Dark Sky Compliant Lighting Solution

You may have stumbled across the words “dark-sky compliant” on a recent lighting project, maybe you weren’t sure what fixtures qualified as such.

Dark-sky-compliant light fixtures are designed to reduce light pollution, minimize glare, reduce light trespass, and eliminate night sky pollution.

Some ideas listed what you need to think about it before you offer a solution.

1. A fixture must be fully shielded and emit no light above the horizontal plane, which means full-cutoff optics are required, or suitable types of reflectors or shields.

2. It is recommended to use a color with white light sources CCT ≦ 3000K or use an amber LED.

3. Minimize the amount of illumination; sometimes less is more. Reduce the wattage of your outdoor fixtures, say, from 100 to 50 watts. Good outdoor lighting is not overly bright in relation to the surrounding area.

4. Minimize the area of illumination.

5. Minimize the duration of illumination; consider using motion sensor outdoor lights that turn on when you need the light and turn off when you don’t.

The advantages of reducing light pollution include an increased number of stars visible at night, reducing the effects of electric lighting on the environment, improving the well-being, health, and safety of both people and wildlife, and cutting down on energy usage.” By rehabilitating poor-quality outdoor lighting installations, let's set a positive example.

Click the video and learn more about dark sky lighting.