When an apartment building is undergoing construction, one of the main concerns should be about proper outdoor lighting. Because with proper lighting, the tenants of the building will feel and be safer, and the reputation of the building being a safe place to live will increase. Also without proper lighting, tenant turnover may increase because people feel unsafe on the grounds after dark.
But is professionally installed outside lighting really that important as opposed to you doing it? Actually the answer is yes. Because experts will know how to do it right. Because the reason for exterior lighting in parking lots anyway is to make sure there aren’t any hidden dangers and dark spots where threatening people can hide in. The exterior lighting should be bright enough then at 100 feet for a person walking to see potential threats and be able to avoid them. Bright lighting helps to deter criminal activity because of identification risk on the part of the criminal. Criminals like easy targets in dark places and professional lighting experts know how to design the lighting.
Also, another important area is the perimeter of the apartment building and the entry way. So exterior lighting in common areas needs to be on a timer or photo-cell which is timed to be turned on when it’s dusk and then turn back off when it’s dawn.
Perimeter flood lights with motion detectors are another option for safety issues. The motion detector will only turn on the flood lights when a human body comes across its field of detection. That way, if someone is on the premises or just walking around, the lights will come on and anyone out walking will be able to see that person.
With some managers, the concern that too much lighting will disturb the tenants in their apartments may keep some portions of the complex dark. Some of these areas may be the passage area between buildings, the swimming pool area, the area where pets can be walked and the laundry rooms. By hiring professional contractors who work with these issues daily though, they can use lights which have special light pollution and glare technology which will solve these problems when installed. With these specific areas targeted, the tenants can feel safe as they walk back and forth in these areas.
There are some things which should be left to the professionals and exterior lighting done correctly is one of them.