demonstrated , real-world application of lighting regulation , shown to be effective in controlling manmade skyglow , and stands as the best current framework for developing municipal regulation for dark sky preservation .
The MLO
About ten years ago , the International Dark-sky Association ( IDA ) began exploring the idea of developing a framework , general purpose lighting ordinance which would meet the approval of the lighting design and manufacturing industries . In 2005 , the IDA signed an agreement with the Illuminating Engineering Society ( IES ), an American industry trade group , to form a task force to draft a new " Model Lighting Ordinance ". In June of 2011 , the boards of both the IES and the IDA approved the adoption of the " Joint IDA-IES Model Lighting Ordinance ".
Our organization finds no significant benefits in the Model Lighting Ordinance ( MLO ), in comparison with the Pattern Outdoor Lighting Code . Indeed , by our analysis , in some aspects , lighting allowances within the MLO are " worse " than what we find in common , unregulated practice ; in many ways , they certainly do not come near to the " best practices " available with current technology . The MLO takes the " lighting zone " concept , which was created in earlier local regulations to recognize the special needs for darksky preservation around astronomical observatories , and turns it on its head . Instead of saying " adequate lighting everywhere it is needed , but extra darkness around special areas ", the MLO ' s zone system encourages more than adequate lighting in populated areas , and higher levels yet in cities . ( We stand by the concept that lighting practices and light levels adequate for safe and productive activity in one area will also suffice in another area ; we also decry the suggestion that future lighting practices should be based on present ones , which have simply gotten out of hand in many areas ; read Here 11 for more consideration of these ideas .) The baffling complexity of the regulations contained in the MLO both would require most municipalities to bring in lighting specialists to administer the ordinance , and also serves to hide the arbitrary nature of some of the numerical limits that the document imposes . And the lumen allowances -- the limits to the total amount of light which can be generated by outdoor fixtures on a parcel of land -- are so flexible that there is no indication that they represent any change from common , unregulated practice . the local ordinance lists a minimum illumination leve have to light that lot .
Instead of beginning by requiring specific illuminatio illumination recommendations ), it is possible to stru regulation from a top-down approach , addressing s performance and total lighting allowances . Luminai output within target areas (" shielding "); lumens per of light generated within a range which the commun allowing flexibility in lighting design .
Imbedded Web links : http :// www . illinoislighting . org / propose . html http :// data . nextrionet . com / site / idsa / Lighting % 20Code % 20Handbo http :// www . nofs . navy . mil / about _ NOFS / staff / cbl / OLCHB1.14 / lc-hb http :// www . flagstaffdarkskies . org / docs / 9 _% 20Title10 % 20Chapter http :// www . coconino . az . gov / uploadedFiles / Community _ Developm http :// www . flagstaffdarkskies . org / docs / YavapaiLC . pdf http :// homerglen . org / Ordinances / OR07-068Lighting-Outdoor . pdf http :// www . madisonthecity . com / communitydevelopment / documen http :// www . vi . wales . wi . gov / docview . asp ? docid = 1906 & locid = 174 http :// www . nofs . navy . mil / about _ NOFS / staff / cbl / CL _ POLC _ stand http :// www . illinoislighting . org / parceling . html http :// www . illinoislighting . org / lightcolor . html
2011 , Illinois Coalition for Res
Summary
Any lighting regulation ultimately deals with complex issues of human visual response , and visual acuity related to a variety of tasks at lower light levels . We suffer from a shortage of good , scientific research into this type of visual response in the sort of realworld situations which we ' re applying light to at night . Many attempts to regulate lighting refer to specific light levels which have been speculated to be needed to perform various tasks ; speculation which , unfortunately , sometimes lacks a good scientific foundation , and often does not take into account visual response to variables such as light spectral qualities 12 , or response to glare or intrusive light . Specification of particular illumination levels can also have the undesirable effect of requiring lighting where it isn ' t needed ; for example , if a business has a parking area which is never used at night , but
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