DID YOU KNOW?

By Kerul Kassel PHD Hamony CDD Board Member

DID YOU KNOW that Harmony was designed to promote the peaceful coexistence of human and animal residents within the community while striking a balance between the preservation, use and enjoyment of Harmony's natural areas? Underlying these objectives are the values of fostering a respect for the land, the protection of wildlife and the sensible use and enjoyment of Harmony's abundant natural and manmade amenities by its residents.

This month’s subject is Harmony’s Dark Sky policy. Did you know that Harmony was designed for dark skies from its start?

Harmony was recognized by the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) in 2009 as the world’s first Dark Sky Development of Distinction, a new award designated by IDA to promote subdivisions, master planned communities, and unincorporated townships whose planning actively promotes a more natural night sky. Such lighting not only promotes the viewing of the night sky, it also minimizes impact on wildlife populations.

You probably have a number of exterior lights around your home or property. You may not be aware of the each fixture’s need, function, or design, in terms of minimizing light pollution in your own backyard. Unfortunately, much of traditional outdoor residential lighting is inefficient, poorly installed, or altogether unnecessary. That leads to the reasons for Harmony’s Dark Sky policy.

Animals that are active only at night can be harmed by light pollution because they are biologically evolved to be dependent on an environment with a certain amount of hours of uninterrupted daytime and nighttime. Over-illumination of the night sky is affecting them (especially birds). Light pollution has also been found to affect human circadian rhythms. (See the Wikipedia entry for Dark Sky Movement for more info.) Landscape lighting usually creates wasted light and can interfere with plant flowering and even the activities of beneficial insects.

The advantages of reducing light pollution include an increased number of stars visible at night, reducing the effects of unnatural lighting on the environment, and cutting down on energy usage. Travel out to the end of Five Oaks on a moonless night and wonder at the incredible starstudded sky.

Harmony’s street lighting is designed to point downward at the street, with the lightshade cutting off light above the bottom of the bulb. On Harmony schools’ sports fields, the lights have “eyebrow” shields to help direct light toward the playing field and not into the sky. You may have noticed that Harmony residences were designed so that porch lights are recessed into the ceiling to provide a soft welcome for visitors and adequate light for porch use.

So, if you are considering any changes or additions to your outdoor lighting, please keep in mind these reasons to continue to keep Harmony a Dark Sky community. n