New outdoor lighting on Western Washington University’s campus will help the university meet sustainability goals, save money and protect nocturnal animals passing through the area.
Initially requested by students and the university’s safety and security group, the project retrofitted about 250 lights along walkways, sidewalks and paths with brand-new LED bulbs. The result, university officials said, is a safer campus, cost savings and significantly reduced light pollution.
The light fixtures are “dark sky-compliant,” meaning they minimize glare while reducing light pollution and sky glow, according to the International Dark-Sky Association.
“We chose to prioritize dark sky-compliant light fixtures with a focus on shielding and down lighting, as well as appropriate color temperature of the light itself,” Amanda Cambre, the university’s director of energy and sustainability, said in an email. “This means that the light is only going down to where it’s needed, and is a warm color spectrum so that it is not similar to moonlight, which can confuse night navigation for insects and animals.”
Cambre called the new installation a “win-win-win,” providing quality lighting for the campus community while reducing light pollution and man-made interference with night-navigating insects and animals.
The new LED lights — a custom order, Cambre said — replaced sodium post top and pole light fixtures, which are older and require frequent replacement and maintenance. The older bulbs also are heavy light polluters, shooting beams into the sky and causing problems for nocturnal animals and insects.
“The light in those [old] fixtures just spills out everywhere,” said Bobbi McLeod, vice president of sales, marketing and design at Lumenal Lighting, the company that provided the new LEDs for the campus. “Using a fixture that’s dark-sky compliant pushes all of the light down onto the walkway or roadway without having that pollution effect of the increased light levels. That’s better for people, for sure, and animals, too.”
The university partnered with Puget Sound Energy (PSE), the main electricity provider for the campus, and Lumenal, to retrofit the lights over a two-year period.
“PSE has a long history of working with WWU and other organizations within Whatcom County to achieve clean energy goals by reducing usage and saving on energy costs,” a PSE spokesperson wrote in an email. “All of this adds benefits such as improved safety and security for everyone on campus.”
“This also brings cost savings, meaning reducing their energy bills by more than half. This also reduces the need for maintenance on lighting around campus,” the spokesperson added.
