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Page 1: Dark Sky lighting - Northumberland National Park€¦ · Lighting Management Plan November 2015) Good Practice Guide for Outside Lighting in Northumberland International Dark Sky

ww w.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk

(Informed by the Northumberland International Dark Sky Park Lighting Management Plan November 2015)

Good Practice Guidefor Outside Lighting inNorthumberlandInternational Dark Sky Park

Page 2: Dark Sky lighting - Northumberland National Park€¦ · Lighting Management Plan November 2015) Good Practice Guide for Outside Lighting in Northumberland International Dark Sky

It is official; Northumberland has the darkest skiesin England, where everyone has the opportunity toview the galactic beauty of the night sky includingthe Milky Way. This is an increasingly rare qualitythat is in danger of disappearing due to the gradualencroachment of light pollution, into even themost remote parts of our countryside.

This guidance is for residents and those seekingpermission to develop within the NorthumberlandInternational Dark Sky Park. It is also relevant tothose living beyond the boundary of the DarkSky Park, who want to play their part in reducinglight pollution in their respective areas.

Whitelee Moor National Nature

Reserve

Leaplish Waterpark & Calvert Trust

Observatory + 1 mile radius

Black Rig Nature Reserve

Greenlee Lough National Nature

Reserve

Operation Centre & Hydro Plant

Butterburn Flow Nature Reserve

Ordnance Survey Licence Number 100022521 (2016) NNPA

College Valley

E0-50

E0-50

Ingram

AlwintonE0-50

E0-50Harbottle

HolystoneE0-0

E0-0

E0-50

E0-50

E0-0

E0-0

Greenhaugh

Northumberland InternationalDark Sky Park (DSP) and EnvironmentalZones

Background:Northumberland International Dark Sky Park(see map below) encompasses the whole ofNorthumberland National Park and much of theadjacent Kielder Water & Forest Park. Withinthis combined area, there is a mosaic of sparselypopulated upland moorland and large tracts ofconiferous forest, incised by river valleys whereisolated farmsteads, small hamlets and villages tendto be found. In relation to categorising the effectthat artificial lighting has on this remote, treasuredenvironment, a unique Environmental Zone numbering system has been devised for the purposes of Dark Sky Park designation.

Good Practice Guide for Outside Lighting in Northumberland International Dark Sky Park (DSP)

Page 3: Dark Sky lighting - Northumberland National Park€¦ · Lighting Management Plan November 2015) Good Practice Guide for Outside Lighting in Northumberland International Dark Sky

Enviro-Zone Definition Typical Examples Implications Means to Achieve

E0-0 Adapt or modify existing outside lights to this end.

Predominantly dark - Some light spill is inevitable up to 50 metres beyond the new light sourceor up to propertyboundary whichever is nearer to property.

Intrinsically dark - Up to 0.5 lux lightspill is inevitable at the propertyboundary.

Up to 1 lux light spillis inevitable at theproperty boundary inclusive of any contribution fromstreet lighting system.

Settlements with littleor no street lightingsystem e.g. AlwintonIngramHolystoneCollege ValleyGreenhaugh & LaneheadHarbottle.

Settlements with astreet lighting systeme.g. Kielder VillageByrnessFalstoneStonehaughRochesterElsdonOtterburn Camp.

New units must becompliant and residentsencouraged to modifyexisting outside lightsto prevent no morethan 0.25 lux strayingbeyond their propertyboundary.

New units must be compliant and residents encouragedto prevent any lightstraying into theirneighbour's windowsby adapting or modifying existinglights to this end.

Residents encouragedto prevent any lightstraying into theirneighbour's windows byadapting or modifyingexisting outside lightsto this end.

New outside lights mustbe fully-shielded regardless of lumen*output (ideally less than 600 lumens)

Encourage existinglights to be modified oradapted to this end.

Residents encouraged to use bulbs with an output less than 600 lumens or ensurenew outside lights arefully-shielded if greater than 1,000 lumens.*

Residents encouraged to use bulbs with anoutput less than 1,000lumens* and ensurelighting unit is fully-shielded if greater than 1,800 lumens*.

E0-250

E0-50

E1 in E0 area

E1BeyondPark Boundary

* A lumen is the recognised measurement of light produced, not a measurement of the energy of the light source i.e. the higher the number of lumens, the brighter the light.

Dark E.g. Whitelee Moor National Nature Reserve and one mile roundKielder Observatory.

NO NEW EXTERNALLIGHTS ALLOWEDand residents encouraged to modify existing outside lights.

Predominantly dark - Some light spill is inevitable up to 250 metres beyondthe new light sourceor up to propertyboundary whicheveris nearer to property.

All remote propertieswithin Dark Sky Parkboundary e.g. Isolated houses and farmsteads.

New outside lightsmust be compliant andresidents encouragedto modify existing outside lights to prevent no more than 0.1 lux straying beyond their propertyboundary.

New outside lightsmust be fully-shielded regardlessof lumen* output (ideally less than 600 lumens).

Encourage existinglights to be modifiedor adapted to this end.

These Environmental Zones have been determinedby the quality of the night-time ambient lightfound in each zone and the Exterior LightingMaster Plan (LMP) recommends differing degrees of stray light control for each of the five ‘Environmental Zones’.

The LMP has assessed the whole of Northum-berland International Dark Sky Park as E0-250.However, within the Dark Sky Park, there areareas having lower levels of ambient night-light (E0-0) as well as areas of slightly higher levels of ambient night-light (E0-50 & E1).

Summary of Environmental Zones for Northumberland International Dark Sky Park:

Page 4: Dark Sky lighting - Northumberland National Park€¦ · Lighting Management Plan November 2015) Good Practice Guide for Outside Lighting in Northumberland International Dark Sky

6 W 9 W 12 W 15 W 20 W

CFL Bulb

4 W 6 W 10 W 13 W 18 W

LED Bulb

25 W 40 W 60 W 75 W 100 W

Standard Bulb

18 W 28 W 42 W 53 W 70 W

Halogen Bulb

220+ 400+ 700+ 900+ 1300+BRIGHTNESS(lumen)

Light Bulbs

Approximate lumen output emitted from light sources of varying wattages

<600 is better

Features to consider when sourcing newexterior lighting unitsFirstly and the most obvious question that youneed to ask yourself is ‘Do I need artificial lightingat all, and if so how much? For environmental and financial reasons choose the minimum number of fixtures that are required to meetyour need. Then consider when and how the light units will be switched on. Rather than astandard switch that requires you to rememberto switch the light ‘on’ and more importantly‘OFF’ before going to bed, consider using a timeclock or Passive Infra Red (PIR) motion sensorswitching mechanisms, or even both! These willhelp save you money and reduce the risk of unnecessary light pollution occurring.

Brightness of the bulbYou may have noticed that the light bulb industryhas been going through a radical change in recentyears.

The driving factor behind this is improved energyefficiency and this is being achieved by newtechnology such as the use of Light Emitting-Diodes (LED’s) that require a reduced amount ofenergy to emit the same brightness of light as oldfashioned filament light bulbs. Saving energy shouldmean that you save money in the long-term also.

Traditionally most people have been used tobuying light bulbs (lamps) with the light outputgraded in units of watts (W). These days, becausewatts are actually a measure of power not lightintensity, manufacturers are tending to refer tothe ‘Lumen’ (lm) output of a bulb. This is simply a measure of the total amount of ‘visible’ lightemitted from a source. The conversion table below identifies the approximate lumen outputemitted from light sources of varying wattages.For example a 10w LED bulb produces theequivalent level of brightness (700+ lumens) as a 60 watt standard incandescent light bulb.

Page 5: Dark Sky lighting - Northumberland National Park€¦ · Lighting Management Plan November 2015) Good Practice Guide for Outside Lighting in Northumberland International Dark Sky

Traditionally manufactures have used phrasessuch as ‘warm white’, ‘brilliant white’ or ‘CoolWhite’ to distinguish between the different typesof white light but with the increased use of LEDlighting, packaging for light bulbs these days tendsto identify the ‘Kelvin’ output of the bulb.

The table below sets out some examples of LED and the Kelvin Scale

4,000K

3,000K

Colour of the light emittedMost people probably think that white light bulbsemit the same colour light but in fact there are different tones of white light and this tendsto be measured by the ‘Kelvin Scale’ (K).

The preference for new exterior lighting withinthe Dark Sky Park is for bulbs to emit light between the 3,000 – 4,000 Kelvin range therebyavoiding the piercing blue white light often seenon LED Christmas tree lights but also the orangeglow effect synonymous with out dated sodiumbulb street lighting systems.

Elsdon

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Ensure that outside lighting shines downwards

Ensure that fully-shielded outside lighting is used

Shielded bulkhead lightsare much more efficient,minimise glare and so aresafer

Unshielded bulkhead lightsare very inefficient, as onlya fraction of the lightshines where it is needed

Positioning of outside lightsAs well as ensuring that the brightness of youroutside light is compatible to the relevant ‘Environmental Zone’; WHERE and HOW you install your light is just as important.

If flood lighting is unavoidable, ensure that thelight shines downwards, with no light escapingabove the horizontal plane, and only to where the light is required, and not onto neighbouringproperty.

Fully-shielded lightsTo be fully compliant with the Dark Sky Park LMP,the glass window of any outside light should betotally horizontal with no light escaping above it.

NOTE: Outside lights that have the bulb tuckedout of sight into the lamp casing, but have a glass bowl beneath are NOT Fully-Shielded asthe light is refracted upwards from the curvature of the glass.Unshielded bulkhead lights, no mattertheir luminosity, should never be installed as theywaste light in all directions, blinding the personapproaching it and shining only a small fraction oflight to where it is needed.

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Deluce Temde Wall LightAnti-UV polycarbonate diffuser, E27 holder Max 60 Watt outputApprox: £70

Good examples of a fully-shielded light (commonly available)

Lutec Radius LED Outdoor Wall Light – RoundDie-cast aluminium casing in graphite finishIncludes 3 x 1W CREE cool white LEDs with 117 lumens light outputApprox: £85

Northumberland National Park: www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk

International Dark Sky Association: www.ida.org.uk

British Astronomical Association: www.britastro.org

Greenhaugh First School in Northumberland National Park has a well designed floodlighting scheme

A good example of a well designed floodlighting schemeGreenhaugh First School replaced their bulkhead lights will a system of PIR activated 10w LED floodlights (see pictures below). They have also made significant savings to their lighting costs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Page 8: Dark Sky lighting - Northumberland National Park€¦ · Lighting Management Plan November 2015) Good Practice Guide for Outside Lighting in Northumberland International Dark Sky

Northumberland National Park Authority, Eastburn, South Park, Hexham, Northumberland NE46 1BSFront cover photograph ©: Bellingham Bridge over the River North Tyne by Neil Denham


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