South Delta Secondary School

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The story

"Fresher air, brighter classrooms; $40,000 saved."
— Jim Alkins, Director of Facilities, Delta School District 37

The situation

Since 1990, Delta School District's Energy Plan has included converting all of their schools to energy-efficient lighting systems. One of the last schools to be completed is South Delta Secondary – a 26-year-old school – where the original lighting and mechanical systems had exceeded their life expectancy and were in need of upgrading.

Under and over-lit Illumination levels and glares in some of the classrooms impacted the visual comfort of students and teachers and contributed to high energy bills for the school. In addition, the mechanical system had been well maintained over its life but required modernizing the systems to provide more accurate temperatures and fresh air to staff and students.

With newer and more energy-efficient technologies available, Jim Alkins, Director of Facilities for School District 37 and Brian McDonald, Key Account Manager for BC Hydro worked together to improve the lighting and mechanical systems of South Delta Secondary School. Jim White, Electrical Foreman, managed the implementation of the electrical upgrades and Mel Gomez, Mechanical Foreman, managed the upgrades to the HVAC system.

The solution

BC Hydro's team of Power Smart specialists visited the school to conduct a full analysis of the lighting and mechanical systems. The team provided recommendations to upgrade the systems to today's energy-efficient standards with the following cost-effective technologies:

• Converted T12s to T8 fluorescent lamps and electronic ballasts.
• Changed incandescent fixtures to compact fluorescent fixtures.
• Converted exit signs to light-emitting diode (LED) lamps.
• Improved direct digital controls (DDC) for the heating, ventilating and air conditioning units to allow better control of indoor air quality, temperature settings and operating time schedules.

"BC Hydro recommended Power Smart Solutions to our school saving us over $40,000 annually," says Jim Alkins, Director of Facilities, Delta School District 37. "With the money saved, we can better support our educational programs. The results have prompted us to consider modifying our remaining schools using the same approach."

The benefits

Improved quality of lighting
New lights provide higher illumination levels and better colour rendition – closer to the natural colour of daylight. Deep-cell parabolic luminaires reduce glare on student and staff's computer screens.

Flexible illumination
Checkerboard light switching offers teachers three levels of lighting adjustments. And occupancy sensors in washrooms automatically switch lights off when not in use.

Reduced operating costs
The lighting retrofit, combined with the mechanical system upgrade lowered the school's electricity use by 43% and represent savings in electrical and maintenance costs of more than $40,000 annually.

Increased comfort
More accurate lighting levels, better colour rendition and reduced glare, dramatically improve visual comfort for students and teachers. The DDC system now supplies better temperature control and improves the indoor air quality for the school.

Optimized control
The installation of the DDC system allows better control of the HVAC system with the ability to program it from the school district's operation centre.

Contact us

Find out how our Power Smart Solutions can help your business become more competitive. Call us today at 1 866 453 6400.