[magnitude6] Congratulations to European Lighting Award Winners

[rlgent1@aol...]

For Immediate Release

International Dark-Sky Association
April 26, 2005

European Lighting Awards Announced 

The 5th European Symposium for Protection of the Night Sky will be held in 
Genk, Belgium on April 29-30.  Participants from 12 different countries will be 
discussing the problems and solutions of light pollution.  

The speakers will be attending from Europe, United States, and Argentina, and 
they represent a wide variety of fields including lighting manufacturers, 
astronomers, government officials, environmentalists, biologists, and others.  
Speakers will address dark sky topics such as night vision, protection of 
observatory environments, outdoor lighting codes, lighting fixtures, and energy 
savings.

The European 2005 International Dark-Sky Association lighting awards will be 
presented on April 29 in Genk.   First place was won by Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, 
for outstanding lighting projects.   The new sports lighting replacement 
project in Sint-Niklaas sets an example for cities across the Flanders region.  
This project conserves energy while using shielded fixtures to control light 
pollution.  In addition, the marketplace of Sint-Niklaas was designed with strict 
light pollution controls.  Mr. Geert De Cock of Werkgroep Lichthinder VVS and 
Mr. Philippe Brokken, a city official, will receive the award. 

The second place prize will be given for relighting of Formentera Island, 
Spain.  This lighting project protected residents, as well as migrating birds and 
other wildlife.  More than 500 fixtures were replaced to limit glare, 
obtrusive light, and sky glow.   According to Professor San Martin of the Polytechnic 
University of Catalonia, "Light pollution will be reduced by 90 percent in 
this environmentally sensitive area."  Joan Cabot, the project manager, will 
receive the award.

Three cities in Italy will also receive awards for their outstanding efforts 
to control light pollution.  Trezzano Rosa (Milano province of Lombardy) 
replaced old fixtures with new fully shielded fixtures saving an estimated 250,000 
euros per year in energy costs.  Mayor Michelle Cagliani was especially 
supportive of this project.   The public works manager for this project was Luciano 
Burro.  

Villa d"Ogna (Bergamo province, Lombardy) replaced lighting fixtures with 
fully shielded fixtures, and this resulted in an energy savings of approximately 
30 percent over the entire project.  They were able to reduce glare while 
increasing light on necessary areas.   The mayor, Bosatelli Angelo, supported this 
project, and the lighting designer was Luciano Mecca. 

The city of Brignano Gera d'Adda (Bergamo Province, Lombardy) won an award 
for innovative street-lighting design.  They were able to maximize pole spacing 
while controlling light pollution and keeping uniformity at approved levels.  
Diego Bonata of Italy's CieloBuio nominated this city for an award.  

The IDA gives quality lighting awards for lighting that controls glare, uses 
appropriate lighting levels, is energy efficient, minimizes obtrusive light, 
displays a good nighttime ambiance, and has minimal impact on artificial sky 
glow.  Fully shielded lighting puts light where it's needed and minimizes glare 
and energy waste.  These European award winners used shielding and design 
techniques to achieve the best quality outdoor lighting.  

The complete program and the abstracts are available online at 
http://www.darksky-symposium2005.be.

                    --- END ---

Members of the working press (representing bona fide news media) and 
freelance science writers will be admitted upon presenting their credentials at the 
meeting registration desks.  

Press Contacts:

Bob Gent, 
Vice-President, Board of Directors
International Dark-Sky Association
RLGent1@aol...

Friedel Pas
Belgium's Werkgroep Lichthinder of VVS
Tel: +32 (0)3 290 49 74
Mob: +32 (0)474 50 17 95
friedel.pas@bvpartners...



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