Skip to main content
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

  • Stanford Completes Construction on Graduate School of Education Facility

    Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., recently announced the end of construction on a new home for its Graduate School of Education, according to a news release. The university partnered with McCarthy Building Companies on the 160,000-square-foot project, which involved two major renovations and one new construction effort.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.

  • Full Sail University Announces First Student Housing Facility

    Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla., recently announced that development has begun on its first student housing community, according to a news release. The university is partnering with Nvision Development for construction and long-term management of the facility, which will stand five stories and have the capacity for more than 570 beds.

  • Vanderbilt to Partner with ABM for Campus Preservation and Modernization

    Vanderbilt University recently announced that it has selected ABM Performance Solutions for a preservation and modernization project at its New York City campus, according to a news release. ABM will deliver its end-to-end ABM Performance Solutions (APS) model to manage critical operations during renovation and maintenance.