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I do some lighting designs for industrial installations and generally we conduct a lux study with selected light models.
One problem that I believe is not being addressed is the specifications written by those who are directed by "safety". This often appears in specifications that require road lighting and area lighting often exceeding 10 x the Australian standard. Then as soon as a stair is encountered, the lux levels go through the roof.
Finally from my past experience, the inspector arrives and places the lux meter at the back far corner and then we find the lux is say 195 when the minimum is 200. The centre of the stair will be around 280 to 300. Then the light has to move or worse still, the fitting uprated to comply. I shake my head sometimes! No wonder many projects are lit up like a Christmas tree. But the inspector has a legal obligation and if some one falls over, then it becomes an OHS matter with all sorts of possible legal issues.
It's not just domestic, but industry that needs to be on board. The Australian Standard should have stricter upper limits and more emphasis on directional lighting which I believe the news articles point toward. One only needs to fly into a major city and see that domestic lighting is only a small contributer compared to industry and road lighting.
Hopefully light polllution can be truly seen as just that - pollution.
Darrin...
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