I'm assuming contractors are pushing LEDs because you pay more up front in exchange for increased efficiency and no need to relamp. They can charge a markup on the expensive fixtures. If you buy HID there's no guarantee you'd hire them to change the bulbs when it's time; you might hire their competitor or do it yourself.

And then when the LED lights fail, you're screwed.

LEDs are the most efficient, they're dead so they don't consume any energy. Infallible logic!

Most of the time wouldn't a general contractor choose the lighting (rather, choose the person who does?). And a Lighting maintenance contractor would do the servicing? To different animals here. From what I see, a lot of subcontractors have a contract with the general contractor, so the electrician/lighting tech that installs the lighting on the job will not likely also service lighting. They probably just install new systems. At most they probably recommend a company that does do the servicing.

I actually don't know if most of the contractors here prefer LED or not.

I would imagine most contractors want to use "Green" stuff but at the same time keep their bid low. IMO, T8s and PSMH are "green" enough but yet keep the bid low. If I was designing a building, I'd specify T8s inside and PSMH/CMH outside if the customer didn't specify anything particular.

I would imagine most contractors want to use "Green" stuff but at the same time keep their bid low. IMO, T8s and PSMH are "green" enough but yet keep the bid low. If I was designing a building, I'd specify T8s inside and PSMH/CMH outside if the customer didn't specify anything particular.

What I would do is buy a bunch of PSMH fixtures, and convert them to MV.

I would too, for my own personal uses. Not if I was building a building for someone else though, since most commercial buildings don't want "obsolete" MV lighting. When we bought our house (it was new when we bought it) in 2003 it had incandescent lighting throughout. Spiral CFLs were still in their infancy. And high-output white LEDs did not exist. By 2006-ish I think my parents had bought our first CFLs, which were 13W soft white GE Helicals. They did pretty well for several years of regular use. I had replaced them all with A-shaped MaxLite CFLs for aesthetics (they were open fixtures) but we hated them since they took several minutes to warm up. So in May 2016 I installed MaxLED 800 Lumen LEDs in their place, which are instant-on and bright as heck! they're also far better in the CRI department than the CFLs and the color temperature is higher so the light is a little whiter.

Our house had (a long time ago) covered CFLs for most of the lighting, and in a nightstand lamp, a "U-Bend" CFL, I think it was MaxLite, but then I sold a bunch of CFLs in a yard sale. I vaguely remember that it was some daylight color.

Ah yeah we never used any daylight CFLs. We all agreed that they looked weird in an incandescent fixture lol. They do look cool in the right application though.

We actually had CFLs in most of the fixtures in our house but I changed some to LED and changed others to 53W clear halogens for brighter, crisper light. Now that the ReStore has 75W=LEDs for only $2 each, I'll probably replace some of the halogens with them as they burn out. Up until now, one 75W= LED here would cost me more than a 4-pack of 40 or 60W LEDs since most people use 40 or 60W equivalent lamps. I'm even considering using 100W= for the bathrooms' exhaust fan lights, as even the 75W= isn't that bright since it's only one bulb for the room instead of two (the vanities are still incandescent since they use globe lamps.)

the hallway fixture and light over the staircase both have their original incandescent lamps from when we bought the house in 2003. The fixtures aren't frequently used so the bulbs haven't burned out. And no sense in putting LEDs in fixtures we don't often use. Waste of money. The bathroom vanity in my bathroom has all three original bulbs 13 years later too. My parents' bathroom had at least one or two bulbs get replaced but nothing recent. Their light uses nighlight base 40W globe lamps (four of them). Mine uses three medium base 60W globe lamps. The vanities are fine brightness-wise. I haven't found a CFL or LED that works as well as the incandescents for globe applications. The lamps are bare and mounted on the wall, so if I use LEDs, the light will be mostly directed toward the wall across from the sink and with CFLs, I'd have to wait for the bulbs to warm up and then the color quality would be rubbish. So incandescent it stays.

The remaining daylight covered CFLs are in my gallery here, and the first bulb that replaced the MaxLite one in the nightstand lamp is here, then it got replaced by this.
The Feit Electric bulb is now being used in a table lamp above a piano.

Many of the energy companies (power companies) are offering incentives for converting over to LED.  The contractors really have nothing to do with it, the customer dictates what they want, and the contractor will offer options or simply do what the customer wants. 

The electric company here offers energy-star stuff, which still includes T8s on LBF ballasts AFAIK. LEDs haven't caught on here for indoor lighting. They're still in their infancy for outdoor lighting too. Most places are still MH/PSMH. As for the electric company, they said they have no plans to offer LED lighting, since the fixtures cost too much to make to practical for them. Works for me; the nice classic cobraheads are here to stay a little longer.

The electric company here offers energy-star stuff, which still includes T8s on LBF ballasts AFAIK. LEDs haven't caught on here for indoor lighting. They're still in their infancy for outdoor lighting too. Most places are still MH/PSMH. As for the electric company, they said they have no plans to offer LED lighting, since the fixtures cost too much to make to practical for them. Works for me; the nice classic cobraheads are here to stay a little longer.

I totally forgot that there's Energy Star certified lighting.

Yep and there are probably requirements for new buildings to have energy-star certified things, which may include lighting. It might be optional, but if there's any "free money" (grants, subsidies, etc) offered, most will try and comply to take advantage of taxpayer dollars being given away for nothing.

Yep and there are probably requirements for new buildings to have energy-star certified things, which may include lighting. It might be optional, but if there's any "free money" (grants, subsidies, etc) offered, most will try and comply to take advantage of taxpayer dollars being given away for nothing.

There are even efficiency standards for new buildings?