White paper written by Clare Thomas, as seen at the ILP Summit, the HEA and ILP Ireland.
Dark Skies or Safer Streets Are we taking a holistic approach?
Introduction
It’s clear that the lighting industry needs to take a lead in providing solutions that both respect the environment and protect our dark skies, but how do we balance this with the differing requirements of the people who use those spaces? Whilst we focus on ‘numbers’ and provide schemes that meet the standards and minimise ecological impact does this result in spaces that may not be inclusive by design?
So what are the key challenges that are driving our industry at the moment?
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Compliance – legislation & standards.
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Minimal energy usage – climate emergency, key to unlock funding Ecological issues – respect dark skies and protected environments
And how can we deliver engaging places and spaces that people love to be in?
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This paper explores how technology can help support a more holistic approach that meets both needs. We’ll explore each of these in more detail and ask whether a balance can be found between these sometimes conflicting drivers.
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Safer streets
Clare Thomas Head of Applications and Solutions, Logic Urbis Schréder
Where do we get our guidance from on lighting?
BS EN 13201 covers Road Lighting and consists of 5 parts: • Part 1: guidelines on selection of lighting classes • Part 2: Performance requirements • Part 3: Calculation of performance • Part 4: Methods of measuring lighting performance • Part 5: Energy performance indicators
BS5489-1 was updated in 2020 and aligns with these. The intro for BS5489-1 describes itself as offering guidance on the selection of lighting classes and related aspects for visibility of users of outdoor public traffic areas during the hours of darkness to support traffic safety, traffic flow and public security
This is a reasonable comprehensive document that does cover some other topics around the road.
However, which part of this 89 page document do we usually end up referring to when we’re looking at how we light spaces? We go straight to the Lighting class tables… Traffic. Roads. Classes. Numbers. Lighting level horizontally
So how does this translate?
Street lighting accounts for around 30% of a local authority’s overall electricity consumption. This could be more or it could be less depending on whether the assets have been converted to LED yet or not. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 is generated per year by street lighting and with the climate emergency we need to drive this to become NET Zero.. Switching from traditional light sources to LED can deliver energy savings > 60% and it has additional benefits for reduced maintenance costs too.
Is it just driven by energy and the green agenda though or is it more a reflection of recent funding challenges?
Salix funding and toolkits supported by the government look to deliver whole life value, and these are assessed on a payback basis….So typically for larger or borough wide schemes with public funding, whether direct or through a maintenance contract, it becomes who can work the numbers most effectively i.e lowest energy consumed to deliver the level as close to the required class as possible using the lowest capital cost in the shortest time. It is purely a numbers game for everyone in the supply and/or contract chains. What does that mean from a practical perspective? It means that collectively we look at the most efficient way to meet the numbers. Taking a broad brush approach ignoring the smaller details of each individual scheme ratherthan trying to undertand whu=y we are lighting a space and for whom?
Ecological Issues and Dark Skies
Hydrology published in August 2020 (and widely reported in the media) compared moth caterpillar numbers across both lit and unlit sites in the Thames valley over the last 3 years. Bats are a European protected species , which means they are fully and legally protected under law (This include, damage to or destroying resting / breeding places, obstruction of access to resting / sheltered spaces). ILP Guidance note 08/18: Bats and artificial lighting in the UK covers legal status, and also mitigations for lighting impacts on bats.
So what are the key topics we need to consider when providing lighting, especially for an ecologically sensitive area; Light pollution is a growing issue and it’s an
important topic to tackle. But why? Wasted energy - money wasted.
Impact on dark skies – lack of view of the stars. Nuisance and potential impact on both people and the wider ecosystem . French Law implemented in 2018 to tackle this was driven by non-lighting professionals – it was driven by location and it focused on the right type / quality of light for the location at the right time and controlled by the right system We’re adopting some of that good practice, and the ILP Guidance Note 01/21 – The Reduction of Obtrusive Light covers the same topics to minimise obtrusive light, sky glow, glare, light spill, nuisance light. An all Party Parliamentary Group was set up in the UK to focus on this as dark skies are really important to both people and our environment, and to also help promote good lighting. They make the point we don’t fully understand, the impact lighting (particularly LED) has on fauna & flora. It does recommend reduction in colour appearance <3000k.
Not all bats are the same but in essence the best lighting solution for bats is no lighting at all.
Now, we’ve all had involvement with schemes that have needed mitigations involved to meet requirements – eg missing columns from a scheme to prevent affecting known foraging routes. Using louvres on column mounted fittings to make sure that lighting is only on the task and there’s no spill away from the lit route, or even using low level lighting such as bollards (example using SLL & CIBSE Home Counties & NW webinar in July Bats: why dark skies matter – bollard solution ) Of course the best solution is no lighting , but if we are providing lighting, for example on a dedicated pedestrian / cycle route, isn’t it important to think about surround lighting to ensure good visibility / feeling of safety? And is this lighting approach really inclusive eg for those with sight impairment.
Impact of lighting (esp LED) on ecology in news: A report from the UK Centre for Ecology &
Safer Streets
This is obviously a major news topic at the moment because of the tragic events from 2020 that took place in the UK (Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa), and with Aishling Murphy at the start of 2020. All three are taric cases. A YouGov poll was carried out in the UK in May 2021 (What would make the UK safer for Women?), and you can see from the top 12 results that better lit streets polled highly for both men and women. Also CCTV, but interestingly you can see that there is a clear gender difference.
Funding has been made available, and if you look at Safer Streets – Crime prevention toolkit has been designed to support the delivery of the Safer Streets Fund, a £45m pot made available by the UK Home Office for 2020-22.
The Safer Streets Fund: •
Takes a holistic view of the space and support other interventions eg CCTV, physical security, to intruder alarms, and takes an evidential approach. Looks at the environment – landscaping, footpath usage etc Covers street lighting, as studies show strong evidence that improved street lighting can decrease crime and recommends increased Illumination levels – including vertical.
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Secured by Design – updated 2021
Also Secured by Design, recommends good lighting, defined as a system designed to distribute an appropriate amount of light evenly with uniformity values between 0.25 and 0.40 using lamps with a rating of at least 60 on the colour rendering index.
But is it just about higher illumination levels?
Do we also need to consider about how different people react within different spaces?
Technology in Isolation
We work in a technical industry so we look for technical or engineering solutions…. but do we really consider the people that will be using those spaces?
All of these images show compliant schemes, but actually I wouldn’t feel either comfortable or safe in any of them. The issue here is that technology has been used to provide a solution to them in complete isolation excluding the wider issue of who is using these spaces and why they might be doing so.
I think that is honestly one of the key topics we need to address… we need to be inclusive of all.
We need a holistic approach!
I think we need to have a holistic approach. One of the things I’ve seen is a publication called Get Home Safe – Safe by Design by Women for Women published April 21 a thought piece for the better planning and design of our urban streets, to make it safer for women. This publictaion looks at the first and last ‘mile’ from a what that actually means with where you are / how you approach things • How I plan my route • What do I wear? • Do I call / text people on my journey? • How does the environment make me feel?
I think a major part of the issue is that lighting is treated as a separate entity, when really it’s a fundamental service we are providing for people within those environments.
The walk to each hotel: new left, old right
A Practical example .
I was at Wembley Park a few weeks ago for a system demo and I needed to stop over. The Premier inn was really cheap and there are two close enough to the stadium to stay in. I asked myslef: Do I stop at a really modern Premier Inn at the back of the stadium? Or Do I stop at the slightly tired Premier Inn right next to Wembley Park tube?
Guess which one I chose and why…… the tired Premier Inn by the tube.
Afterwards I had a conversation with a colleague at work (who knew both venues well), and at first he was surprised at why I’d made the choice I had.. but when I explained it he understood, and I think that’s actually one point I really wanted to get across. How often do we put ourselves in the spaces that we’re lighting? And do we consider how people not like us would feel / behave in those spaces. Eg our parents, our children, wife, husband etc And why are we lighting the space? Not one size fits all, but we need to consider everything in the round.
Technology as an enabler.
All of these images are from different solutions but show the same basic issue of trying to balance lighting so it works with the space it is in and support the delivery of other services – eg active mobility. But they also how with good design and a collaborative approach you can use technology to help deliver longer term solutions that are right for the space, the users and the envrionemnt. Examples of using technology in lighting are: • Tunable White • Adaptive Lighting Solutions • Real Time Adpative Lioghting Solutions
Blackrock – tunable
Dodder walkway, Ieland
Parc de la Citadelle in Lille.
It’s all about finding balance. Conclusion:
I think what it comes down to is that there is no single right or wrong answer, and that the rate of evolution within our industry means a ‘one size fits all’ approach, whether standards, contracts or technology may not be the right way to do things. Certainly the events over the last couple of years have taught us that change is inevitable, and actually the town centres we are lighting today may be residential areas tomorrow.
So, maybe we need to think a little differently about how we approach things so we can take a more holistic approach.
• If we need to provide lighting, do we understand the users and tasks? Remember, we’re lighting for people. • Do we understand ecological concerns and how be can balance with the needs of the people we’re providing lighting for • Do we understand the context of the lighting within the space and the services around – eg mobility, security? • Are we using technology as an intrinsic part of the scheme, or because it’s ‘new’? It needs to support the scheme and deliver value. • Is the scheme sustainable, because it can adapt to both changing standards and changing uses
Fundamentally it’s about great design…
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