MEDFORD, MA – The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) will outline and answer questions about its new LUNA Version 1.0 Technical Requirements during two webinars – one for English speakers at 1 p.m. Eastern on January 26, and a second webinar in Mandarin on February 17 at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Following extensive research and development, and several months of stakeholder engagement and input, the DLC last month released its LUNA policy for outdoor LED luminaires that not only save energy and meet the DLC’s Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Technical Requirements for quality and controllability, but also include attributes to limit sky glow and light trespass to ultimately mitigate light pollution. LUNA products will appear as a subset of luminaires listed on the SSL Qualified Products List (QPL) and will be eligible for efficiency rebates and incentives designed for SSL V5.1 products. The DLC anticipates that manufacturers will be able to apply to list products for LUNA qualification on the SSL QPL later in the first quarter of this year.
“With LUNA, the DLC is taking the opportunity to single out products that reduce wasted energy in addition to mitigating the negative impacts of light pollution on people and the environment. Among other benefits, the policy will enable energy efficiency programs to better support their customers in finding products that abide by dark sky policies and ordinances and continue to meet energy reduction goals,” DLC Executive Director and CEO Christina Halfpenny said. “Having released the new specifications just before the holidays, we are looking forward to providing details and any needed clarification during these upcoming webinars.”
According to the International Dark Sky Association (IDA), a third of all outdoor lighting in the U.S. is wasted, costing facility owners some $3.3 billion annually and responsible for 21 million tons of carbon emissions annually. Installation of LUNA-compliant outdoor lighting, alongside proper application design, provides an opportunity to significantly reduce those energy and climate impacts.
Provisions of the LUNA technical requirements will help reduce sky glow, which has been associated with disrupting the circadian cycles of people and animals, impeding nocturnal systems, reducing agricultural yields, and interfering with astronomical study. LUNA also addresses light trespass – illumination that spills into locations where it isn’t wanted or needed and can cause disruptions to human sleep, as well as natural habitats. In addition, LUNA will assist specifiers in fulfilling the light pollution and trespass requirements of LEED and WELL building programs, and help projects follow application guidance in the joint IDA-IES Model Lighting Ordinance.
LUNA is designed to identify energy efficient luminaires that can be used in lighting designs that conform to the Five Principles of Responsible Outdoor Lighting adopted by the IDA and the Illumination Engineering Society (IES):
- Be installed only when and where there is a clear purpose;
- Be targeted, directing the light beam downward so it doesn’t spill beyond where it’s needed;
- Be no brighter than necessary;
- Be controlled with timers, motion detectors, and other technology that allows lights to be dimmed when possible and turned off when not needed; and
- Use warmer colors, limiting shorter (blue-violet) wavelengths shown to contribute most to light pollution.
The DLC notes, however, that the technical requirements apply only to white-light LED outdoor products, which does not include some types of outdoor lighting. For example, non-white (amber) luminaires, which are appropriate for settings such as environmentally sensitive areas, are excluded from LUNA. This is because standardized metrics are still in development for non-white light.
Register here for the January 26 LUNA webinar (English), and here for the Mandarin webinar on February 17.
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