We just installed anti-glare shields and blue light filters on 8 parking lot lights at Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
This demonstration project is a study the University is conducting, sponsored by the Ivins Night Sky Initiative, to see if the shields and filters can be effectively retrofitted into existing lighting to reduce glare and blue light emissions while meeting the university’s need to provide nighttime safety for their students.
The new anti-glare shields and blue light filtersThis nighttime view shows the glare reduction provided by the new shields on the pole at the left compared to the light pole at right which doesn’t have the anti-glare shield.
Glare
The City has long required outdoor lighting to be fully shielded, meaning light fixtures can’t aim light up into the sky. But even fully shielded fixtures send light out horizontally as well as down. That not only wastes light by sending it where it isn’t needed, it creates a glare problem.
Our technical Committee came up with a way to reduce glare significantly while still providing adequate lighting where it’s needed; on the ground.
This is a screenshot of one of the Technical Committee’s analysis to determine the appropriate design for an anti-glare shield
The new anti-glare shield (top) mounted to one of the University’s fixtures
Blue light
LED lighting is quickly replacing High Pressure Sodium lights and other older technologies because LEDs are so much more energy efficient. You can easily spot the difference. The older technologies produce a softer, warmer, more comfortable light compared to the bright white light from LEDs. That’s because LEDs emit a lot of blue light while the older technologies emit very little, if any blue light.
Blue light rays have short wavelengths just above ultraviolet light. We’ve known for a long time that ultraviolet light can be harmful. It can burn. That’s why we wear sunscreen. We’re learning that too much blue light can also be harmful.
The blue part of the light spectrum is responsible for creating most of the glare we see. Glare constricts your pupils, diminishing your eyes’ ability to adapt to low-light conditions, like nighttime.
Scientists are just beginning to understand the negative impacts on health, including blue light’s contribution to cardiovascular disease, sleep, metabolic and immunological disorders, obesity, cancer, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and more.
And blue light is disruptive to plants, animals, crop pollination, and on and on.
Blue light filters
Ivins City has found a way to use LED technology but take out most of the blue light. That eliminates the added health and safety risks from LEDs compared to older technologies and results in a warmer, more pleasing light.
The University’s study will help others determine the feasibility of retrofitting their own lighting to reduce blue light and glare. It will also help the city in its efforts to get designated as a Dark Sky Community by the International Dark Sky Association.
The Ivins City Council took groundbreaking action this evening on what we believe to be the lead nationally in dramatically improving nighttime health and safety for Ivins residents with changes to its outdoor lighting ordinance.
The Ivins City Council gets an overview of the recommendations for changes to the city’s Outdoor Lighting Ordinance from Mike Scott with the Ivins Night Sky Initiative.
The city now requires that the maximum color temperature for all new outdoor non-residential lighting is 3,000 degrees Kelvin, down from 4,000. But more importantly, these new lights will be required to add amber filters the city designed that effectively reduces the color temperature to about 2,200 degrees Kelvin, eliminating almost all the blue light emitted by LEDs that creates safety and health problems. Outdoor lighting for new residential development will be limited to no more than 2,700 degrees Kelvin.
Rocky
Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine (RVUCOM) is going even
further.
The city’s
new requirements only affect new construction, but RVUCOM has begun a study
sponsored by the Ivins Night Sky Initiative to see if these new
requirements can be effectively retrofitted into existing lighting while
continuing to meet the university’s need to provide nighttime safety for their
students. The study will also look for a solution to another problem magnified
by LEDs: unwanted glare.
Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Ivins campus.
The City has
long required outdoor lighting to be fully shielded, meaning light fixtures
can’t aim light up into the sky. But even fully shielded fixtures send light
out horizontally as well as down. That not only wastes light by sending it
where it isn’t needed, it creates a glare problem.
RVUCOM’s
study will help others determine the feasibility of retrofitting their own
lighting to reduce blue light and glare. It will also help the city in its
efforts to get designated as a Dark Sky Community by the International
Dark Sky Association.
What’s the big deal?
LED lighting
is quickly replacing High Pressure Sodium lights and other older technologies
because LEDs are so much more energy efficient. You can easily spot the
difference. The older technologies produce a softer, warmer, more comfortable
light compared to the bright white light from LEDs. That’s because LEDs emit a
lot of blue light while the older technologies emit very little, if any blue
light.
Blue light
rays have short wavelengths just above ultraviolet light. We’ve known for a
long time that ultraviolet light can be harmful. It can burn. That’s why we
wear sunscreen. We’re learning that too much blue light can also be harmful.
The blue part of the light spectrum is
responsible for creating most of the glare we see. Glare constricts your
pupils, diminishing your eyes’ ability to adapt to low-light conditions, like
nighttime.
Scientists are just beginning to understand the
negative impacts on health, including blue light’s contribution to
cardiovascular disease, sleep, metabolic and immunological disorders, obesity,
cancer, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and more.
And blue light is disruptive to plants, animals,
crop pollination, and on and on.
How does the Ivins solution work?
Ivins City
has found a way to use LED technology but take out most of the blue light. That
eliminates the added health and safety risks from LEDs compared to older
technologies and results in a warmer, more pleasing light.
Wilson Jimenez, the Ivins City employee who came up with the filter, finishes installing the prototype anti-glare shield on a light fixture for Rocky Vista University along with the three anti-blue spectrum filters.
Alan Koharcheck and Tim Povlick, members of the Ivins Night Sky Initiative, in the City’s shop with Wilson Jimenez making a final check of the prototype before unveiling it to the University.Ivins Mayor Chris Hart shows the finished prototype to Kristine Jenkins , Rocky Vista University’s Director of Campus Operations and Terry Meyer, Manager of Public Safety and Security. Tim Povlick, a member of the Ivins Night Sky Initiative’s Technical Committee, tests the finished prottype anti-glare shield.
For more information about the progress of this study, blue light health and safety issues, or other information about outdoor lighting, contact us or visit their website at IvinsNightSky.org. The Ivins Night Sky Initiative is a 100% volunteer, not for profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, citizen organization. Also visit the International Dark Sky Association’s website at www.darksky.org. For more information regarding Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine please visit the website at http://www.rvu.edu/.
Add your comments
Please post your comments using the form at the bottom of this article. We would like to get your views about this article and about our Initiative.
Join us
Let us know if this Initiative is important to you, if you are willing to get involved, and what else you think we should be doing to improve, preserve, and protect the night skies in Ivins.
Just because we have submitted recommendations for changes to the city’s Outdoor Lighting Ordinance doesn’t mean we’re done. Far from it. Seriously, far from it! We can really use your talent and energy to make our Initiative’s vision and goals a reality.
This is one of seven excerpts from a presentation by Marc Deshowitz, Preserving one of our most precious resources… the night sky. This video expands the discussion of health issues beyond light’s negative impact on us to its negative impacts on all of nature.
Here are the titles of the seven video excerpts:
Are we losing our heritage of dark skies?
The hidden danger in white light: Blue
More light doesn’t mean more safe
How light pollution increases air pollution
Wrong outdoor lighting harms nature and crops
Simple outdoor retrofit examples
What you can do to improve outdoor lighting
Let us know if this Initiative is important to you, if you are willing to get involved, and what else you think we should be doing to improve, preserve, and protect dark skies in Ivins. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
This is one of seven excerpts from a presentation by Marc Deshowitz, Preserving one of our most precious resources… the night sky. This video shows how light pollution actually contributes to air pollution.
We will post another video excerpt from Marc’s presentation soon. Here are the titles of the seven video excerpts:
Are we losing our heritage of dark skies?
The hidden danger in white light: Blue
More light doesn’t mean more safe
How light pollution increases air pollution
Outdoor lighting harms nature and crops
Simple outdoor retrofit examples
What you can do to improve outdoor lighting
Let us know if this Initiative is important to you, if you are willing to get involved, and what else you think we should be doing to improve, preserve, and protect dark skies in Ivins. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
The typical LED light emits a lot of blue light which is a health and safety concern. Ivins City is addressing those concerns by adding amber filters to new city-owned outdoor street lights.
Even though the new lights have LEDs with a color temperature of 3000K, which still emits a lot of blue light, our spectrometer readings shown in the graphs below found the filter eliminated almost all of the blue light. Wilson Jimenez, a City employee, came up with the idea for the amber filters and also designed and fabricated them.
In addition, the City is working with members of our Initiative to improve the city’s current outdoor lighting ordinance. Recently, we gave the City Council a series of recommendations which they have sent to their Technical Review Committee to study. From there, the recommendations will go to through the public hearing process.
In addition to adding filters to new City lights, the Mayor supports the mission of the Ivins Night Sky Initiative. Here are some comments he made at an event we sponsored recently.
And the City displays information about the Initiative and brochures about outdoor lighting issues, concerns, and opportunities.
Outdoor lighting brochures available to the public at City Hall.
This is one of seven excerpts from a presentation by Marc Deshowitz, Preserving one of our most precious resources… the night sky. This video discusses the major problem the typical LED light has, it emits too much blue light which is both a health and safety hazard.
We will post another excerpt from Marc’s presentation soon. Here are the titles of the seven video excerpts:
Are we losing our heritage of dark skies?
The hidden danger in white light: Blue
How light pollution increases air pollutione
Outdoor lighting harms nature and crops
Bright white light doesn’t increase safety
Simple outdoor retrofit examples
What you can do to improve outdoor lighting
Let us know if this Initiative is important to you, if you are willing to get involved, and what else you think we should be doing to improve, preserve, and protect dark skies in Ivins. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
