energydesignresources.com
• Proposition 55 Will Infuse $12.3 Billion
into California Schools
e-News
Issue 43 April, 2004
Energy-Efficient Lighting
Options Give Gymnasiums the
Home Court Advantage
• Additional Resources for Schools
• Upcoming Conferences
• High-Intensity Fluorescents Provide
Competitive Advantage
• Decisions, Decisions: Choosing
the Right Fixture
• Cougars Roar With Enthusiasm About
New Lighting Solution
• Training Schedule for April 2004
Proposition 55 Will Infuse $12.3 Billion
into California Schools.
With the narrow passage in early March of
Proposition 55, the state will have $12.3 billion in
bond money to spend on building and repairing
public schools. More than $16 billion in projects are
approved for funding, so efficient use of the money
at hand is imperative.
When schools use bond money to implement
energy-efficient improvements, the schools win in
two ways: by enriching the learning environment
and reducing energy costs. As a result, schools can
shift general fund spending from energy bills to
classroom essentials, such as books and staff salaries.
Additional Resources for Schools:
• Alliance to Save Energy Green Schools Program:
www.ase.org/greenschools
• Bright Schools:
www.energy.ca.gov/efficiency/brightschools/
info.html
• Collaborative for High Performance Schools
(CHPS): www.chps.net
• The Daylighting Collaborative: www.ecw.org
(Continued))
Visit the EDR website at:
www.energydesignresources.com
Del Campo High School scores big in savings, efficiency, and flexibility.
(Photo courtesy of 1st Source Lighting)
A rookie aims and sinks the basketball as the crowd roars its
approval. A volleyball player follows the high, arching ball and
hurries into position to spike it over the net. Middle school
students exchange nervous glances when the lights dim and the
emcee announces, “Slow dance.” Parents and students thumb
through the latest in the Harry Potter series, one of hundreds
of books on display at their school’s annual book fair.
The word “gymnasium” might bring to mind images of
basketball players scurrying down the court, but school
gymnasiums are far more than sports arenas. They often function
as multi-purpose rooms, serving a vast cross section of ages
and needs of the school and surrounding community. Lighting a
cavernous gymnasium, while simultaneously addressing
function, form, and energy efficiency, was once a challenge, but
new technologies and improvements are simplifying the process.
High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lighting:
Intense but Inflexible
For more than a decade, high intensity discharge (HID)
light sources, especially metal halide lamps, have dominated
the market for high bay lighting. The winning combination
(Continued)
• Energy Design Resources:
www.energydesignresources.com
• EPA Energy Star Schools:
www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=k12_schools.bus
_schoolsk12
• Energy Smart Schools, a Rebuild America
Campaign: www.eren.doe.gov/energysmartschools/
• LEED Green Building Rating System:
http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/LEED_main.asp
• Rebuild America: www.rebuild.org/index.asp
• Savings By Design: www.savingsbydesign.com
• Small Business Energy Alliance:
www.sbeaonline.com
Upcoming Conferences:
April 1
Municipal Green Building Conference & Expo
Southern California Gas Company’s Energy Resource
Center
Downey, CA
www.socalgas.com/business/resource_center/events/e
rc_seminar_2q04.shtml
April 1-2
Achieving High Performance Buildings,
Harvard Design School, Cambridge, MA
www.rebuild.org/events/eventdetails.asp?
NewsID=2089
April 13
Basic High Performance Design for Schools
Michigan Historical Library, Lansing, MI
www.michigan.gov/eoworkshops
April 15
Advanced High Performance Schools Design
Seminar, Dayton, OH
www.rebuild.org/events/eventdetails.asp?
NewsID=2073
of high intensity and high efficacy made these popular choices
for gymnasiums.
But these HID light sources have two distinct disadvantages:
slow start-up times and limited control or dimming capabilities.
Since metal halides can take five to seven minutes to warm up,
school janitors frequently turn on gymnasium lights first thing
in the morning and leave the lights burning, whether they’re
needed or not, until the end of the day. To make matters worse,
if the lights are ever shut down, it can take metal halides as
long as 15 minutes to start up again because the lamps require
an additional five to seven minutes to cool down before they
can warm up.
Pulse-start lamps, the newest HID technology, have shorter
warm-up times, but still take several minutes to reach
full brightness.
Even more vexing is metal halide’s inability to meet the diverse
needs of a typical school gymnasium because HID systems have
few options for varying light levels. Consider a few ways that a
typical school gymnasium could be used during the week: A
competitive basketball game with fans filling the bleachers; a
volleyball practice; a school assembly or performance; a school
dance; or a community event with senior citizens. Each activity
requires a different lighting level.
Let the Daylight In
Daylighting, an option that has cycled in and out of favor over
the last five decades, is once again an attractive alternative for
lighting gyms, thanks to energy-efficient skylights and controls
Vella Campus Middle School gymnasium takes advantage of natural light.
(Photo courtesy of Sun Optics)
(Continued)
High-Intensity Fluorescents Provide
Competitive Advantage
The new fluorescent fixtures designed for high-bay
applications have at least six advantages over similar
HID fixtures:
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Lower energy consumption
Lower lumen depreciation rates
Better dimming options
Faster start-up and restrike
Better color rendition
More pupil lumens
In addition, the high-intensity fluorescents tend to
produce less glare than their older HID counterparts,
an important consideration for athletes who must
track a moving ball or birdie.
Decisions, Decisions
What lighting fixture option is best? Stan Walerczyk, a
principal of Lighting Wizards, recommends using the
following criteria when comparing options:
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System Wattage
Warm-up and restrike times
Control flexibility
Quality of light
Scotopic to photopic (S/P) ratios
End-of-life horizontal and vertical foot candles
Glare
Distribution
Shadowing
Spacing criteria
Initial materials and installation cost
Ambient temperature range
Ballast case temperature ratings
Warm up and restrike times
Lamp life
Replacement lamp cost
Labor cost for maintenance and lift rental costs,
including cleaning fixtures
(Source: Paper submitted to the DOE Rebuild
America Web site)
Cougars Roar with Enthusiasm About New
Lighting Solution
Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks, California,
replaced old 400-Watt metal halide fixtures with
energy-saving high-intensity fluorescents. As a result,
they’re saving 50 to 75 percent on their annual energy
bills while enjoying the flexibility of the “instant-on,”
controllable lighting.
As a side benefit, the gold and blue colors in the
Cougars’ uniforms are more vibrant than ever. The old
lighting system offered a color rendition index of 65
while the new fluorescents come closer to sunlight
with an index of 82.
that offer the required flexibility, according to James Benya, PE,
of Benya Lighting Design. A renewed appreciation for the
positive psychological and physiological effects of daylighting,
along with the energy and dollar savings, are spurring a renewed
interest in mixing natural and electric illumination in both new
and renovated school gymnasiums.
The energy savings make this approach easy to justify from a
whole building approach for new construction or a systems
approach for gymnasium renovations.
High-Intensity Fluorescents:
Bright, attractive, flexible, and energy efficient
High-intensity fluorescent systems, such as those employing T-5
high output (HO), overcome the most glaring disadvantages of
HID: start-up time and control.
In a paper for the National Clearinghouse for Educational
Facilities, Benya concluded, “T-5 HO systems with specially
designed reflectors are the most efficient and economical
systems for use in gyms. These systems permit multiple-level
switching and other control options that do not work with
traditional HID lighting systems.”
The high-intensity fluorescent lighting system can more easily
meet the diverse lighting needs of gymnasiums and can work in
concert with daylighting.
When a school installs a system of fluorescent fixtures in a
gymnasium, each with multiple lamps, the system can be wired
so that each lamp/ballast combination can be turned on
separately. As a result, the gymnasium can meet five lighting
level requirements: 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 percent. Thus, the
gym’s lights can go from darkness for a special effect for a
school program to full power for a basketball game.
What’s more, the high-intensity fluorescents use less energy,
have superior color, and require less maintenance than their HID
counterparts, creating a “win-win” for any school gymnasium.
Training Locations
Short Form
AgTAC
CTAC
ERC
NUCF
PEC
Explanation
SCE’s Agricultural
Technology
Application Center
4175 S. Laspina St.
Tulare
(800) 772-4822
SCE’s Customer
Technology
Application Center
6090 N. Irwindale Ave.
Irwindale
(626) 812-7537
www.sce.com/ctac
Southern California
Gas Company’s
Energy Resource
Center
San Diego
San Jose
9240 E. Firestone Blvd.
Downey
(562) 803-7500
http://socalgas.com/
business/resource_
center/erc_seminar_
info.shtml
National University 9388 Lightwave Ave.
Conference Facilities Room 123,
at Spectrum Park
San Diego
(858) 636-5726 or
vvaplon@sdge.com
PG&E’s Pacific
Energy Center
Bakersfield
Carlsbad
April Training Schedule
Address
851 Howard St.
San Francisco
(415) 973-2277 or
pecinfo@pge.com
Date
Course
Time
Location
Units
1-Apr
Exceeding Title 24
8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m
NUCF
3.5
6-Apr
Commissioning High
Performance Schools
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
CTAC
4
13-Apr
Three R’s - Retrofit,
Relight & Redesign
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Carlsbad
0
13-Apr
Optimizing VAV System Design
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
PEC
6
14-Apr
Three R-s - Retrofit,
Relight & Redesign
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
San Diego
0
15-Apr
Optimizing VAV System Design
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
San Jose
6
15-Apr
Shifting from Green
to Sustainable Design
6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
PEC
1.5
16-Apr
Shifting from Green
to Sustainable Design
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
PEC
3.5
20-Apr
Lighting Design for Architects
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
PEC
6
21-Apr
Outdoor Lighting Design
8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
NUCF
4
21-Apr
Design Review Training
for Mechanical Systems
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
PEC
3.5
22-Apr
Demystifying the Whole
Building Approach
8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
CTAC
0
22-Apr
Using the Field Test Guide
and Commissioning Test
Protocol Library
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
PEC
6
27-Apr
CHPS Design Training
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
CTAC
6
28-Apr
CHPS Design Training
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
ERC
6
28-Apr
HVAC Retrofit
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Salinas
6
29-Apr
Basics of Photovoltaic (PV)
Electric Systems
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
San Jose
6
29-Apr
Lighting Controls Products Showcase 12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
PEC
0
29-Apr
HVAC Retrofit
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Bakersfield
6
29-Apr
Digitization of Lighting Controls
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
PEC
2.75
29-Apr
Controls for Daylighted Spaces
4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
PEC
2.75
29-Apr
Lighting for Architecture
& Interior Design
8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
CTAC
4
Location to be determined.
(800) 244-9912
Windmill Banquet
Center
890 Palomar Airport Rd.
Carlsbad
(800) 613-8970
Courtyard Marriott
8651 Spectrum Center Blvd.
San Diego
(800) 613-8970
IBEW Local 332
Headquarters
2125 Canoas Garden Rd.
San Jose
(408) 269-4332