As Australian lighting assessment specialists, we evaluate the impact of artificial light on surrounding environments through detailed measurement and analysis. Our assessments provide clear, evidence-based guidance to support compliance, minimise light spill, and inform responsible planning and design.
Artificial Light Impact Assessments (ALIA) quantify how artificial light affects the natural environment, helping projects meet planning and environmental requirements while maintaining safety, function and design integrity.
Our team captures, models, and maps light at night, including its intensity, distribution, spectrum, and timing. We use calibrated imaging, photometric modelling and GIS analysis. We quantify both individual sources and cumulative effects to reveal where light is present, how far it travels and which habitats are most sensitive.
We then turn data into action. Our assessments translate findings into practical, defensible recommendations. We help teams mitigate spill and sky glow, select spectra and optics, set curfews and dimming and document outcomes for approvals. The goal is simple: lighting that supports human use while safeguarding the ecological rhythms of the night.
Networks
Industry Partnerships & Collaboration
12+
Years Combined Experience
Award Winning
Awarded Commendation in the 2025 IESANZ Lighting Awards
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5 Star Customer Reviews
Designing light that protects the night
Artificial Light Impact Assessments (ALIA) evaluate how artificial lighting affects the surrounding environment, particularly nocturnal habitats and ecological systems. These assessments identify potential light spill, glare and sky glow impacts to ensure developments meet environmental, planning and approval requirements.
ALIA studies are often required by councils or environmental regulators, including The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), when projects are referred under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The National Light Pollution Guidelines for Wildlife (NLPGW) provide the technical framework for demonstrating that proposed lighting designs balance safety, function, and environmental protection.
Nightjar’s methodology combines calibrated field measurement with predictive and cumulative photometric modelling to provide a complete picture of light at night. We begin by capturing existing conditions through all-sky imagery, horizon-line photography, lux and luminance surveys and sky quality meter (SKM) readings. Using these verified baselines, along with photometric data and site parameters, we model how proposed lighting, both individual sources and combined systems, will distribute across terrain and into the atmosphere.
This cumulative approach allows us to quantify not only what is visible on the ground, but also how total light levels may shift across the wider landscape. Our assessments are benchmarked against AS/NZS 4282, the NLPGW, and relevant EPA and EPBC frameworks, producing clear, defensible recommendations for mitigation, planning, and design refinement.
Whether you’re preparing an environmental referral, responding to regulatory feedback, or designing for sensitive sites, Nightjar delivers the data and documentation needed to demonstrate compliance and protect the night.
We help clients see what the eye cannot – translating complex environmental data into clear, practical actions that protect both project outcomes and the night itself.
Related Services
We measure what the eye smooths over.
At Nightjar, we combine field measurement, calibrated imagery, and photometric modelling to make the invisible visible. Our approach bridges science, design, and ecology – translating complex data into clear, actionable insight. Every assessment is grounded in verified evidence and guided by environmental care, so decisions can be made with confidence and context.
With more than a decade of experience in lighting design and environmental compliance, we understand how projects move from concept to construction. That insight allows us to align ecological sensitivity with practical feasibility, helping teams meet regulatory requirements while protecting the night sky and the ecosystems beneath it.
Whether you need lighting design, compliance calculations, Revit automation, or environmental lighting assessments – we deliver precision, performance, and peace of mind.
