Looking up Light in the Classrooms

On a recent visit I was pleased to see the new and contemporary light fixtures that we will have in the classrooms.

While most rooms will have ample "day lighting" (and some will be quite comfortable with just that) all rooms will have excellent overhead deflected fluorescent lighting.

When you walk into a classroom the daylight is first noticed. Even with the overheads off, there is enough light for mobility.

But it is that mobility that brightens the space! As you enter a room before you can even adjust or reach for a light switch, instantly the lights come on!

And why is that? All because of this motion sensor that detects movement in the classroom! As one of our energy savers, this motion sensor turns lights on or off depending on motion. After a designated setting if there is no motion, it dims the lights. Never again will lights be left on in an empty room!

Here is the light fixture as it looks when fully lit. It is a warm fluorescent and lights by reflected light and ambient light. You will notice the soft distribution and warm indoor light.

I say warm because that is so for indoor lighting. I was surprised to see the difference between the cool light (bluish on the lower left side) from outdoor day lighting in comparison the the warm light (rose on the upper right) of electrical light in this photo.

The lights are hung as linear pendants. They are not embedded in the ceiling like old school fluorescent. Hence they can reflect off the drop ceiling when added to give a more even and less glaring light.

This is a closer view of the fixture against the ceiling tile grid.

If you click on this image to enlarge it you will notice the grid and screen of perforated holes that make the light diffuse.

Most rooms have two or three day lighting windows and at least three rows of lights.

One thing new in these ceilings in addition to the lighting is the presence of sprinklers. We will have a sprinkler system that is school wide in our new school. Something safety we have never had at the old WHS. May we never need them!