Lights Out for Birds
(August 30, 2010)
San Francisco, CA
- The Golden Gate Audubon Society, Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the San Francisco Department of the Environment announce the fall Lights Out for Birds- a program enabling building owners, managers and tenants to save energy and money while protecting migratory birds. Lights Out for Birds participants turn off unnecessary building lights during the bird migration (February through May and August though November each year).
Ornithologists studying bird collisions at a single building in Chicago documented an 80 percent decrease in avian mortality after implementing the Lights Out program. However, another goal of the initiative is to reduce energy usage. Such cost savings will be apparent in lower electrical bills.
"Participating in the Lights Out for Birds program was quite easy for One Sansome, and the cause was so worthwhile. The only adjustment we had to make was to our outdoor lighting, and now have it scheduled to turn off one hour earlier. While our interior lighting is left enabled until midnight for our janitors, the lights are motion sensed, reducing the amount of light emitted from our floors." Nicole F. Reagan, LEED AP, Assistant Property Manager, Barker Pacific Group, Inc.
San Francisco was one of the first cities to implement a
Lights Out program in 2008. Now over 21 cities in the US and Canada have a Lights Out program. Conservationists hope that the program extends to every major city in North America, to save birds, energy and money.
Contact your San Francisco Department of the Environment or PG&E representative to learn about how to participate in this program. For more information about local bird populations and how to help, contact the Golden Gate Audubon Society at (510) 843-6551.