Daylighting in Schools
Georgina Blach Intermediate School, Los Altos, CA
The Georgina Blach Intermediate School serves 450 students in seventh
and eighth grades. In 1999, the Los Altos School District began a
renovation project to demolish 10,000 square feet of the original school
and expand the remaining 34,000 square foot facility to 71,500 square
feet, as well as modernize nine of the existing buildings. The expansion
involved construction of three new classroom buildings, a performing
arts building, and a gymnasium. The modernization project included the
library, multi-purpose building, administration building, and four
classroom buildings. By fall of 2002, the Georgina Blach Intermediate
School was completed, remodeled, and opened as a high-performance school
facility.
School/Daylighting Project Profile
- Grades: 7-8
- School type:
Suburban
- Demo size: Whole school (25+ Classrooms)
- Construction scope:
New/substantial retrofit
- Fenestration: Clerestory and roof monitors,
North-facing
- Blinds (upper): Performated roller shades
- Blinds (lower):
Curtains (on sliding doors)
- Lighting: Direct-Indirect pendants
- Photosensor location: On fixture
- Controls type: Dimming
- Survey scope:
250+ students, grades 7-8
Daylighting Satisfaction Survey Results
Pros
- Windows and lighting
were well-accepted
- Dimming controls work well and are not noticeable
or distracting
- No major concerns about restricted view
- Some teachers
choose to work without electric lighting
Cons
- Some teachers, administrators and students find the space too
dark
- Others find the space not dark enough for audio/visual
- Some
blinds are inaccessible making adjustments difficult
- May see premature
lamp failure in future due to no lamp seasoning procedures