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IAEEL newsletter 2/96

Students Delight in Daylight



Educators in North Carolina are learning a valuable lesson on the benefits of daylight in their schools. It seems that the newest daylit school in Raleigh, Durant Middle School, is not only the most energy-efficient and cost effective school building in the state, but along with the six other daylit schools in Wake and Johnston Counties, it is producing competitively brighter and healthier students.

Each of the newly constructed schools, designed by Innovative Design of Raleigh, utilizes south-facing, skylight-like roof monitors that bring natural light into classrooms and activity areas. A series of baffles integrated into the monitors remove the powerful glare of natural sunlight and allow filtered light into the rooms

Light-level sensors on the ceiling determine if the outside light is providing enough illumination. Sensors adjust the artificial lights accordingly, based on a stepped-switching system that powers on one, two, or three lamps per luminaire depending on daylight availability. In addition, motion detectors turn lights off in unoccupied rooms.

Given that lighting generates waste heat, the use of natural light cuts cooling costs considerably. This feature is particularly important for a year-round school in a hot climate like North Carolina. Due to the reduced cooling load, cooling equipment was downsized by 10% under what is typically required for a Raleigh school of Durant's size.

The energy consumed by daylit schools in Johnston County was 22-64% less than that consumed by similar schools in the county. According to Michael Nicklas, a principal in the architectural firm that designed the daylit schools, "the incorporation of daylighting into schools not only produces tremendous educational benefits and saves tens of thousands of dollars every year for each school, but daylighting costs very little more to implement. These investments by the school systems are being recouped in one to three years."

At Durant Middle School, 15 daylight monitors were installed at a cost of $230 000. The cooling system downsizing (chiller and electrical service infrastructure) translated into a $115 000 first-cost savings on the construction cost of the school. The resulting net first cost of $115 000 compares well with the annual projected energy savings of $165 000 (i.e. the system achieved a payback time of less than one year).

When students are asked what they think of the daylight design, many respond that they just like the way it feels, "It feels comfortable. Open. Sort of like being at home or outside."

Teachers in the daylit schools in North Carolina have also observed marked improvements in their pupils' ability to learn. Such effects do not seem directly correlated with the newness of the environment itself. According to Nicklas "new does not necessarily translate into better performance". For instance, students who have been attending Johnston County's daylit schools for three years out-performed those in non-daylit schools, including the new non-daylit North Johnston Middle School, by 14% on their final exams. Out of the 94 schools in Wake County, the Durant school has the highest attendance. Because of this success, the county has decided to utilize its designs for their newest construction, Dillard Middle School.

Fawn Smiley

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