Add as a preferred source on Google

Daylighting Leads to a More Engaging Environment

  • 10/01/15
Daylighting

Westside Christian High School gave students the benefits of natural light by installing Series M74 DS units for daytime lighting in the gymnasium.

Westside Christian High School is a non-denominational educational facility located in Tigard, Ore. After 33 years, the student population had outgrown the current space, prompting the construction of a new campus near downtown Portland.

Incorporating daylight into the school’s new interior gym became a main objective for administrators who wanted students to benefit from exposure to natural light during the school day while reducing the building’s electricity use.

The original strategy was to install traditional skylights, but concerns about adequate illumination and hot spots prompted the architect to seek other options.

InteriorTech, a building specialty contractor, proposed the use of Solatube Daylighting Systems, which, when compared to traditional skylights, provide a greater abundance and higher quality of light while reducing energy use.

Ultimately, InteriorTech installed 20 Solatube SkyVault Series M74 DS units for daytime lighting, complemented by LED lights with timers for nighttime lighting.

The advanced optics of the SkyVault Series captures massive amounts of high quality daylight for abundant output during athletic events, assemblies, and concerts.

With daylight illuminating the gym, electric lights stay off during the day allowing the school to cut its electricity consumption, lower its utility bills and minimize its carbon footprint.

Studies have shown that natural sunlight helps students feel more engaged, optimistic, and perform better overall. In addition to gymnasiums, daylighting can also be utilized in traditional classroom settings. Solatube’s SolaMaster Series is ideally suited to the classroom, providing clear, natural daylight to increase student engagement and responsiveness.

www.solatube.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • classroom with crystal ball on top of a desk

    Call for Opinions: Spaces4Learning 2026 Predictions for Educational Facilities

    As 2025 winds to a close, the Spaces4Learning staff is asking its readers—school administrators, architects, engineers, facilities managers, builders, superintendents, designers, vendors, and more—to send us their predictions for educational facilities in 2026.

  • Preparing for the Next Era of Healthcare Education, Innovation

    Across the country, public universities and community colleges are accelerating investments in healthcare education facilities as part of a broader strategy to address workforce shortages, modernize outdated infrastructure, and expand clinical training capacity. These projects, which are often located at the center of campus health and science districts, are no longer limited to traditional classrooms.

  • Geometric abstract school illustration

    How Design Shapes Learning and Success

    Can the color of a wall, the curve of a chair, or the hum of fluorescent lights really affect how a student learns? More schools are beginning to think so.

  • Los Angeles City College Breaks Ground on New Administration, Workforce Building

    Los Angeles City College (LACC) in Los Angeles, Calif., recently broke ground on a new $72-million administrative facility, according to a news release. The Cesar Chavez Administration and Workforce Building will stand four stories, cover 67,230 square feet, and play home to a wide variety of the school’s educational and administrative services.

Digital Edition