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Too Much Outdoor Lighting Pollutes, Wastes Energy, and Creates Safety Hazards
All too much of the nation's outdoor lighting pollutes the sky, trespasses
onto neighbors' property, wastes energy, and creates dangerous visibility
problems. So says the National Lighting Bureau, a public/private not-for-profit
lighting information service established in 1975. Nonetheless, "unwise
deactivation of outdoor lighting in order to save energy will almost inevitably
lead to more personal assaults, more break-ins, more vandalism, and more vehicle/vehicle
and vehicle/pedestrian accidents," warns Bureau Chairman Cary S. Mendelsohn.
"Now is the time to fix essential lighting, not turn it off," he said.
Outdoor lighting is used for a variety of purposes in the United States, from
improving street and highway safety to illuminating billboards and building
facades. Most of the applications are reasonable, and many could be considered
essential. Still, Mr. Mendelsohn said, "any number of applications use
the wrong equipment, or continue to rely on equipment that long ago outlived
its usefulness."
Sky pollution is a growing problem in the United States, interfering with astronomy
and, in some areas, blotting out the stars. "While a certain amount of
sky pollution is bound to accompany growth, what we have in many areas is a
result not of growth, but rather of using outdoor lighting fixtures that send
their light skyward, creating sky pollution and wasting the energy used to create
light that's not wanted or used. By investing in high-quality design and
high-efficiency lighting fixtures that permit designers to put light only where
it's needed and wanted, we can significantly reduce both sky pollution
and waste," Mr. Mendelsohn said.
Light trespass is essentially similar to sky pollution, in the sense that it
results in the illumination of areas where light is not wanted. Light trespass
is a particular problem in areas that have recently experienced residential
development. There, when new street lighting is installed, pre-existing homeowners
may be alarmed to discover light entering their bedrooms after the sun goes
down. "This is not ?an inevitable result of growth,' as some
would have us believe," Mr. Mendelsohn said. "It's the inevitable
result of using lighting fixtures that do not have the necessary control elements
to prevent this intrusion from occurring."
The energy waste associated with sky pollution and light trespass is obvious.
So, too, should be the waste associated with "old tech" lighting.
According to Mr. Mendelsohn, "The vast majority of residential lighting
is still incandescent, which is the least efficient and the costliest of all.
People are familiar with it, of course, and they are attracted by the false
economy associated with low lamp replacement costs. However, when you analyze
the situation, it becomes immediately apparent that the short life of incandescent
lamps means many more replacements versus other types, like fluorescent and
metal halide, and incandescents' low efficiency - the lowest of all - means
far more energy cost than almost any alternative. The American home-owning public
needs to give up its love affair with incandescent lighting. As familiar as
it may be, it's extraordinarily expensive and wasteful."
Outdoor lighting also wastes energy in situations where "the amount of
lighting used exceeds what is reasonably required." Excessive amounts of
lighting are sometimes used for commercial purposes, as if to say, "Look
at me." To some extent it works, but at great expense, given the energy
that is wasted, and also because, as Mr. Mendelsohn characterized the situation,
"It contributes far more to visual blight than commercial betterment."
Mr. Mendelsohn called particular attention to the proliferation of gasoline
station canopies "that seems to generate enough light to also serve as
tanning booths." Sometimes referred to as "glare bombs," the
offending canopies provide far more light than is needed for safety near gas
pumps, and that light itself can be a safety hazard. Because high lighting levels
attract attention, the over-illuminated camopies can be a distraction that causes
drivers to take their eyes off the road. Also, because light levels under the
canopies are a momentary visual deficit while the eye attempts to adjust from
an area of extremely high brightness to one of very low brightness. "Responsible
gasoline retailers have invested in canopies that rely on recessed downlights.
The light is pushed down around the pumps, so people can avoid stepping in gasoline
or oil spills.
"By relying on qualified designers to help achieve appropriate conditions,
we can have a nighttime environment that lighting helps make better, not worse,"
Mr. Mendelsohn said.
For more information visit www.nlb.org.
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