Lights Out for Fall Migration

By Ilana DeBare

It’s that time again — fall migration!

Hawks, shorebirds and songbirds are starting to filter through the Bay Area. And to keep them safe and on route, we’re asking people to join in our Lights Out for Birds fall campaign. Birds use the stars to navigate, and bright nighttime lights can disorient them, drawing them off course or into building collisions.

If you’re reading this blog, you probably know the drill by now:

• Turn off or dim lights at night, especially in tall buildings and downtown areas.
• If you have to work late, draw the blinds or use a desk lamp rather than overhead lights.

This season, we’re getting some fabulous cooperation from the City of San Francisco. Spearheaded by the SF Department of the Environment, a number of municipal buildings are committing to Lights Out.

City buildings at 555 Seventh Street, One South Van Ness, and 1650 and 1680 Mission Street have already implemented procedures to dim lights at night, one of many best practices that these buildings consider as certified ENERGY STAR buildings.

Similar efforts to reduce nighttime lighting by working with custodial staff are being planned for 25 and 30 Van Ness, as well as City Hall. Together these buildings account for the majority of city department headquarters, including the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the Planning Department, the Municipal Transportation Agency, the Public Defender, and the Department of Public Works.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Unified School District is starting to work with its custodians so that nighttime cleaning crews turn lights on only in the parts of buildings where they’re working. While occupying only one floor of their building, the Department of Environment turns off all of its lights every night in their new offices at 1455 Market Street.

And the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, whose new building at 525 Golden Gate Avenue was just accredited as LEED platinum, has a sophisticated lighting system with occupancy sensors throughout the structure.

THANK YOU to our friends at SF Department of the Environment and especially to summer intern Andrew Perry in the planning department!

Meanwhile, please help us spread the word about Lights Out. We’d like to involve more owners or managers of commercial buildings in downtown San Francisco and Oakland.

We have flyers and fact sheets that you can download and share with building managers or with work colleagues. Click here for a fact sheet or poster, or see our Lights Out web page for general information about the campaign.