Balancing Light and Learning
There is a lot of pressure on architectural practitioners to deliver a positive learning environment when designing K-12 schools. Instead of creating a container for children, architects can bring school settings to life with elements of modern design that encourage learning.
One such consideration is the balance of natural light with artificial light; a balance that, when achieved, can yield many benefits across the board.
The Benefits of Daylighting in an Education Environment
For one thing, the use of controlled natural light also impacts schools financially and can be a big money saver. According to the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. schools spend as much as $8 billion (about $25 per person in the US) every year on utilities. About 26 percent of that energy consumption goes to lighting. This gargantuan energy cost is more than schools spend on textbooks and computers put together.
But aside from that — and this is perhaps the most important reason for daylighting in schools — studies show daylight exposure contributed to better student performance. The darker a room, the less conducive it is to learning.
In the study “Daylight and School Performance in European Schoolchildren,” published in December 2020, researchers found that “classroom characteristics associated with daylighting do significantly impact the performance of the schoolchildren and may account for more than 20% of the variation between performance test scores...”
Perils of light — More Is Not Always Better
Despite the obvious benefits of natural light in classrooms, however, it really is all about balance. Uncontrolled, daylighting can have adverse effects. It can raise solar gain and temperatures in the classroom, offsetting potential energy savings. Bare windows can cause distractions or introduce glare that can cause a diversion in learning environments, disrupting the potential benefits of light exposure.
The key is to balance light and learning, controlling incoming daylight while minimizing potential sources of distraction and environmental disruption. Architects and designers can play a significant role in this when deciding how to introduce natural daylight into the learning environments they are creating, so an educational facility will — literally from the ground up — be designed with students’ success in mind.
A&I Manufacturing fabricates automated window treatments that provide light and temperature control all in one. For more information, visit www.a-imanufacturing.net/motorization.
