http://inhabitat.com/blog/2006/08/19/light-pollution-the-continuing-spread/
Well, I was going to talk about peace and love today, but then I read this article and got my knickers all in a twist. According to the author, the US wastes $5-10 BILLION on generating ENTIRELY wasted light. That's a staggering sum. And the problem's getting worse, not better. And what gets my goat is that it would all be so EASY to avoid, if only we were able to think our architecture through and implement it right. Upsetting.
12 comments:
agree with the sentiment entirely. The stars, when visible are beautiful.
However, that picture got me thinking. It appears to show all time zones from -8GMT (maybe more) to +5GMT in total darkness - is that right?
Yes, you're right, it's a composite. I've seen it before - it's a NASA one from a while back.
The sun was out that day.
It is very upsetting and wasteful. In every town and city, every business remains fully lit 24 hours a day. It seems like they could at least have some motion activated lighting. They have alarm systems in place anyway. I know the, "broad daylight," effect is a deterrent to crime, but that is ridiculous. It is obscene.
Perhaps we do away with lighting completely, and give everyone glasses mounted headlights. Assuming we can use LEDs and have them flicker off when we blink, that's more or less a minimum of light required for full vision.
But who cares?
(raises hand)
Oh, plus the State of Washington. We require an effort to get a LEED silver rating on all new significantly sized government funded buildings. LEED is a (mostly) "green" rating system, where you try to score points for building design. One point (not strictly required for silver, but every point counts) requires a minimal amount of light leakage off the property.
Sure, government buildings are only a small piece of the construction out there, but it helps.
Thank you for the info. Since I've never heard of LEED, I'd to glance through the page to get an idea of it. Don't Govt buildings in other states follow the certification process?
Since it's a step in the right direction, the size doesn't matter. It surely helps.
LEED has traditionally (well, something with a life of < 10 years can have tradition) been a voluntary rating. It's something a company can get for their building to show off how "green" they are. But lately Washington (and perhaps other states?) have made it more or less manditory for their own new buildings. The documentation is a pain to go through, but it helps engineers and architects get funding for green ideas, rather than be controlled by lowest first cost.
LEED gets pretty short shrift from the guys at Inhabitat, I fear. Apparently the requirement on lighting is vague at best.
I must admit, I do agree with soe of the criticisms people made about the article. I'm not a big fan of the light from fluorescent bulbs, and I'm hoping that the next generation of warm-light LED fittings will solve some of the problems the current batch of energy-saving bulbs have. These LED light fittings are starting to appear, but only very slowly. Next year, maybe...
I was amazed at the level of light pollution from India, when I flew over it at around 4am local time. It is astonishing just how many lights were visible.
My house is entirely lit with 12V/20W dimmable dichromic lights. Low energy use, and the dimmers mean we can set lights to very low energy usage if we need them on, but not glaringly bright.
The really wasteful devices are automatically flushing urinals. They each use hundreds of thousands of litres per year.
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