For Bob King, the world “dim bulb” doesn’t always have a negative meaning.
The Calgary oilpatch engineer and amateur astronomer has long been a believer in basic black when it comes to viewing the starry night sky over the city.
In the wake of a city of Calgary decision to reduce the wattage in residential street lamps to save energy and fight light pollution, King now believes it’s time for the local business community to step out of the shadows and do its part to help take a little shine out of Calgary.
“For decades, we just haven’t thought about light very seriously,” says King, chairman of the local light pollution committee for the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC), and a member of the International Dark-Sky Association.
“Light pollution hasn’t been widely discussed in the business community at all. When I talk to people in business because of their lighting practices, they usually say they want to illuminate their product or provide a sense of security, but how they use the lighting doesn’t cross their mind.”
King and other members of the local light pollution committee are working on drafting a new lighting bylaw for city council’s consideration. Current bylaws which deal with light “trespass,” onto adjacent property, have largely been ignored, he adds.
“It would probably be more helpful if you had a standalone lighting bylaw.
That’s one of my committee’s objectives, but we have a ways to go.”
He notes both Okotoks and Cochrane have bylaws which make shielded light fixtures with lower-wattage bulbs mandatory.
On Monday, Ald. Bev Longstaff urged city council to look at the issue of light pollution.
Studies in the United States have shown only 30 to 50 per cent of urban light pollution is caused by street lighting, with the rest emanating from industrial and commercial sites. The IDA has estimated about a third of all man-made light in North America shines directly into the sky at a cost of $1.5 billion in wasted electricity generation.
Calgary is one of the worst offenders on the continent in spilling light skyward, and King says satellite photos show this city and Edmonton stand out brightly compared to cities of comparable size.
But like many Calgary residents, local building representatives believe a bright city is a safe city.
“I understand pilots taking off in Winnipeg have reported being able to see our lights,” says Bill Partridge, executive vice-president of the Building Owners and Management Association. “Personally, I’ve been aware of light pollution for quite some time. But our interest in lighting pertains to public safety and security of property.”
Partridge says many suburban and industrial areas need to be well lit as a security measure. “Light is a deterrent,” he says simply.
But he praises the city’s plan to dim 49,000 residential street lights to 100 watts from 200. “Our industry has been playing the energy-conservation game for some time, and we’ve probably done everything we possibly can in terms of electric lighting and motors,” he says.
“The city is on our coat-tails, but the good news is they’ve recognized the issue and looking at it from two matters of concerns” — energy savings and light pollution.
A few local businesses, including some high-wattage car dealerships, are making it a point of practice to address glare and light trespass issues with properly mounted lights, bulb shields and lower wattages.
Valentine Volvo, Canyon Creek Toyota and Advantage Ford all won RASC’s Responsible Lighting Award earlier this spring, while the Greyhound Bus Depot on 9th Avenue S.W. has been recognized in the past.
“As my dad would say, we try to be good neighbours . . . it’s more friendly to the neighbouring environment,” says Paul Valentine, whose new dealership on Glenmore Trail has light fixtures that shine light down, rather than outwards.
“One of Volvo’s core values is environmental concerns. So it fits in quite well.”
Other car dealerships, says King, like some along the west end of 9th Avenue leading into downtown, have been less co-operative. “Those are good examples of bad lighting,” he says. “Their lamps are aimed too high, and it’s a public safety issue in my mind.”
“Their light also spills across the river, and you can notice the homes on Memorial Drive on the north side of the river, their whole fronts are illuminated by the lights from those auto dealerships. That’s a trespass issue.”
Awareness of light pollution seems to be growing, says Valentine, who hopes more businesses, including those in the downtown, adopt more motion-sensor lighting for internal and external spaces. “To me, it’s insane that buildings are lit all night when there’s no one in there,” he says.
“But if you look at the entire environmental history of business and government, until the government steps in, not a lot of things get changed. Left to business, the bottom line rules for a lot of individuals, and sometimes environmental concerns are second.”
King says light pollution problems caused by businesses include:
* Area floodlights aimed too high — causes trespass of light off property, contributes to dangerous glare.
* Wall-pack lighting — lights attached to a wall where half the light goes up and never reaches ground. Also contributes to glare.
* Excessive lighting, and canopy lighting over gas stations — “It’s grown in the last number of years as a marketing strategy, but they’ll tell you it’s a safety concern,” says King.
* Billboards lit from below or internally — King says lights should be on top shining down, and use lower wattage, because the signs are still bright compared to their environment.
While King says there might be a slightly higher capital cost to install proper lighting, “if you use it properly, your operating expenses will go down.
Web Watch:
www.darksky.org/ida/index.html
www.syz.com/rasc/
