Learn what Ecologically Responsible Outdoor Lighting means and how it can be achieved.

1. Bob Parks, Executive Director
Smart Outdoor Lighting Alliance
www.SOLA.lighting
March 5, 2015

2.  Anthropogenic or man-made
 Artificial; not natural
 Occurring during natural dark
cycle
 Natural night brightness varies
due to moon phase cycle
(0.0001 - 0.3 lux at zenith)
WHAT IS LIGHT AT NIGHT?

3.  18.7% of Earth’s surface is subject
to artificial brightness of 10% or
more above natural
 61.8% of the United States
 75% of US population lives under
unnatural levels of LAN
 LAN in major cities is typically 100
to 200 times brighter than a natural
night sky


LIGHT AT NIGHT STATISTICS

8.  LAN creates winners and losers
 Attracts and repels
 Disrupts:
 Foraging
 Predation
 Migration
 Reproduction
 Communication


ECOLOGICAL IMPACT OF LAN
JP Stanley

9. Disruption of foraging patterns
 Increases predation risk
 Increases mortality on roads
 Bats fly farther and use more
energy to avoid lights
 Reduces body weight and
reproduction in females
MAMMALS

10.  Disrupts natural cycles of
reproductive and migration
 Birds fly into lighted buildings
 Off-shore drilling platforms & towers
lighting causes significant attraction
 Hydrocarbon flares attract and
incinerate night flying seabirds
BIRDS

11. Artificial light contributes to an
estimated
10 to 40 million
bird deaths annually in the
United States alone.
BIRDS
Jim Richardson

12.  Diurnal (day) species extend activity
and exploit prey attracted to lights
 Light attracts breeding frogs, who
stop calling
 LAN has profound impacts on
physiology, behavior and
development
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS

13.  Reduces nesting habitat – Females
avoid areas near lighted beaches
 Hatching disorientation – Crawl towards
area with brightest horizon
 Which can often be roads or lighted
development
 Exhaustion/dehydration
 Increases mortality
 Increases predation
SEA TURTLES
Jelga

14. Fun Fact:
Great White sharks have now
learned to hunt seals at night
using city lights!
FISH

15.  Most attracted to white light
 Increases mortality at street lights
 Confuses species that use light for
communication (Fireflies)
 Interferes with normal migration
 Aquatic invertebrates – disrupts
behavior and increases predation risk
INVERTEBRATES

16. PLANTS
Affects:
 Germination
 Leaf growth
 Flower development
 Fruit development
 Leaf senescence
 Abscission
 Cessation of leaf production

17. Circadian Disruption
 LAN disrupts immune system –
suppresses melatonin – affects all
species of animals and plants
 Linked to insomnia, obesity, diabetes,
ADD, and cancer
 Photo ganglion cells have peak
sensitivity ~480nm (Blue)
ECOLOGICAL IMPACT OF LAN
Jim Richardson

18. natural cycles that rely upon rhythms of daylight and night darkness. In humans, the peak
sensitivity of this response is in the range of 459-484 nanometers (blue).[4] [5]
The graph shows the visible spectrum, the human photopic sensitivity which defines the lumen, the
human circadian sensitivity and the typical output of a blue-rich white-light LED light source.

19. Broad Spectrum White Light
 White LEDs start as blue
 Highest CCD LED is the most
efficacious and have the most blue
spectral power distribution (SPD)
 White light improves visibility
 However, improvement in visibility
drops off above 3500K CCT
ECOLOGICAL IMPACT OF LAN

20. Broad Spectrum White Light
 Efficacy vs. Ecological impact
 As LED efficacy improves, compromise
will become easier
 Generally, use lowest CCD to minimize
impact; however…
 SPD & melanopic lux is best metric
 Minimizing total lumens in the
environment more important
ECOLOGICAL IMPACT OF LAN

21. LED SPECTRUM
5500 K CCT

22. LED SPECTRUM
2700 K CCT

23. Properly Shielded Fixtures
 Direct light to the task area
 Reduce skyglow and light trespass
Light for Visibility
 Use just the illumination levels
necessary for the task
 Eliminate glare
 Reducing uniformity may improve
visibility by increasing contrast
BEST PRACTICES FOR ECOLOGICALLY
RESPONSIBLE OUTDOOR LIGHTING

24. Adaptive Controls:
 Allows dimming to match pedestrian/vehicle
traffic illumination requirements
 Employ timers/switches to turn off lighting
when no longer needed
 Increase energy savings by 50% +
 Reduce glare, energy costs and CO2
 Increase fixture life
BEST PRACTICES FOR ECOLOGICALLY
RESPONSIBLE OUTDOOR LIGHTING

25. Tvilight

26. Tvilight

27. Spectrum
 Narrow-band “true” amber and phosphor
converted “PC” amber (~590nm) LEDs
provide viable replacement for LPS
 PC amber LED has greater efficacy 70-80
LPW than true amber LED at 35-40 LPW
 “Turtle friendly” turns out to be best all
around light source for ecologically sensitive
areas
BEST PRACTICES FOR ECOLOGICALLY
RESPONSIBLE OUTDOOR LIGHTING

28. LED SPECTRUM
PC Amber

29. Dynamic Spectral Tuning
 Arrays of different LEDs in fixture allow for
programming a variety of correlated color
temperature (CCT) over time
 Locally or remotely controlled
 Provide white light during peak activity hours
for maximum visibility; smooth transition
later to lower CCT
BEST PRACTICES FOR ECOLOGICALLY
RESPONSIBLE OUTDOOR LIGHTING

30. 80% of outdoor lighting is used for
Commercial & Public Exterior Lighting
 ~750 million Outdoor Lighting Fixtures*
Worldwide
 ~160 million Outdoor Lighting Fixtures*
in US
*Commercial & Public Exterior (Road,
Street, Parking + Buildings)
WORLD OUTDOOR LIGHTING FACTS

31. Total Wasted Energy is approx. 60-70%
overall from:
 Unwarranted (not needed) = 25%
 Over-lighting (excessive illumination) =
25%
 Not dimmed or on curfew = 25%
 Glare =15%
 Uplight = 10%
WORLD OUTDOOR LIGHTING FACTS

32. Approx. Wasted Energy =
1.1 PetaWatt Hours Annually
 The equivalent output of 500 power
plants running 24/7/365
 Could power ~ 7,750,000 homes
 Producing 750 million tons of CO2
 Cost = approximately $110 billion (US
dollars)
WORLD OUTDOOR LIGHTING FACTS

33. bparks@sola.lighting