Hi,
I cant attend the conference but I have been keeping up with whats happening and getting Irish perspectives across.
Cheers,
~Al
For Immediate Release
International Dark-Sky Association
April 26, 2005
European Lighting Awards Announced
The 5th European Symposium for Protection of the Night Sky will be held in Genk, Belgium on April 29-30. Participants from 12 different countries will be discussing the problems and solutions of light pollution.
The speakers will be attending from Europe, United States, and Argentina, and they represent a wide variety of fields including lighting manufacturers, astronomers, government officials, environmentalists, biologists, and others. Speakers will address dark sky topics such as night vision, protection of observatory environments, outdoor lighting codes, lighting fixtures, and energy savings.
The European 2005 International Dark-Sky Association lighting awards will be presented on April 29 in Genk. First place was won by Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, for outstanding lighting projects. The new sports lighting replacement project in Sint-Niklaas sets an example for cities across the Flanders region. This project conserves energy while using shielded fixtures to control light pollution. In addition, the marketplace of Sint-Niklaas was designed with strict light pollution controls. Mr. Geert De Cock of Werkgroep Lichthinder VVS and Mr. Philippe Brokken, a city official, will receive the award.
The second place prize will be given for relighting of Formentera Island, Spain. This lighting project protected residents, as well as migrating birds and other wildlife. More than 500 fixtures were replaced to limit glare, obtrusive light, and sky glow. According to Professor San Martin of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, "Light pollution will be reduced by 90 percent in this environmentally sensitive area." Joan Cabot, the project manager, will receive the award.
Three cities in Italy will also receive awards for their outstanding efforts to control light pollution. Trezzano Rosa (Milano province of Lombardy) replaced old fixtures with new fully shielded fixtures saving an estimated 250,000 euros per year in energy costs. Mayor Michelle Cagliani was especially supportive of this project. The public works manager for this project was Luciano Burro.
Villa d"Ogna (Bergamo province, Lombardy) replaced lighting fixtures with fully shielded fixtures, and this resulted in an energy savings of approximately 30 percent over the entire project. They were able to reduce glare while increasing light on necessary areas. The mayor, Bosatelli Angelo, supported this project, and the lighting designer was Luciano Mecca.
The city of Brignano Gera d'Adda (Bergamo Province, Lombardy) won an award for innovative street-lighting design. They were able to maximize pole spacing while controlling light pollution and keeping uniformity at approved levels. Diego Bonata of Italy's CieloBuio nominated this city for an award.
The IDA gives quality lighting awards for lighting that controls glare, uses appropriate lighting levels, is energy efficient, minimizes obtrusive light, displays a good nighttime ambiance, and has minimal impact on artificial sky glow. Fully shielded lighting puts light where it's needed and minimizes glare and energy waste. These European award winners used shielding and design techniques to achieve the best quality outdoor lighting.
The complete program and the abstracts are available online at
www.darksky-symposium2005.be
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