DARK SKIES | LUNA program seeks to advance acceptance of targeted outdoor lighting usage

The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) has shared recent work and federal recognition regarding its programs for driving energy-efficiency and light-pollution mitigation initiatives into the lighting market.

DLC has long since stretched beyond its initial mission of improving the market opportunities and adoption of LED lighting to outlining technology features and requirements that improve light quality, energy efficiency, and appropriate light distribution, including networked lighting controls and integrated building systems.

In a July 2024 LEDs Magazine article, DLC program director Liesel Whitney-Schulte explained the consortium’s role in lighting industry standards development activities. “The DLC relies on standards to ensure that LED lighting has been reliably and consistently measured and can be evaluated against our requirements for listing,” she wrote. “And […] we participate in development of any standards that reflect the DLC’s vision of a net-zero future where lighting, controls, and integrated building systems enable energy savings, decarbonization, and sustainability for all people and the environment.”

DLC’s industry initiatives are informed by those industry standards as well as its own studies; they also help to shape federal guidelines in some cases.

Government facilities mandate outdoor lighting requirements

The consortium’s LUNA (Light Usage at Night) program — which has resulted in outdoor lighting guidance and technical requirements that are the basis for accepting luminaires into the associated Qualified Products List (QPL) — is now cited in the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)’s 2024 P100 Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service.

As the largest civilian real-estate operator in the United States, GSA manages thousands of buildings. Among its many functions, the agency sets specification and purchase requirements for federal and public facilities. It also leverages some facilities in studies on the effectiveness of energy-saving technologies, building envelope strategies, and lighting outcomes with the goal of evolving sustainability objectives and best practices for public buildings.

Although P100 has required DLC Solid-State Lighting (SSL)–listed products for several years in order for public agencies to meet energy efficiency benchmarks, the standard now indicates that outdoor luminaires must also meet LUNA requirements to reduce light pollution and energy usage, except where specialty products may be needed. All LUNA-listed products already meet SSL V5.1 minimums for reliability, quality, efficacy, and controllability.

DLC executive director and CEO Tina Halfpenny said, “Our LUNA [QPL] is a practical tool for public facilities to ensure that they illuminate outdoor spaces only where, when, and to the extent needed — saving energy and protecting the environment. We could not be more pleased the GSA has recognized its value.”

Earlier this summer, the consortium shared findings of a LUNA study, carried out in collaboration with VH Lighting Services and Lighting Research Solutions. Researchers compared the differences between DLC qualified products that meet SSL energy efficiency requirements only and those that meet LUNA light pollution mitigation requirements and energy efficiency requirements. LUNA-qualified products must also meet criteria for lower levels of blue light content, shielding, reduced uplight, and controllability.

The study used a model high school parking lot and a main street in Fort Collins, Colo. The team found that reducing light levels and using lower-CCT fixtures in the parking lot “significantly reduced light pollution” and “facilitated lower energy usage and greater cost savings compared to focusing on energy efficiency alone,” according to the report summary. The light pollution results were echoed in the street application. However, the main street findings showed varying results for energy consumption based on fixture type and selected product.

Readers can download the full LUNA report from the DLC website.