REPORT ON BILLS FAVORABLY REPORTED BY COMMITTEE

COMMITTEE:

Select Committee on Children

TITLE OF BILL:

AN ACT CONCERNING NATURAL AND FULL-SPECTRUM LIGHT IN CLASSROOMS.

SPONSORS OF BILL:

Select Committee on Children

  

REASONS FOR BILL:

This bill would encourage school districts to improve student performance by requiring consideration of ways to increase natural light and full-spectrum fluorescent illumination in classroom building construction and renovation. The effects of natural daylight on students are extraordinary. Students with natural lighting in classrooms learn faster, concentrate better, score significantly higher on tests, and have other measurable health benefits. Data shows that not only would children learn and perform better but schools would benefit by conserving energy and lowering costs.

RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:

None expressed.

NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:

REPRESENTATIVE MARY M. MUSHINSKY, 85th DISTRICT. This bill would introduce a measure that has been proven to have a positive affect on school children. Daylight in schools, whether added naturally through skylights or artificially by changing light bulbs to full-spectrum (the kind used in grow-lights) has been shown to improve the performance, attendance, and overall psychological and physical health of children while at school.

A study by Innovative Design, Raleigh, NC, tracked the test scores for 22,000 students in three school districts in California, Washington, and Colorado. They found that learning rates were 26% higher in reading and 20% higher in math in rooms with the most natural light. The study discovered that students who attended the daylit schools for three years outperformed other district student by 5% to 14% in the end-of-year tests. Daylighting in schools is also energy efficient, and yields considerable economic benefits to school districts by reducing energy costs, cooling and electrical equipment costs, and long-term mechanical and lighting equipment maintenance. The North Carolina study shows that energy consumed in these daylit schools was 22%-64% less than non-daylit schools in the same county. Michael Niklas, of Innovative Design, predicts that the use of natural light for a middle school would save a school district $500,000 over a 10-year period, compared to electrical costs.

Another study of five schools in Canada conducted by the Alberta Department of Education documented health benefits to children exposed to daylight. The study found that over two years, the health of elementary school children in rooms with full-spectrum lighting compared to children in rooms with conventional electrical lighting was improved. Exposure to full-spectrum lighting yielded better attendance-3.5 fewer days absent a year; nine times less tooth decay, due to greater exposure to vitamin D; a growth in students-more than ¾-inch in two years; less noise due to better concentration; and more positive moods and higher morale.

JOHN ROUNTREE,AIA/John Rountree Architects, Solar Design and Consulting. Natural daylight can be brought into schools quite simply and effectively, by using a combination of "light shelves" and skylights. Most of the existing schools in Connecticut are one or two stories high, so many classrooms are under a roof where the addition of skylights would be simply and inexpensive. The added benefit would be to lower the school's operating expenses by reducing the lighting loads which generally constitute their largest electrical cost.

NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:

None expressed.

 

Reported by

Date

 

Rod O'Connor Agatha Skierkowski Alexander Handy

03/25/01