LIGHTING IN CLASSROOMSTHE GAIA PROJECT

By:Alison Meng, Nathan McNeil, Patrick Fearon and Liam McDonald

January 2013Environmental Science 120

DEFINITIONS

Lux- The SI unit for luminance, equal to one lumen per square meter.

Watts- What is the unit for power.

Kwh- Is a unit of power, equal to kilowatt of power used over an hour.

WHAT WE KNOW

The standard light bulb is 32-40 watts. The recommended lux for a classroom is 100-300 lux. Cost of 1 Kwh for NB is 8.72 cents. 105 classrooms in the school. Average time lights are in use everyday is 9 hours.

OUR GOAL

We wanted to see how much money and how much energy could be saved by taking out some lights in classrooms.

EQUIPMENT USED

Xplorer GLX Pasport Light Level Sensor

WHAT WE DID

• Survey• Collected Light Intensity Data

• No Windows + Ceiling Lights• Windows + Ceiling Lights• No Windows + Lamps + Ceiling Lights

SURVEY RESULTS

DO YOU USE LAMPS IN YOUR CLASSROOM?

LampsNo Lamps

53%

46%

DO YOU HAVE WINDOWS?

Yes No

49%

51%

DO YOU PREFER LAMPS, CEILING LIGHTS OR BOTH?

ceiling lightslampsboth

41%

35%

23%

WHEN YOU LEAVE YOUR CLASSROOM, DO YOU TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTS?

Yes No

12%

87%

DO YOU HAVE ANY LIGHTS IN YOUR CLASSROOM THAT DO NOT WORK?

Yes No

81%

16%

DO THINK THAT TASKS CAN BE COMPLETED JUST AS WELL WITH HALF OF THE LIGHTS TAKEN OUT?

YesNo

58%

41%

THE CLASSROOMS

CLASSROOM#1NO WINDOWS, CEILING LIGHTS

We found that Mrs. Sewell’s classroom has an average LUX level of 189.8. This is right in the middle of the ideal range from 100-300.

Our Recommendation: No lights should be taken out of this classroom because it well exceeds the recommended lux level.

Mrs. Sewell’s classroom

MRS. SEWELL

CLASSROOM # 2 (WINDOWS AND CEILING LIGHTS)

We found that Mrs. Blake’s classroom had an average Lux of 856.3. With the recommended lux level being 100-300, Mrs. Blake’s classroom well over the recommendation.

Our recommendation:Lights can be taken out of Mrs. Blake’s classroom, however, they can also be turned off and still reach the lux level recommendation because of the large window in her classroom.

Mrs. Blake’s classroom

CLASSROOM#2CEILING LIGHTS, WINDOWS

A graph from Mrs. Blake’s classroom

CLASSROOM#3CEILING LIGHTS, NO WINDOWS, LAMPS

In the final classroom that we collected data from, Mrs. Prescott's room, the average lux level was 142.1. Mrs. Prescott’s room uses lamps and the ceiling lights are hardly ever turned on. There are no windows in this classroom.

Our recommendation: Lights should not be taken out of this classroom. It is well within the recommended lux level.

MRS. PRESCOTT

A graph from Ms. Prescott’s classroom

CALCULATIONS

Each light bulb is 32 watts.Each classroom has 24 lights. There are 105 classrooms in the school.

32W X 24 bulb X 105 classes X 8.5 Hours = 725.8 Kwh/Day 725.8 Kwh/Day X 195 Days = 141,531 Kwh/Year 141,531 Kwh X $0.087 = $12,313.20 per year.

TALKING TO TEACHERS ABOUT TAKING OUT LIGHTS

We talked to different teachers in the school and asked them if they wanted any lights taken out of their classroom.• Some teachers wanted certain lights taken

out• some teachers didn’t want any lights taken

out• for the teachers who did want lights taken

out, we drew up an outline or blueprint of their classroom.

This is blueprint from one of the classrooms we went to. The X’s represent lights being taken out.

Mr. Dunfield’s classroom and the attached Physics lab.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

• NB Produces 500g CO2 / kWh• Lighting at FHS produces 66.9 Tonnes

of CO2/yr.

FUTURE

With lights taken out of classrooms we could save up to $6000 a year and stay within recommended lux levels.

There are many classrooms that can have their lights taken out without there being problems with completing class work. In addition, lights can be taken out and still be within the recommended lux levels.

• classrooms with large windows can turn off their ceiling lights and save energy and still have enough lights to work.

• classrooms that use their ceiling lights frequently can switch to lamps and use their ceiling lights less.

THE END