School District Adds Daylighting With Solatube

When administrators at Douglas County School District in Castle Rock, Colo., decided to add daylight to its K through 12 classrooms, they turned to Solatube International, Inc., the worldwide leading manufacturer and marketer of Tubular Daylighting Devices (TDDs), to bring the sunshine in.

Four hundred and thirty five Solatube Daylighting Systems were installed in classrooms, libraries and common areas at three schools — Northeast Elementary, Sedalia Elementary and Acres Green Elementary. Douglas County School District is the third largest school district in Colorado, serving more than 63,000 students with 70-plus schools.

“Daylighting has proven to not only be more effective than artificial light, being brighter and more resilient, but it also gives the sense of being connected to the outside and morale and performance have historically improved with that,” says the district’s director of Planning and Construction, Rich Cosgrove.

Solatube

The Douglas County School District added daylight to several of their K12 facilities with help from Solatube.

“The kids are more engaged and work together. I think the daylight improves the moods of the kids and teachers because they are around natural light,” says Northeast Elementary Principal Jeannie Tynecki.

According to Tynecki, the improved natural lighting in classrooms also gives the students energy to conquer the “4Cs” (Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking) starting with some critical thinking about the engineering behind the Solatube Daylighting Systems.

“Lots of kids have already asked how they work,” Tynecki says. “It starts a good conversation and collaboration among the kids.”

In addition to enhancing the learning environment for students, the Solatube Daylighting Systems also provide a notable contribution to the district’s sustainability efforts.

“In fact, the daylighting projects not only improve the learning environment and morale of the students and staff, they also save significant energy lighting funds and that money goes back into the classroom,” Cosgrove concludes.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • University of Kentucky Integrates New Cleaning Technology

    The University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., recently installed a new cleaning system designed to improve cooling efficiency on campus, according to a news release. The Facilities Management’s Utilities and Energy Management Unit installed new chiller tubes into two of the chillers at the university’s Central Utility Plant.

  • Agualta STEAM Engine

    Outdoor Learning Spaces and Biophilic Design Create Community in East Los Angeles

    Griffith STEAM Magnet Middle School's Agualta STEAM Engine blends education, community, and nature through its adaptable design.

  • Key Considerations for Office-to-Higher-Education Facility Conversions

    Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, office-to-alternative-use conversions have become a recurring subject of urban development discourse. Office utilization rates across major U.S. cities remain below 50%, with vacancy rates exceeding 27% in San Francisco and 16% in New York. Higher education facilities present programmatic and spatial use cases that align readily with the typical characteristics of commercial office buildings.

  • Singlewire Software Report Reveals Gaps in K–12 School Entrance Security

    Single Software recently released its first-ever School Entrance Security Report based on more than 500 responses from U.S. school staff members. According to a news release, the findings highlight a gap between K–12 leaders’ wishes for school safety and how safe the schools actually are, as well as the challenges facing students and staff in that goal.

Digital Edition