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6.8 Control of obtrusive light

Obtrusive light is the light that does not illuminate a task or
reference area but spills onto other non-related areas. This
not only reduces the efficiency of the lighting installation as a
proportion of the light produced is being wasted, but can also
cause inconvenience or damage in the surrounding areas.
Obtrusive light may be thought of as having three components;
• Spill light, which is light emitted by a lighting installation
that falls outside the boundaries of the property for which
the lighting is designed.
• Sky glow, which is light that contributes to the brightening
of the night sky. Fig. 6.38 A
 n example of an installation
producing sky glow
• Light trespass, which is a special case of spill light when
light spills onto surrounding properties. An additional form
of light trespass is when the direct view of bright luminaires
from normal viewing directions causing annoyance,
distraction or discomfort.

Waste light
Sky glow direct and reflected flux
Waste light ULOR

DLOR

Spill light

Light
trespass

Reference area Immediate surrounds Surrounds

Fig. 6.39 The components of obtrusive light

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A selection of lighting technical parameters are used to define
limits for obtrusive light, depending upon the type of obtrusive
light being experienced or measured. All the parameters
depend upon the environmental zone the installation is within,
which effectively defines the amount of background brightness
from the surround area. The environmental zones are shown in
Table 6.8.

Zone Surrounding Lighting Environment Examples

E1 Natural Dark National parks and protected sites

E2 Rural Low brightness Industrial or residential rural areas
E3 Suburban Medium brightness Industrial or residential rural suburbs
E4 Urban High brightness Town centres and commercial areas
Table 6.8 Definitions of environmental zones

The lighting technical parameters used to define limits for

obtrusive light are;
• ULR, the upward light ratio. This is the proportion of light
that is emitted at or above the horizontal when a luminaire
is mounted in its installed position. For an installation it is
the sum of individual luminaire upward light ratios in their
installed orientation and this indicates the contribution of
an installation to sky glow.

Light Environmental Zones

Technical
Parameter Application Conditions E1 E2 E3 E4

Upward Ratio of luminous flux incident on horizontal

Light Ratio plane just above luminaire in its installed 0 0–5 0 – 15 0 – 25
(ULR) position, to total luminaire flux.

Table 6.9 Upward light ratio limits

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• Ev, the vertical illuminance on surrounding properties.
Limits apply to nearby dwellings and special attention
should be taken to vertical illuminance on windows. If land
has been designated for dwellings but no construction has
occurred these limits still apply for the potential dwellings.

Light Environmental Zones

Technical
Parameter Application Conditions E1 E2 E3 E4

Illuminance in vertical plane (Ev) Pre-curfew: 2 lux 5 lux 10 lux 25 lux

Post-curfew: 0 lux 1 lux 2 lux 5 lux

Table 6.10 Vertical illuminance limits on properties

• I, the maximum intensity of a luminaire in a designated

direction. Limits apply to every luminaire in an installation,
and are evaluated from every direction where views of
bright surfaces of luminaires are likely to be disturbing to
residents. Mind you, this only applies where the viewing
direction is not short-term, but is likely to be maintained.

Light Environmental Zones

Technical
Parameter Application Conditions E1 E2 E3 E4

Luminous intensity emitted by Pre-curfew: 2500 cd 7500 cd 10000 cd 25000 cd

luminaires (I)
Post-curfew: 0 cd 500 cd 1000 cd 2500 cd

Table 6.11 Luminous intensity limits in a designated direction

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• TI, the value of threshold increment. Threshold increment is
a measure of the loss of visibility caused by the disability
glare from a luminaire installation. The limits apply where
users of a transport system are subject to a reduction in
visibility caused by a non-transport installation, and limiting
values are for positions and viewing directions relevant to
the direction of travel for users of the transport system.

Light Road classification (see section 4.05)

Technical
Parameter No road lighting M5 M4 / M3 M2 / M1

Threshold 15 % 15 % 15 % 15 %
Increment based on adaptation based on adaptation based on adaptation based on adaptation
TI luminance of 0.1 cd/m2 luminance of 1 cd/m2 luminance of 2 cd/m2 luminance of 5 cd/m2

Table 6.12 Threshold increment limits

• Lb, the luminance of a building façade. This is the

average luminance of the building façade, and may be
approximated using
Eav x 
Lb =


Where Eav is the average illuminance of the building

façade and  is the reflectance of the building façade.
• Ls, the luminance of a sign. This is the average luminance
of a sign and may be approximated similar to that
described above, using the average illuminance and
reflectance values for the sign.

Light Environmental Zones

Technical
Parameter Application Conditions E1 E2 E3 E4

Taken as the product of the

Building Facade Luminance (Lb) design average illuminance and 0 5 cd/m2 10 cd/m2 25 cd/m2
reflectance factor divided by .

Taken as the product of the

design average illuminance and
Sign Luminance (Ls) reflectance factor divided by 50 cd/m2 400 cd/m2 800 cd/m2 1000cd/m2
, or for self-luminous signs the
average luminance.

Table 6.13 Luminance limits for building facades and signs

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To control obtrusive light various strategies may be used
depending upon the application;
• Using floodlights that have a tightly controlled beam
allows more precise control of the light. Therefore the best
level of beam control for the application should be used.
• Using floodlights that allow the luminaire to be aimed
close to the vertical (i.e. with the face of the floodlight
nearly horizontal and pointing downwards) reduces
the impact on sky glow due to reduced upward light.
Applications which can use specialist “flat-glass”
floodlights (which are designed to be mounted with the
front face of the floodlight horizontal) should do so, as
these are ideal for controlling obtrusive light.
• A higher mounting height can allow floodlights to be
aimed closer to the vertical, and can allow floodlights with
tighter beam control to be used. This allows better control
of glare and spill light. However, the structures will be
more intrusive during daylight hours.
• Similarly the closer a column is to the area to be lit the
better the control of the lighting as this allows floodlights to
be aimed closer to the vertical and floodlights with a wide
distribution can be used with simplified shielding (such as
a visor).
• Using luminaires with lamps that have a lower lumen
output leads to a reduced mounting height, which
helps reduce spill light. However, more luminaires will
be required which may reduce the efficiency of the
installation (but consider that if the control of light is better
then more of the light is being usefully utilised within the
scheme, therefore less light overall may be required. This
is because a scheme that has less light control is over
lighting to compensate for the spill light).

Relevant publications for further reading are

CIE S 015/E:2005 Lighting of Outdoor Work Places
EN12464-2:2007 Lighting of workplaces – part 2: outdoor
work places

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