premium pricing every 4–7 years.
Every Sage KEY or VOL ships with the ASA option. For school districts in any Alyssa's-Law state, this is state-mandated regulatory compliance answered out of the box — a complete category your agency can own.
NEC requires emergency lighting active within 10 seconds. Generators have a startup gap that risks non-compliance without supplemental support. Sage activates instantly. Pitch life-safety engineers a clean code answer.
Floor-standing inverters take a refrigerator's worth of mechanical-room real estate. Sage takes one wall. You walked into a meeting and gave them their square footage back.
Seven pillars Sage answers.
Every pillar reduces a line item that competing systems leave on the project. The agency that brings Sage to the spec brings a smaller bill of materials, a code-resilient design, and an operating relationship that follows the building.
| Concern | Sage's answer |
|---|---|
| Compliance | NFPA 101 · NEC · UL 924 · NFPA 7.9.2.3 — every Sage CB system built to meet code by design, not by accommodation. |
| Performance | 1 ft-candle average · 40:1 uniformity · 90-minute runtime standard (extends to 2-hour where AHJ requires) · ≥87.5% battery threshold · all guaranteed, all monitored. |
| Design | Sage's engineering team performs the egress photometry and provides schematic wiring diagrams as part of the design-assist relationship. Your engineers don't have to. |
| Maintenance | Standard lead-calcium chemistry, locally sourced, completely non-proprietary. Self-testing standard. Low-voltage battery service — building's own team can swap (no licensed electrician required). |
| Environmental | Battery-disposal liability dropped by orders of magnitude. EPA-compliant pathway via licensed disposal centers, fewer instances per decade. |
| Monitoring | Sage Live interactive dashboard, included at no additional cost. Real-time fault notifications. Compliance audit trail for AHJs. |
| Switching / building controls | No ALCRs required. No Life-Safety ATS. No dual branch circuits. No factory-authorized service window. Simpler installation, lower total system cost. |
From this brief to signed agreement —
three meetings.
Most agencies sign within 30 days of the principal call, once territory and commission terms are clear.
Walk the dashboard at sageem.co live, talk territory, answer questions. No commitment.
Bring 2–3 active projects from your pipeline. We model the Sage revenue together using the specifier arsenal on your real projects. Concrete numbers on your work.
Standard manufacturer's-rep agreement. Territory locked, line activated, Partner Asset Pack delivered, your team trained on the specifier arsenal, your first project pipeline reviewed.
Right fit? Territory open?
Winston Caraker · VP of Sales, Sage Em · owns agency relationships. Direct contact for every active Sage agency.
winston@sageem.co · 512.578.5871 · sageem.co