Blacow Elementary School
Fremont School District, California
General Contractor: Strong Construction - Steve Strong
Products: Curb System Roof Monitors with FCM Curb Mounted Fixed Skylights with Laminated White Glass
The Blacow Elementary School was chosen for its high visibility and central location within the Fremont School District.
This school is to be used as a model of daylighting for other schools in the district and more particularly an example of how to retrofit daylighting in an existing building with the best products available at a very reasonable cost. Ultimately, this new design will not only make the facility more appealing to students and staff alike, but will also save money by cutting lighting costs in the building. Brad Hermann, Principal, suggested using the multipurpose room which serves as the school dining hall as well as a venue for sporting activities, community events, arts/crafts and staff training.
The multipurpose room is 57' x 40' with 18' center ridge ceilings and 16 T-8 light fixtures, each containing 2-4 tubes. The approximate lighting cost is $1200 per year based on 180 days at $0.17 per kilowatt hour. The room is used by 500 students each day.
VELUX® skylights were chosen for this job. VELUX utilized the latest in its product offering of a white laminated FCM fixed curb mounted skylight in a dual sloped prefabricated curb configuration to maximize light gathering during the school day. The white laminated glazing in the skylights allows for a maximum diffusion of the light. This is intended to provide a visually comfortable environment inside of the space while still allowing lots of light in the room. There is no glare or areas of sunlight hotspots to distract or discomfort the students.
From an energy efficiency standpoint, VELUX skylights perform well above average. All VELUX skylights meet ENERGY STAR® guidelines nationwide which simply means that they perform well beyond any of the energy codes currently in place anywhere in America. In addition, VELUX FCM skylights can be installed completely flat on the roof and meet the OSHA guidelines for fall protection. Finally, the ultimate advantage of using glass on the roof, beyond its impressive energy performance, is that it does not deteriorate over time in any way, keeping its strength and integrity.
This project, which was supported by a combination of PG&E’s Emerging Technology Program and the Department of Energy’s Rebuild America program dedicated to building high performance school buildings, was approved by the School Board after a careful review of factors such as ease of maintenance, durability and relevance to the needs of the students. FUSD’s Manager of Maintenance Operations and Grounds, Gene Wheatley commented after the project’s completion about the ease of installation, and durability of the unitized curb.
Lighting and energy consumption results will be tracked over time and will be communicated right here as we obtain them.
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