Daylighting in Schools, Grades K-12

Assisting daylight delivery while controlling electric light
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Susan K. Oldroyd, AIA

Increased Student Performance

A 1999 study funded by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company and completed by Heschong-Mahone Group found that students get higher test scores when they learn in classrooms illuminated by daylight. This study of the correlation between daylight availability and test scores showed that natural daylighting in schools resulted in documented increases in student performance regardless of school design and climate. Three elementary school districts (Orange County, California; Seattle, Washington; and Fort Collins, Colorado) were studied. In Orange County, controlling for all other factors, students with the most daylighting in their classrooms progressed 20 percent faster on math tests and 26 percent faster on reading tests in one year than those students in classrooms with the least daylight; students in classrooms with the largest window area progressed 15 percent faster in math and 23 faster in reading than those with the least window area. In Seattle and Fort Collins, students in classrooms with the most daylighting had tests scores seven to eighteen percent higher than students in classrooms with the least daylighting. The authors conclude that there is a valid and predictable effect of daylighting on student performance.

Reduction of Energy Consumption

A white paper by Vivian Loftness, FAIA, titled Improving Building Energy Efficiency in the U.S.: Technologies and Policies for 2010 to 2050 (2005) lists the combination of daylighting and natural ventilation as one of the five most important directions for energy conservation in the following half century. "More than ten percent of all U.S. energy is used for lighting buildings, much of this during the day when daylight is abundant…. Effective daylighting can yield 30-60 percent reductions in annual lighting energy consumption, with average energy savings for introducing daylight dimming technologies in existing buildings at more than 30 percent…. Research using an advanced electric lighting control system has found that daylight-linked control systems can bring about sustainable reductions of 30−41 percent in electrical energy for an outermost row of lights in a perimeter zone, and 16−22 percent for the second row of lights."

Code Compliance

Energy efficiency is rapidly becoming the design requirement of the new millennium. Many states and cities have already adopted specific energy-saving guidelines. The following are examples of codes and standards that are being instituted in the United States:

  • American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (ASHRAE/IESNA): This standard encourages the use of energy efficient-lighting controls in design practice for both interior and exterior lighting. Most states have or will adopt energy codes based on the standard.
  • Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED): Efficient lighting controls may contribute to obtaining up to 22 points in five of six LEED credit categories. A minimum of 26 points is required for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. LEED is a rating system sanctioned by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) that provides a national standard for what constitutes a green building.
  • Title 24: California's building efficiency code (along with those for energy-efficient appliances) has saved more than $36 billion in electricity and natural gas costs since 1978.

 

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Originally published in Architectural Record.
Originally published in December 2005

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