Transcript Why Do we Tolerate Bad Lighting

· Why do we tolerate bad lighting?
Written and researched by Marc Sandberg, IDA
Introduction
Facts:
• We cannot live without light at night. When executed properly it can
benefit our well being and help to enhance safety.
• More is not always better! Adding more light to an area often has a negative
affect on safety and visual acuity. Too much light wastes money.
• Poorly administered lighting does more harm than good. It wastes energy,
costs more, increases air pollution, crosses property lines, reduces visual
acuity, hampers safety, compromises security, and irritates neighboring
property owners.
• Improperly applied light at night can affect our health by tampering with
our endocrine system. Even small amounts of light can provide an
imbalance of the hormone melatonin that affects our sleep patterns and our
immune systems.
The Five Components of Poor Lighting
• Glare – Obtrusive and inappropriately applied outdoor lighting generates
glare. Glare is any light that is in your direct vision (why do most indoor lights
have shades on them!). Glare is never beneficial for improved vision. We
could fix this problem if we only knew what to do.
• Light Trespass – Light from a neighbor, business or roadway that spills onto
your property, without your consent. This is similar to someone playing their
stereo too loud at night keeping you awake. Why tolerate glare when we
understand it is not beneficial?
• Energy Waste – Light shining outward and upward into the sky is wasted. This
waste is estimated at costing Two Billion Dollars annually. This is a lot of
money to see the bottoms of clouds, birds, and airplanes.
• Environment – Lights at night confuse and harm animals and birds, distresses
trees, and increases air pollution.
• Urban Sky Glow – This is what you see when you look at a city from a
distance, a dome of light covering a large area of the sky and blocking your
view of the stars.
What are the problem indicators?
Sky Glow
Facts:
• Does your night sky look like the photo on the left or the photo on the right?
• That glow in the sky on the right wastes enormous amount of money!
• Skyglow is not an indication of progress. It only indicates poor administration.
Night of Blackout – 60 second exposure
Night after Blackout – 30 second exposure
Glare
Facts:
• No designer ever intended to create a bad design but sometimes
one truly must wonder. More is not always better and glare is
always bad for our vision. How bad can it get? Have you ever
experienced a similar condition while driving?
Photo courtesy of RAB Lighting
Glare-Good lighting can improve safety!
Facts:
• Lighting is only good when glare is controlled. This couple was walking right
into the path of your car on the previous page, too! Would shielded lighting
provide a benefit with safer solutions for the community?
Photo courtesy of RAB Lighting
We Need Security Lights, Don’t We?
What are you lighting up?
Many overly bright security lights obscure more than they reveal.
Girl moved 4 feet to stand next to pole
Glare and Security
What are you lighting up?
Many overly bright security lights obscure more than they reveal.
Same picture taken with flash
Glare - Good lighting can improve safety!
Facts:
• Obtrusive outdoor lighting often happens. Lighting is
only good when glare is controlled and the source is
discrete.
Light Trespass
Facts: The problem of trespass occurs in nearly every community!
• Lighting only provides benefits to society when the light is controlled and the
source of illumination is discrete.
• Light only where and when needed. Does shielded lighting provide a safer and
more attractive solution in the application on the right?
Cure Trespass - Use Full Cutoff
Lights
Environment
The light confuses the
tree as to the season.
The foliage of trees
grown in
continuous lighting
may be
larger in size and
more susceptible to
air pollution and
water stress during
the growing season
because the
stomatal pores in
leaves remain open
for longer periods.
Environment
Tens of millions of migrating birds die every year due to confusion from
overlighting
- Crash into buildings, towers
- Greater problem during migration season
Light Pollution Causes Energy Waste on a
Global Level!
Outdoor Lighting is only good when:
1) Glare is controlled and when it uses only as much light as
needed;
2) When it shines on the task area only; and
3) When it does not shine above the horizontal plane.
Photos courtesy of NASA
Why do anything?
You can’t be bothered? Left unaddressed the waste
problem gets significantly worse!
• Notice the progression over 7 years (1992-1999). The culprit is
unshielded lighting caused by lack of education and lack of fair
and comprehensive regulations. The annual cost (~$2B) to erase
the stars from the night sky provides no benefit to us:
DSMP - 1999
What is the solution?
Facts: We can have as much light as we need without the waste!
• Use only as much light as needed with shielded fixtures, keep it below the
horizontal plane and turn off the power when nobody is present to benefit.
• State laws currently address Light Pollution in 9 states.
• 14 states had new Light Pollution Bills in their legislative sessions in the last
several years.
• Some community ordinances address ALL outdoor lighting within their
jurisdiction causing fair and effective solutions for ongoing problems (example,
Fannin and Cherokee counties in Georgia).
• Every contribution helps! Shield and aim all lights on your own property
properly so the illumination remains within your own property lines.
Conclusions?
Facts: "Light Pollution" - The Only Pollution that Costs More to
Perpetuate than to Eliminate!
• With improved efficiencies in lighting and design, the cost of
better lighting is cheaper than the status quo.
• Comprehensive laws can control the waste and save precious
resources (less oil and less air pollution).
• Light Pollution reform can and does begin right in your own back
yard.
• Light Pollution grows from a combination of apathy and a lack of
education. It needs a rapid and effective cure and it needs it right
now before the stars disappear completely.
What are we planning?
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Create Light Pollution committee, determine name of
effort (to get focus away from astronomy)
Lobby local governments on two fronts: a) reduce
number and/or refit streetlights, b) adopt good lighting
ordinances
Educate public through Sidewalk events, DSO events,
and public speaking, handouts at all events
Develop approaches to get business involved
Outreach to other groups, e.g. Sierra Club, Georgia
Conservancy, etc.
Examples
• San Diego – changed street lights to Low Density Sodium
(LDS) lights, which are most cost efficient lights available
– Saves $3M per year
• Des Moines – turned off 39% of its streetlights – no
increase in crime
• Calgary - changed street lights to LDS lights- Savings of
$3M per year and a reduction of 17 kilotons of carbondioxide emissions per year
• Los Angeles – the sky over LA is actually darker than it
was 15 years ago due to modernized street lamps
What are your rewards to fix it?
We can have the light we need without the waste!
• Save money and improve profit margins with lower operating costs.
• Consume less fossil fuels (84% of electricity production) reducing additional
negative impacts from soil, water, and air pollution caused by soot and ash.
• Safer roads for drivers and pedestrians.
• Reduce your potential liability claims because customers can see better.
• Reduce manmade greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• Everyone gets a free Milky Way with each clear night simply by stepping outside
and looking up after dark!
Conclusion: IT CAN BE DONE!
• Study the issues, review community conditions, and establish a
set of comprehensive and enforceable lighting regulations that
are fair to everyone.
• Consider the eye! If lights are eye friendly they will usually be
sky friendly.
• Prohibit the of sight of direct glare and light trespass beyond
property lines.
• Require area lighting in parking lots and common areas to be
shielded.
• Require commercial lighting to be extinguished after normal
business hours.
Resources for More Information
• International Dark-Sky Association http://www.darksky.org
($30 membership fee)
• Light Pollution Awareness Website (LiPAW)
http://members.aol.com/ctstarwchr
• Illuminating Engineering Society of North America
http://www.iesna.org
• New England Light Pollution Advisory Group
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/ps/nelpag.html
• Virginia Outdoor Lighting Taskforce (VOLT)
http://www.volt.org