Green Outdoor Lighting
Light pollution affects both our night sky as well as wastes energy. The energy wasted has huge impacts on the environmental and economic consequences. Outdoor LED lighting companies are taking energy conservation into consideration when designing the outdoor lighting systems.
From research which has been carried out, about 120 terawatt hours of energy is used to illuminate parking lots and streets in the United States. This is an equivalent of energy which can be used to run New York City for two years.
From International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) estimates, about 30% of all outdoor lighting in the United States is wasted due to lights which are not shielded. The total cost of energy going to waste adds up to $3.3 billion. This also results to release of about 21 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere per year. About 875 trees should be planted each year to offset the impact.
The following helps to achieve energy conservation in the outdoors:
Installation of quality outdoor lighting
If roadway and municipal lighting adopts quality outdoor lighting that adheres with the Dark Sky Compliance, energy waste will be cut significantly. Additionally, carbon emission decreases and billions of dollars can be saved.
Shield outdoor lighting
In order to direct light to the ground, outdoor lighting should be fully shielded from directing light to the sky. This will reduce light pollution, save energy, and keep our skies dark. Shielded lighting design will provide the same level of illumination on the ground but their energy consumption is economical.
Turn off unnecessary lighting at night
With the Internet of Things (IoT) continuing to develop, lights such as parking lot lights could be turned off at night when nobody is using them with a simple push of the button after the last person leaves a commercial building. Similarly, it would be advantageous to have a certain section of lights on depending upon the number of cars in the lot.
LED Outdoor Lighting
Great Basin Lighting represents outdoor lighting manufacturers that use the latest and most efficient design in lighting products. For questions about our vendors and their supply, or if you wish to submit a project, please call us today at (925) 240-1566 (California) or (775) 333-0900 (Nevada).
