Estidama tool

Light Pollution Reduction (LBo-10)

Compute the uplight percentage of your exterior scheme against the lighting-zone limit, check boundary illuminance, and work through the interior and control requirements the credit also carries.

Completion

How much of the check is established. It tracks your working file — it is not a statement that the credit is awarded, which only the reviewing authority can make.

60%

3/5 steps complete

1 2 3 4 5

Project

🧪 Loaded with an example

The figures below are illustrative, so you can see what the tool returns before entering your own. They are not typical values and not a recommendation — replace them with your project’s numbers.

In this example the facade uplighters push the raw upward flux ABOVE the 5% LZ3 limit, but the scheme still passes at ~4.1% once only the light actually leaving the site is counted. Both figures are shown, because the difference between them is a design argument you have to be able to defend.

⚠️

Boundary illuminance and per-luminaire upward flux come from the photometric calculation and the manufacturer IES files for the specified luminaires. This tool aggregates and compares them; it does not model light and cannot check the figures you enter.

Step 1 · Lighting zone

Every project must be classified under one of these zones.

ZoneMax initial illuminance at site boundaryMax beyond the boundaryMax % uplight
LZ1Parks and rural areas< 1 luxN/A0%
LZ2Residential areas1.1 lux< 1 lux at 3 m2%
LZ3All other areas2.2 lux< 1 lux at 4.5 m5%

Every project must be classified under one of the lighting zones. Where site boundaries abut public rights-of-way, light trespass requirements may be met relative to the curb line instead of the site boundary.

Step 2 · Uplight from the exterior scheme

Per luminaire type. Quantity × lumens gives the total; the upward share is what the credit measures.

The credit counts only the uplight that leaves the site. A luminaire fully screened by a parapet or canopy contributes little even if its upward flux is high — but that reduction must be defensible from the design, not assumed. Leave at 100% unless you can show otherwise.

Step 3 · Illuminance at and beyond the boundary

From the photometric calculation for the scheme.

2.2 lux

< 1 lux at 4.5 m

Where site boundaries abut public rights-of-way, light trespass requirements may be met relative to the curb line instead of the site boundary.

Step 4 · Interior lighting

These two are alternatives — meet either one.

Step 5 · Exterior controls and curfew

🏅 One credit point maximum, at Design and at Construction Rating.

LBo-10 covers interior as well as exterior lighting — not exterior alone. The two interior requirements are alternatives to one another.

Source

Pearl Building Rating System, Version 1.0, April 2010 — credit LBo-10, page 72 of 223. The zone classification itself is taken by the manual from the IECC 2009 Exterior Lighting Table 505.6.2(1).

Light pollution summary

60% · 3/5 steps complete
Project name
Drawing / scheme reference
Lighting zone
LZ3 · All other areas
Zone limit
5%
Uplight leaving site
4.15%
Uplight before screening
5.81%
At boundary
1.8 lux
Beyond boundary
0.7 lux
Luminaire types
3
Total initial lumens
347,000

Outstanding

  • Step 4 · Interior lighting
  • Step 5 · Exterior controls and curfew

Save to a facility

Keeps this as a dated record on the project, so a later revision does not overwrite what you issued.