Outdoor lighting should be 3000K CCT or less. 2700K or 2200K are better choices. It is critical to remember, light at night is affects all creatures. To only base outdoor lighting spectral specifications totally on human vision is ecological folly, especially when there are no humans present. Even for humans, lighting should be red-shifted as the day wanes so it doesn’t shift or disrupt human circadian timings. The science is in and the dominos are falling. Light as a stimuli, or as information, controls life’s timings. Blue light at night is no good for plants, animals, or humans. Plenty of cost effective, just as efficient options exist.
Adaptive lighting controls, either at an institutional level or with home lighting is not hard to accomplish. It does take some forethought to make sure the lighting devices you choose have the capability to dim or even change CCT at scheduled times or in ‘sensed’ conditions. To ignore this ability overlooks one of the greatest strengths of modern LED outdoor lighting devices. So much energy could be saved. Ecological pressure on plants and animals in the proximity of the lights could be relieved. Just because we save a little bit on energy costs by using LEDs doesn’t mean lighting should be left on at high levels throughout the whole night. That is piggity wastefulness.
The brightness of lighting can be easily reduced by using the proper lighting device to focus or redirect wasted light to where it is needed. We can do with a lot less light than realized. Just like you don’t play your stereo as loud as it can go…. well, sometimes that’s ok! To try to make the outside at night like daylight is is so messed up. It wastes energy and does no one any good.
While much is to be said for computer aided design, I have found most outdoor lighting and street lighting requires a verification and confirmation to assure the light is properly targeted and the source is controlled for glare and intrusion and safety. Choosing the proper luminaire for the setting is an incredibly important part of this. In addition, assuring the aim and shielding is correct will yield a reduction in the wattage required because the shield is made to redirect light from the source onto the target area. No light is wasted. If you are concerned about energy, carbon emissions, and climate change then common sense says targeting a light and choosing a well designed luminaire will be very important. How much energy can be saved with the proper light design? I measured it at about 75%. Pretty low hanging fruit in the fight to reduce energy use, yes? Proper targeting also controls the intrusion into the environment from the blue spectrum, which is confirmed by science to cause 2-3 times the damage in the environment than the red end of the spectrum. Be cautious though, excess light at night, from any part of the spectrum is unnatural. The amount of light AND the spectral emissions both matter. Common sense and science meet!
Before installing or replacing a light, determine if light is needed. Consider how the use of light will impact the area, including wildlife and the environment. Consider using reflective paints or self-luminous markers for signs, curbs, and steps to reduce the need for permanently installed outdoor lighting.
Lighting, especially in institutional or road and street lighting situations should be especially thought through and verified. It’s lighting the public has no control over. There’s no switch on the wall to turn it off. How does the lighting fit into the wholistic scene. Does the lighting make an improvement in the lighting situation or is it intrusive and cause additional safety, health or environmental problems. Light at night brings drastic change into the environment so it is important to think deeply about what that change will cause and if unintended consequences will happen. LED’s will be around for far too long if mistakes are made in their implementation. Whoever implements the lighting remains the responsible party, right? Do it correctly, because it matters! It’s an ethical, moral choice.
The Ecological Consequences of Artificial Light at Night is a book written by Dr. Travis Longcore and Catherine Rich in 2006. As a dark sky advocate, Travis’s writings (https://travislongcore.net) have influenced my thoughts on light pollution and outside lighting for a long time. If you want to know the skinny on light pollution and it’s effect on plants and animals, this book is a primary read. It’s not easy going but very informative. Lighting, like in my picture, will have consequences in the natural world. This was 10pm so it’s all from the high kelvin LED vintage style lighting at the new development, Legacy Park, in Mechanicsburg, PA. For instance, do you know how many photoreceptors plants have, what each one does, and how they inform the plant about its current environmental conditions? I dare you to read the book. See if it changes your perception of light at night as a nuisance to light as a powerful stimuli and incredibly disruptive pollutant in nature.
The IDA released some new guidance for lighting responsibly. There are five simple considerations to follow. Responsible means that we are responsible to know the consequences of our actions and that we are accountable. The new guidelines are to be taken as parts of a whole and not individual parts where we can pick and choose which ones are convenient and which ones we can ignore.
A number of scientists have said, Light is one of the most powerful stimuli on Earth. We should carefully consider and limit the use of outside light at night. Responsible lighting is how we can safely implement light at night while minimalizing the effect on the world around us.
I decided it was time for a second time around for the Nightlights light pollution blog site. Hopefully, it will serve to raise awareness of the problems and dangers to all life caused by light pollution and over-lighting the night. It's a timing thing. Since everything is connected to everything, and with light being one of the most powerful stimuli on Earth, will we eventually learn to pay closer attention to what we do with our lighting? This is not light as a nuisance issue but light as a biological and ecological arranger and orchestrator.
Let’s take a short rabbit trail to a serious situation the Appalachian Trail is facing. Pipelines scar the landscape and pose a high risk of contaminating whatever environment they cut through. The Appalachian Trail is there to preserve a wild experience and is open to all. Pipeline operators see the Trail as an obstacle to their profit at all costs. Please read this article and stand with the Appalachian Trail and the ATC to preserve the Trail corridor for future generations.
Lament for the Stars, my new single, is submitted for release. If all goes well, it will soon be available for streaming on all the major music providers, like AppleMusic, Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, etc.
What moves me, usually ends up coming out through my musical expression. Light pollution is deeply unsettling to me, especially when the root problems are so easily resolved. Outside lighting is done so haphazardly and carelessly these days. A good design and correct implementation is extremely rare and hard to find. There can be no doubt, improperly implemented lighting wastes huge amounts of energy and money. No doubt, the wrong spectrum at the wrong time of day WILL cause multiple disruptions in the human body. Most of those disruptions and suppressions put everyone exposed to higher risks for chronic diseases and cancers.
Careless implementation, poorly chosen and designed lighting devices, especially those of higher CCT and SPD’s with higher 400-500nm content will not only cause higher risks and problems for humans but also for every other living creature on earth. Whole ecosystems are being destroyed and native species are disappearing while outside lighting expands to light empty parking lots, streets and empty buildings at unimaginable and wasteful levels.
You see, light and dark are powerful orchestrators, arrangers, and conductors for all ecosystems and creatures on Earth. What has taken eons of time to set in place is being destroyed by man in a very short time. The scourge of light pollution is slowly and nefariously erasing the natural beauty all around us, reducing our night sky and our daylight wonders into monochromatic emptiness. Between wasteful energy practices and disruption of the natural world, light pollution may very well bring about man’s eventual demise.
Psalm 19 is one of my favorite psalms. It’s the one where the stars pour forth the knowledge of God in a language that man has not understood. Right now, we are trading the beauty of the night sky for a milky white, sickly looking sky where not a single star is visible. It’s not pretty or beautiful although some would say it is. Maybe, they just have never gone outside their houses at night and looked up.
The night sky is so, so worth saving. Check out International Dark Sky Assn for more information. Also, please check out the Wolf Conservation Center. Wolves are so worth saving, too. They sang some very nice harmonies in my song! Please consider joining or donating to either the IDA or the Wolf Conservation Center.
Night Lights 