SoftLights.org will assist a city or county with development of a comprehensive plan to protect the natural night as a resource. This is offered as a free public service. Contact us for more details.
Outdoor Lighting Ordinance Template
We start by reviewing our Outdoor Lighting Ordinance Template. This document sets the overall goal of protecting the natural night resource, and then provides guidelines and restrictions for adding artificial light.
LEDs are Not for Everywhere
Light Emitting Diodes are a directed-beam light that is not fit for illumination of large volumes of space. However, they may be valuable as a way to provide illumination of small spaces. Since some people react negatively to LEDs, part of our analysis is to determine what is safe and what is not. LEDs are Not for Everywhere.
Free Public Service
As a free public service, SoftLights.org will work with city council and staff to develop a comprehensive plan for protecting the natural night resource, with a goal of eliminating the artificial light chaos typical of a city, to increase public safety, reduce energy use, improve public health, and enhance economic opportunities.
As an example, one of our members who is a professional truck driver sent us this photo. It looks like a typical street anywhere in the USA, but provides all the examples of how poorly we treat the night as a resource.
In the truck’s side mirror, you can see the harsh lighting of the fuel station. For a truck driver who drives all night, this is exhausting for his eyes and completely unnecessary.
On the left side of the photo, to the left of the sidewalk and in the distance, there is a harsh white parking lot light and a brightly illuminated sign. The glare from these lights makes it difficult to see what is traveling on the roadway.
The amber HPS lights are soft, but unshielded, sending light pollution into the sky and also making it harder to see the road.
The vehicle headlights are harsh white, further compounding the difficulty in seeing.
Overall, there are simply far too many sources of light, making everyone’s lives harder and less safe.
Contrast that photo, with this photo of a fuel station in Sherbrooke, Canada. Here we see lighting, but it is mostly uniform and soft. It is possible that the light under the canopy is still too white and that the LED prices on the sign are overly intense, but certainly this is an improved scene that is healthier and safer.
Analysis Documents
This is a collection of some of the city analysis documents that SoftLights.org has created.