Light Pollution Mitigation

Practices that mitigate light pollution reduce exposure to artificial light at night in the surrounding community, contributing to improved sleep and enhanced feelings of well-being. 

Key Terms

• Light Pollution is misdirected or excessive artificial light that can produce glare and skyglow, decrease visibility, and waste energy.

For full strategy and documentation requirements, please refer to the digital scorecard made available on the Fitwel Platform. 

Strategy Insights

• Projects have the option to include light shields on all outdoor fixtures. 
  • Light shields are pieces of materials attached to a light fixture that block light from traveling in a certain direction. For example, if there is a bright light at the edge of a parking lot, there could be a light shield attached to prevent that light from illuminating nearby homes. Light shields are also intended to prevent light from pointing upwards toward the sky, which in excess creates region-wide light pollution. 
• This strategy includes the option to require tenants to implement strategies to reduce light pollution from interior spaces. For example:
  • Using smart lighting that allows teams to adjust timers and lighting levels or implementing policies requiring certain practices; Dimming lights at night or reducing light at night is preferred. See below for example documentation.
  • Drawing blinds at night;
  • Installing indoor occupancy sensors; See below for sample documentation.
  • Turning off nighttime overhead lighting and requiring table or task lighting within tenant spaces;
  • Locating bright indoor lights away from windows. 

Documentation Guidance

• For each plan, map, photograph, or design drawing submitted showing a light pollution mitigation practice that is implemented (or for the case of the Design pathway, will be implemented), please include clear annotations describing the practice shown. 

Sample Documentation

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