Dollars for Dark Skies

Local Home Owners Association Recovers Costs for Upgrading to Dark-Skies Friendly Outdoor Lighting

Flagstaff, November 5, 2007

Cosnino resident Fred Vrba rides his quarterhorse Zippy under the new arena lighting system upgraded with the assistance of the Million Lumens Campaign. Photo by Christian Luginbuhl.

The Cosnino Equestrian Homeowners Association has upgraded lighting at its community horse-riding arena from old unshielded and inefficient lighting to modern high-quality and star-friendly lighting with assistance from the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition's Million Lumens Campaign.

CEHA Board member and former president Monika Leuenberger will receive a $1,000.00 check on behalf of the Association to offset the cost of their new lighting fixtures on Wednesday, November 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the horse arena facility located on Cosnino Road.

“We're very happy with the result,” said Fred Vrba, CEHA Board member and arena user who coordinated the upgrade. "We were using 3,000 watts of energy with the old system and the lighting was glary, gave poor visibility for arena users and intruded into the neighborhood. We are now using only 1,500 watts of energy and the arena is better and more uniformly lit. Even skeptical members of our community have been delighted at the improvement."

The Coalition's Million Lumens Campaign (MLC) offers funding and technical assistance to Flagstaff area owners of "grandfathered" outdoor lighting systems to upgrade to dark-skies friendly lighting. Owners of non-residential outdoor lighting installed before the 1989 city and county lighting codes are eligible to participate. MLC receives support from APS and the City of Flagstaff.

The goal of the Campaign is to improve one million lumens of obsolete lighting. A lumen is the unit used to measure light output - a candle produces about 10 lumens, a 100 watt reading lamp about 2000 lumens, and a streetlight as much as 50,000 lumens. Previous MLC partners include the Cinder Hills Boarding Kennel and Arizona Snowbowl.

The Dark Skies Coalition begins the process by assisting the owner in making an inventory of current lighting. The owner then determines what would be necessary to bring the lighting into conformance with the current lighting code, either with his own resources or by hiring a designer.

Using this information, APS provides, at no cost, an outdoor energy audit to show energy savings and payback periods. If the owner then decides to complete the upgrade, he becomes an official MLC “partner.” The Coalition reimburses partners up to $1,500 in design costs or $1,000 in hardware costs.

Non-residential owners interested in applying to take advantage of these incentives can e-mail the Coalition at info@flagstaffdarkskies.org or download an application.