as we light it

Since we learned how to make a fire, human beings have lit the night.
Artificial light allows us to resist nature, escape the fear and limitations of darkness, do more in it, and venture into the night.
Today, we don\'t think much about street lights.
Except, perhaps, at this time of the year, when the sun slips too early.
But when we see an electronic dawn, we see traffic lights, headlights, neon lights, shop windows, porch lights, landscape lighting, holiday decorations, someone watching TV through the window, there are about 160,000 public places in Toronto.
They light up all of our situation, let\'s walk home from the bus, pick up the kids from the daycare center, get the dogs out, or see if we\'re running into something evil.
But how many of us really notice what is really the right overhead?
\"I wouldn\'t say that lighting is in the dark,\" said Gerry Conwell, lighting designer . \".
However, given the importance of lighting to society and the cost of society, it has not received the attention it deserves.
If there is no street light, the crime rate will rise. People stay in.
They do not participate in sports, cultural activities, eating out and shopping.
Business losses.
Economic downturn.
\"If people had to go home before sunset and pull portcullis up and feed the crocodiles in the moat, they wouldn\'t like to be in that society.
This is not the way of life, \"says Conwell, who teaches at the University of Ryerson, the only school in Canada that offers lighting programs.
Currently, he is a consultant for Toronto Hydro, which has been testing different lamps and lighting forms on 15 streets throughout the city since 2007. Called ALAMP (
Adaptive lighting asset management plan
The study aims to get the best possible lighting for Toronto.
Most of the fixtures in the city will be replaced, the last upgrade of which was in 1993 and is now close to the end of the life cycle.
What is being tested is new lighting techniques, as well as ways to control pedestrian traffic at each level at any given time.
So, it\'s old in the spotlight.
High tech gold-
Pressure sodium lamp, bright white metal halogen lamp, LED light, induction lighting. . .
Also, this will be tested if something else happens.
\"In fact, we are thinking about installing plasma lighting,\" said Richard Cook of Toronto Hydro . \".
\"If you asked me three months ago if I had heard of plasma lighting, I might have answered no.
\"Community members were asked to respond to an online ALAMP survey to assess the visibility and atmosphere on the test streets and their sense of security.
\"We received extensive feedback, from \'I really like it,\' to \'I didn\'t notice anything different,\'\" Cook said \'. \".
Toronto Hydro is looking for the best combination of temperature, brightness, energy efficiency, life span, cost, light pollution and \"light intrusion --
Just like the street lights in your bedroom don\'t invite themselves.
\"Light shapes all the spaces,\" explains Cornwell . \".
\"It occupies the building of the space, highlights what you want to emphasize, and doesn\'t emphasize what you don\'t want to emphasize.
To make space magical, it does all these things.
\"Parks, buildings, monuments, all these things are defined by the way they are illuminated, the way they are illuminated.
\"Even the poles and fixtures must be taken into account.
How high is the light?
What angle does it sit?
What kind of coverage does it have?
Will it create a shadow?
Will it shine?
How far must the Poles be apart?
How does it work with local business improvement equipment?
\"This is a rather complex art form,\" said Leni Schwendinger, a city lighting designer who designed lighting for Toronto\'s HtO Park.
\"Jane Street-
Jane is really not that simple-
If you put everything together, the lights of the store, the neon lights, the signals, the headlights, you will have an interesting urban composition, \"she said on the phone at the Manhattan studio.
With the new technology, street lamps can be adjusted according to the time, place, use and needs of human activities.
\"What I\'m most excited about is that one day the street lights will really match and enhance the activity in any specific area,\" Schwendinger said excitedly . \".
\"They will have a kind of darkening, for example.
This is just beginning to enter the American market.
She said they already have this kind of light in Europe and Asia, and depending on how many people are on the street, the brightness of the light may change.
\"It\'s a counterpoint depending on the region,\" she said . \".
\"If you have a lot of nights --
Shift workers, let\'s improve the lighting level.
If this is a business area you have a lot of bright shop windows and let\'s dim it.
Very meticulous.
Schwendinger insists it\'s all for \"visual comfort \".
\"Did you notice the street light?
Beautiful?
Are you comfortable?
Are you safe?
Does it shine like a parking lot, do you have to squinted, or do you have to put your hands on your forehead like a sun visor?
This is not a visual comfort.
Designers are always worried about the engineers and decisions of utility companies.
The manufacturer will take a practical approach, choose to maintain the simplest and cheapest lights and provide the maximum lighting effect for the cost.
Because Toronto, like other cities, must meet a specific level of light.
National standards association of the United States (ANSI)
Society of Lighting Engineering (IES)—
Depending on the type of road and the number of cars and pedestrians.
The standard was developed to avoid problems such as lighting. world-
\"Pedestrian conflict \"-
Or \"hit by a car\" for the rest of us \".
But now the standard is RP-8-
00, will be revised.
\"Everyone is waiting for it,\" says Conwell . \".
\"San Francisco is waiting, Calgary is waiting, everyone is waiting.
It was delayed due to changes in light and technology.
\"That\'s one of the reasons Toronto Hydro will extend the test for one winter, although a preliminary report will be released next month.
\"We \'ve been looking at the market and seeing what\'s ready commercially,\" Cook said . \".
\"I use the analogy of investing in 8 --
Track when the cd is coming. . .
We are very cautious about this.
\"So we may choose to take an iterative approach instead of converting our entire asset.
\"It\'s important to have as many scenarios as possible,\" Cornwell said.
\"It\'s lighting in every environment is a system and part of a larger system,\" he concluded . \".
\"There are all sorts of other things that will change when you change the lights on the street.
Sven dingg believes that the lighting landscape of western cities is composed of many elements.
She called them \"eight nights \".
Dusk: marked by the sunset, when the \"working day extends to the evening, or the day extends to the later stagework.
This is almost always a time when traffic is busy.
Happy hour: \"Social extension of working days \"-
When the windows of people\'s shops and restaurants are lit up.
Dining out: it\'s time for appointments, business meetings, special events, window shopping and walks.
It needs a certain atmosphere because there is too much light.
• Cultural activities: define the craze for movies, plays, ballet, concerts, or operas.
Night Shift: when \"cleaning staff, around-the-
Clock service such as traffic, emergency repair and service starts.
\"After work: the kind of activity that happened in the Toronto entertainment district.
Car headlights may be the main factor.
Early start: they took to the streets in the dark.
They are the people who send the newspaper, the people who have to open the shop, the first class of the factory, coffee chain or hospital.
They need to feel safe from the traffic of criminals and cars.
Dawn: the rush hour begins.
Commuters block roads and pedestrians block sidewalks.