DarkSky Lighting
Founded in 1988, DarkSky International is an organisation working to preserve and protect the night time environment.As quoted on their official website:
“DarkSky International restores the nighttime environment and protects communities from the harmful effects of light pollution through outreach, advocacy, and conservation”
Certified LIGMAN products all display the DarkSky Fixture Seal of Approval (FSA) denoting the current standard’s date and DarkSky Approved
Light pollution is the presence of inappropriate, excessive, and typically unwanted artificial lighting. The street light outside your window at night keeping you awake is a perfect example. But light pollution goes beyond needing stronger curtains, it affects human health, plants and animals, as well as our ability to observe the stars in the sky.
On a small scale light pollution can occur in the form of glare and light trespass. But as the amount of artificial lighting at night increases, a phenomenon known as sky glow occurs. Sky glow is the brightening of the night sky. It occurs mostly in developed urban areas as a result of outdoor lighting, but can also originate from buildings, factories, and advertising.
If you live in a city with a high level of sky glow, it can be almost impossible to see any stars in the night sky. This amount of artificial lighting at night also impacts the circadian rhythms of both humans and animals denied the darkness of the night.
For outdoor lighting companies, the DarkSky Fixture Seal of Approval program provides third-party certification for lighting products. But also for lighting designs and completed installations which minimise glare, reduce light trespass, and minimise light pollution.
Although there are countless numbers of outdoor lighting fittings on the market from a variety of outdoor lighting manufacturers. Not all outdoor lighting products are created equally.
- Eliminate any upward directed light
- Reduce glare
- Use dimming and other lighting controls
- Minimise blue (short-wavelength) light
Eliminating upward directed light is the first step to reducing sky glow. This is one of the reasons the classic spherical post top luminaires have been phased out. Once a popular choice for park and pedestrian area lighting, they were very inefficient with more than half of their light directed at the sky.
Reducing glare is important for safety and minimising light trespass. Whether through the use of glare shields in pedestrian areas or nearby residential areas, glare can be both a nuisance and in extreme cases dangerous.
LIGMAN DarkSky Approved Fixtures
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