A Multi-Criteria Assessment Procedure for Outdoor Lighting at the Design Stage

Piotr Pracki and Krzysztof Skarżyński
Additional contact information
Piotr Pracki: Lighting Technology Division, Electrical Power Engineering Institute, Warsaw University of Technology, Koszykowa 75, 00-662 Warsaw, Poland
Krzysztof Skarżyński: Lighting Technology Division, Electrical Power Engineering Institute, Warsaw University of Technology, Koszykowa 75, 00-662 Warsaw, Poland

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: This paper presents an attempt at a unified approach for the assessment of outdoor lighting solutions at the design stage. First of all, the lighting criteria for different types of outdoor lighting installations have been carefully described. Despite the differences in criteria, it is possible to find a common ground for the assessment of lighting solutions at the design stage. This is based on the need for the assessment of lighting solutions to be included in the requirements for the luminous environment, light pollution, and energy efficiency. The review and analysis of the standards and reports allows an experimental procedure to be created, the main aim of which is to find the best and most sustainable lighting solution for any outdoor situation. The procedure was tested by the example of an analysis of parking lot lighting solutions. In the case analyzed, 120 solutions were considered. It appeared that, in only 65 cases were the requirements referring to both lighting condition and light pollution met. Finally, based on the lighting energy efficiency assessment, ten solutions were selected as the most suitable. Furthermore, only one solution out of the ten was the most beneficial, taking into account the extra criterion of basic economic cost. The case study confirms that the assessment procedure allows the most beneficial solution to be selected, taking into account the luminous environment, as well as light pollution and energy efficiency criteria. The proposed multi-criteria assessment procedure may be used as a valuable tool by lighting designers to select the most beneficial solution in order to meet the needs of safety, visual efficiency, and comfort, as well as taking into account light pollution and energy efficiency restrictions.

Keywords: lighting technology; outdoor lighting; lighting criteria; light pollution; energy efficiency; sustainable lighting design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1330/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1330/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1330-:d:319505

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().