Lighting Safety – Exterior Lighting Plans and Considerations
While our crime rate is low compared to the urban violence found in other parts of the country, some condominium and homeowner associations still recognize a need for security tools such as key fobs, Ring doorbell systems, cameras, gates, and guard houses. Of all these systems, perhaps the most important is well-designed lighting. The highest priority of any community is resident safety. When neighbors feel safe, the community value increases.
Exterior lighting is a common element found in every type of condominium complex. The variations of light fixtures, placement, and site design make this item one of a community’s most unique assets. With the net age of condominiums increasing, capital repair decisions related to light fixture replacement, function, and location placement will be an agenda item for more and more buildings and grounds committees in the coming years. A new illumination plan is not just about switching to LEDs.
Lighting Design Plan
The first item be considered before making any lighting design plan is to inquire if your municipality has a policy governing site and exterior lighting. This code or design guideline will form the basis of any plan. All good lighting plans should have input from members of the community who know the site and its lighting problems.
Knowing some of the technical jargon is often helpful in reading local lighting ordinances and talking with illumination professionals. The unit of “foot-candle” is used for measuring the amount of light falling on a surface whereas the term “lumen” is a measurement of light energy emitted by a light source. The word “luminaire” is used to describe the complete light fixture including the lamp (bulb), lens, and wiring of the fixture. Finally, some municipalities require a photometric plan which lists not only all of the luminaires and their locations but also describes the horizontal illuminance on the site and the vertical light trespass around the perimeter of the site.
Whether or not your committee will have to deal with the submission of a photometric plan in your location, consideration should be given to several important issues in developing your lighting project’s objectives. These issues include controlling glare, promoting effective security, minimizing light trespass onto adjacent properties, minimizing direct upward light emission, and avoiding interference with the safe operation of motor vehicles.
Questions Around Illumination
When considering these objectives, the levels of illumination needed for the various areas on your site will come into question. During these deliberations, there should be a constant mantra whispering in your ear, “less is more.” The human eye needs very little light to function. A sunny day on Old Orchard Beach has over 30,000 foot-candles while a cloudy day has 1,500, yet only 0.1 foot-candles is needed to read the fine print in your condo bylaws.
If one area of the complex is very bright, it will create the illusion of the properly lighted area nearby to be under-illuminated. Competing light levels detract from our sense of safety and security and defeat the very purpose they were intended to serve. In fact, for a feeling of security it is often more effective to be able to see far ahead with clearly defined escape paths than have extremely bright lighting.
Energy and Environmental Considerations
Reducing the level of illumination will of course save on energy, but there are many other means to this goal. Though the initial selection of lamp type, ballast, luminaire type, quantity, and location can have a significant effect on life-cycle costs, the control strategy can be even more important. Not all outdoor lighting needs to be on full light output all evening. Many methods are available to reduce the hours of lighting operation including timers, motion sensors, photosensors, curfew dimming, and step switching. Even infrared fixtures and cameras might be elements to consider for special circumstances.
The environmental concern of light pollution is getting a lot of visibility lately. The results of this ever-growing problem are glare, skyglow, and light trespass. Often these issues have common solutions. They arise from improperly directed fixtures and inadequate lamp shielding. Cutoff fixture is a term to describe a luminaire designed to focus light exactly where it is needed. When determining the height of a pole fixture, it is often better to have more fixtures at a lower level than fewer fixtures higher up. Tall fixtures tend to illuminate the area directly around the pole and not the area needing the light.
Glare can also be controlled by diligently locating fixtures. Uncomfortable and unneeded light can reflect off a wide range of surfaces such as building windows, wet pavement, and landscaping features. Glare and a lack of uniformly distributed light can temporarily reduce vision function and create a sense of unease or confusion. This will not produce the curb appeal to make the condo shine in this market.
With the current trend to use hardscape design elements on the grounds of many condominium complexes, care should be taken to avoid uplighting landscape features and to use shielded fixtures such as path lights, bollards, and post-top lights with minimum intensity levels.
Lighting Safety Article written by Jack Carr, P.E., R.S., LEED-AP, Senior Consultant Criterium Engineers
Published in Condo Media
(edited for this post)