Back to Right Light Proceedings startpage
Floodlighting the Outdoor Environment - A Waste of Energy?
Nigel E. PollardNEP Lighting Consultancy, 6 Leopold Buildings, Bath, BA1 5NY, England Abstract Growing awareness of light pollution has done much to focus attention on the way we "flood" light the outdoor environment. Light is often wasted by either being too bright or being directed into areas where it is not required. Light is now relatively so cheap and plentiful that many believe, especially for security and decorative floodlighting, that the more light the better. This attitude has to be changed because to over-light is as bad as to under-light, and moreover is a waste of finite energy resources. The Royal Fine Art commission of the UK has recently published a document entitled Lighten our Darkness, in order to give an added incentive to those who care for the quality of our towns and cities. This may initially seem at odds with the desire to cut energy usage but, in practice, the efficient planning of lighting within the overall nightscape should ensure that all the unnecessary and wasteful light energy is eliminated. Thus our night-time environment could be enhanced, while at the same time making a substantial reduction in current energy consumption.
|