Why are outdoor specifications necessary? The more control that people have over light, the less light is wasted. Therefore power can be saved by not generating the excess light. This saving in power applies directly to the power that people require from power plants reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the land needed for more plants to produce the power. This control of lighting also gives an increase in safety and improved visibility. Could a person sleep here? The failure to cut off the light can affect a person’s sleep cycle and therefore has a direct effect on health. Where are all the stars? As the population grows and the urban density expands, the amount of glare creates a wash-out of the night sky. The wash from the up-light can be noticed when standing in the city and looking up at the night sky. Compare this with standing in the country and looking up, and one will see stars a great deal more clearly. These controls not only benefit people with sleeping, safety, and the outdoor beauty of night, but it helps with the plant life and the exchange of CO2 to O2, and the creatures and bugs that come out at night to feed and complete the circle of life. As humans progress into the new age of lighting technology, there are a number of specifications and regulatory agencies that are being implemented to show that technology can help with cost cutting, power savings, and reduced maintenance cost, while also helping bring the night sky and environmental items back in to view. The wash out from up-light shown here will only get worse if designers do not start to implement specifications to minimize the impact of the light. Satellite images show how densely populated areas look from space. Even though it is a beautiful picture, the reverse perspective of this image - people looking up - is not as pretty and is only getting worse.