Archinect - News

Pittsburgh is the latest city to join the dark-sky movement

2021-12-29T19:59:00-05:00

The Pennsylvania city announced in August it will become a dark sky city starting in 2022, meaning that it will switch to lower wattage LED bulbs and add shades along bridges, roads and other public areas. It’s the first city in the eastern part of the U.S. to adopt such policies but it joins other cities, including Tucson, Sedona and Flagstaff in Arizona, and Fulda in Germany, in their efforts to reduce light pollution and increase energy efficiency.

The dark-sky movement officially began in 1988, has produced events such as Earth Hour, and is currently expanding into other U.S. cities such as Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.

Light pollution caused by stronger “white” LED fixtures has been shown to cause health and environmental harm along with negatively impacting the circadian rhythm of both humans and animals alike. To date, Pittsburgh has committed $16 million dollars to streetlight projects which will install about 40,000 fixtures in a period of 12–18 months. The city’s push is also beneficial to the reduction of traffic accidents and sense of pedestrian safety, according to Carnegie Mellon professor Diane Turnshek.

“It’s better for the environment, if you change to these low wattage and low color temperature lights,” she told Bloomberg. “It’s better for people’s health, better stars, and just across the board they’re better.”

U.S. skyscrapers kill about 600 million migrating birds a year — and Chicago, Houston, and Dallas are the deadliest cities

2019-04-11T15:13:00-04:00

An estimated 600 million birds are killed by buildings every year. Especially during spring and fall migrations, birds are attracted to the glow of residential homes and skyscrapers alike. Sometimes the birds crash directly into their windows. Other times, it seems to throw off their internal compass, causing them to circle until exhausted.

The saddening statistic comes from a 2014 study led by Scott Loss, an assistant professor of global change ecology and management at Oklahoma State University. More recently, a new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology found that Chicago, Houston, and Dallas are the top three U.S. cities that are especially deadly for birds, and artificial light at night is a contributing factor.

“Chicago, Houston, and Dallas are uniquely positioned in the heart of North America’s most trafficked aerial corridors. This, in combination with being some of the largest cities in the US, make them a serious threat to the passage of migrants, regardless of season,” said Kyle Horton, the lead author of the study, in a statement published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

“Now that we know where and when the largest numbers of migratory birds pass heavily lit areas we can use this to help spur extra conservation efforts in these cities,” added study co-author Cecilia Nilsson.

Making changes like incorp...

Chinese city to launch artificial moon into space. What could possibly go wrong?

2018-10-29T19:13:00-04:00

It might sound like a plot cooked up by a cartoon villain, but a city in southwestern China is aiming to launch into space an artificial moon that could replace streetlights by bathing the ground in a “dusk-like glow.” [...] the satellite’s mirror-like exterior would reflect sunlight down to Earth, creating a glow about eight times brighter than the moon. The artificial moon, which he said would orbit about 500 kilometers above Earth, could save $174 million in electricity from streetlights.

The capital of China's Sichuan province, Chengdu, could have its own illumination satellite 'moon' up in the skies by 2020, according to the People's Daily.

Light pollution, and its documented health effects on humans and nocturnal wildlife, doesn't seem to be much of a concern to the officials behind the audacious space-mirror scheme. As Kang Weimin, Director of the Institute of Optics, School of Aerospace at Harbin Institute of Technology, attempts to reassure: "The light of the satellite is similar to a dusk-like glow, so it should not affect animals’ routines." – Okay, we're all cool.

The history and future of New York City's streetlight system

2018-06-11T20:51:00-04:00

New York’s nightscape is as iconic [...] as it is taken for granted. A city without streetlights is impossible to imagine, but New York’s 396,572 street-side luminaires are as unremarkable as the streets’ paving — invisible until something changes. An initiative to replace sodium and halogen bulbs with energy- and cost-efficient LEDs has thrown the nightscape suddenly into question, as some city residents bemoan the loss of romance (and sleep).

In her piece for Urban Omnibus, landscape and urban designer Emily Schlickman takes a fascinating closer look at the history of New York City's system of street-side luminaires (the largest in the nation), and how the recent transition to LED technology is affecting the city and its residents—both people as well as nocturnal fauna.

Medical experts issue warning about street lights

2017-06-26T12:11:00-04:00

The American Medical Association (AMA) has just adopted an official policy statement about street lighting: cool it and dim it. The statement, adopted unanimously at the AMA's annual meeting in Chicago on June 14, comes in response to the rise of new LED street lighting sweeping the country. An AMA committee issued guidelines on how communities can choose LED streetlights to "minimize potential harmful human health and environmental effects."

There are two basic issues at hand. First, new, "white" LED lighting, which have a color temperature of between 4000K and 5000K, can cause discomfort and glare. This is because the light is concentrate and has high blue content, which can cause severe glare and force pupillary constriction. Second, these lights can impact human circadian rhythmicity, affecting our sleeping pattern. And, actually, it's not just human sleeping patterns at risk—wildlife migratory patterns are being disrupted as well.

Archinect - News

Pittsburgh is the latest city to join the dark-sky movement

U.S. skyscrapers kill about 600 million migrating birds a year — and Chicago, Houston, and Dallas are the deadliest cities

Chinese city to launch artificial moon into space. ​What could possibly go wrong?

The history and future of New York City's streetlight system

Medical experts issue warning about street lights

Chinese city to launch artificial moon into space. What could possibly go wrong?