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Photometric & Exterior Lighting Design Considerations: Architects & Engineers Beware

by ScanTech Technical Consulting - CIH, CSP, BSEE, CHMM, CHP (Pending) · Published May 22, 2024 · Updated May 22, 2024

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I have been performing exterior lighting photometric surveys for a number of years and I have noticed a sharp uptick in the number of failures with respect to municipal lighting ordinances. There are several technical reasons for this that I would like to discuss for the benefit those who plan commercial lighting to save headaches later on.

1) Using traditional designs where the luminaries on poles are placed at the outer edge of the property are beginning to cause some serious problems. Virtually all municipalities that require “as-built” surveys require light measurements in foot candles at the perimeter of the property edge. If you place an elevated luminaire there, then you will likely exceed the limit placed by the city.

2) If you angle the light and use side and back shields, then lights on the outer edge of the property it MIGHT work, but I rarely see these done properly as the installation of a light fixture is almost exclusively done during the day which is exactly when you CANNOT see what the resulting illumination pattern is.

3) Due to rapid growth of the suburbs in many areas (particularly North Texas in the Dallas area) there are zoning overlaps where a Commercial / Mixed Retail zone will be adjacent to multi-family and / or single family Residential sections. The light level limits for Residential property edges are significantly more restrictive and tend to be from 0.5 foot candles down to 0.25 foot candles which makes it harder to meet compliance.

4) Even with a wall in place or other illumination barrier, having the lights on poles which are typically 20′ – 30′ in height means those barriers are likely going to be negated and you will have light bleed over onto a property. If the property is a residential home with 2 stories or more, this will be even more exacerbated as the light will be shining directly into the window. You can almost bet a complaint will be lodged with the city which is exactly what photometric ordinances are designed to prevent.

5) Another large part of the problem is that over the past few years, the watt to lumen efficiency of luminaires have noticeably increased which means that with the same amount of power, the light will have greater luminosity. While this sounds like an improvement, it means the chances of going over the glare and perimeter limits also increase.

6) The calculated photometric plans submitted by the client are now consistently UNDERESTIMATING the as built light levels. Since I do not use design software for generating calculated photometric plots, I have some uncertainty as to why this is, but I suspect the increasing brightness level of LED lighting is not being taken into account fully.

Photometric Surveys & Exterior Light Testing

A number of customers who have had their lighting permits accepted have complained about fails with the as built photometric surveys. The reasoning is that if a particular city or municipality accepts the permit, that the inspection should pass.

This is a fallacy for a few reasons:

A) The permitting department and inspection departments are often separate and so permission given by one does NOT mean that the end product will be accepted.

B) Again, I find that there is an increasing difference between the submitted photometric plan and what is found in a field survey of the exterior lighting. The as-built illumination levels are almost ALWAYS brighter than what is calculated.

C) Furthermore, I suspect those who have been designing these photometric plots have been doing it so long that they assume what has worked in the past will continue working. This is a serious pitfall is that a crossover point has been passed where LED lighting has become brighter while city ordinances have become stricter. Also, it seems that commercial exterior lighting is designed in almost a vacuum where the lighting engineer assumes that there are no residential properties nearby that will be impacted.

In addition, the plan sometimes does not take into account the municipality ordinances. I have seen plans where the maximum perimeter brightness was set at exactly 3.0 foot candles, but the city only allows up to 0.5 fc.

HOW TO AVOID EXPENSIVE FAILS

1) Carefully check the city and zoning ordinances in which you will be building. Be particularly careful if there are single family homes, condos, apartment buildings or other multi-family structures adjacent to and / or bordering the property line.

2) Place pole lights towards the interior center around the edge of the structure or other feature of interest. If you use those to illuminate parking further out, then angle them carefully so illumination levels stay within limits and do not cause light trespass.

3) For lighting the area in the immediate vicinity of the building, use barn / side lights pointed downward and use canopies when possible to minimize Dark Sky impact.

4) Be careful with the actual lumens the luminaires you have selected are outputting. Using watts per square meter is no longer a useful rule given the increasing electrical efficiency of LED lighting. Do not assume that the manufacturer specs are accurate. Also, investigate if your photometric calculating software is up to date and accurate; particularly for sub 1 foot candle calculations. Many show areas of 0.0 foot candles which indicates total darkness that is very rare to achieve.

5) Check and see if you can install dimmers or otherwise decrease the current going to the LED luminaire after the fact in case you need to fine tune the glare and / or perimeter light levels.

6) Prepare to have shields that you can install, though I find this approach to be the least desirable because it often does not solve egregious issues and because I have heard numerous complaints from General Contractors that the wrong shields get ordered.

7) One very desirable option is to have a motion dependent LED lamp. I’ve only seen this on one installation so far, but it was very impressive. Basically, it keeps the lights at a lower level until someone move into vicinity where a motion sensor instructs the light level to increase for safety. You may also use timers / photocells to minimize electricity and nuisance if the business does not often stay open long after dark.

More about ScanTech Exterior Photometric Testing and Lighting Surveys

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/light-level-rooms-d_708.html

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