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DEPARTMENT
the green angle Rosie Hunter, Guardian Industries Corp.
Glass Shines Daylight On Energy Savings, Learning Put daylight on students and performance goes up while building energy use goes down.
D
aylight is being encouraged as a primary light source
in full-spectrum light, they had nine times less dental decay and
for today’s school buildings due to the energy efficien-
grew in height an average of 1 in. more (during the 2-yr. study
cy and enhanced learning benefits that can be real-
period) than students attending schools with average light. Innovative Design looked at student performance in three
ized. On average, green schools use 33% less energy than conventionally constructed schools. Replacing electric light with natural light will cut energy costs, but the downside of increased natural light is excessive heat gain
schools it designed and saw these results:
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Students who attended the daylit schools outperformed stu-
dents in comparable, non-daylit schools by 5% to 14%.
and glare from too much sunlight. That’s why it’s critical to un-
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derstand how glass performs in different climates and on different
than 1% of the construction budget and achieved a payback in
elevations of a building.
less than 3 yr.
The daylighting measures that delivered these results cost less
A study from Enermodal Engineering Inc., Kitchener, Ontar-
In a separate study, the California Energy Commission, Sacra-
io, illustrated how advanced coatings can translate solar heat-gain
mento, reported learning rates improved 21% for 21,000 Califor-
management into cost savings. A high-performance, low-e coating
nia elementary school students in classrooms with the most day-
competed against a standard commercial low-e coating to see how
light, compared with those in classrooms with the least daylight.
much energy savings could be realized in a standard 175,000-sq.-
Clearly, high-performance glass can play a significant role in
ft. building. The study found that the high-performance glass has
helping school districts realize utility cost savings and enhance
the potential to save $2.50/sq. ft. of glass by downsizing the
the learning environment. The total utility savings can be as
chilled-water and air-distribution systems.
much as 20% to 40% annually for new schools and 20% to 30%
In total, the coating used for this study, SunGuard SuperNeu-
for renovated schools.
tral 54, from Guardian Industries Corp., Auburn Hills, MI, of-
Consider that an energy-efficient school district with approxi-
fered a 30% improvement in energy performance for a very small
mately 4,000 students can save as much as $100,000/yr. in energy
increase in glass cost. The return on investment would be realized
costs. That’s enough to hire at least one new teacher, buy 200 new
in one to two years. Even more impressive is that the lower solar
computers, or purchase 5,000 textbooks. Few other cost reduc-
heat gain made it possible to downsize the building HVAC system
tions can have such a wide impact. CBP
upfront, in addition to appreciating ongoing energy savings. The ideal glass in many educational environments is neutral in appearance and fills interior spaces with natural light at a visible-light
Rosie Hunter is commercial segment manager at Guardian Industries Corp., Auburn Hills, MI.
transmission range between 40% and 70%. Today’s low-e glass reduces solar heat gain in warm weather and prevents heat loss in cold weather, with lower reflectivity than was possible in the past. STUDENT PERFORMANCE BENEFITS
The potential for reduced electrical and HVAC operating costs may offset the initial increased capital costs for daylighting. However, in addition to saving thousands of energy-related dollars,
The Dykeman Inc. architectural firm, Everett, WA, used Guardian SunGuard Glass for the Valley View Middle School, Snohomish, WA, to saturate the building with natural light and provide panoramic views.
COMMERCI A L BUIL DING P RODUC T S
Visit our digital magazine at cbpmagazine.com/digital/novdec2014 and link to these additional resources: Energy Star website
and helping earn LEED credits, high-performance glass that
Green Schools Initiative Fun Facts About Green Schools
delivers abundant daylight may yield even greater dividends in
The Center for Green Schools
terms of student performance. A report by architecture firm Innovative Design, Raleigh, NC,
Student Performance in Daylit Schools study by Innovative Design
analyzed an Alberta, Canada, study of students attending daylit
Guardian SunGuard Advanced Architectural Glass
schools. The study uncovered the following benefits:
Guardian Industries Benefits of Glass white paper
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Guardian Glass Facts video
Students in full-spectrum light attended school three days
more/yr.
• 6
DATA CACHE
Because of the additional vitamin D received by the students
NOV/DEC 2014
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Dykeman architects project page for the Valley View Middle School.
