Everett Elementary School Claims First in Nation With LED Lighting

You can follow the construction of Monroe Elementary by clicking the drawing above.

The Everett School District says when the remodel of Monroe Elementary School in southeast Everett is completed next year, the school will be the first in the nation with nearly all lights in all buildings LED (light emitting diode) instead of fluorescent tubes and incandescent bulbs. “The advantages presented by LED technology mean a win-win for the public and those in the public’s schools,” explains the district Facilities and Planning Director, Hal Beumel. “These longer-life fixtures improve the quality of light for humans and decrease the cost of producing that light over time.” Some of the benefits cited by Beumel were…

**Longer life and less energy consumption. In addition to using less energy to produce the same amount of light, LED fixtures last as long as 15 years. That’s 15 years of not having to change light bulbs or pay for any fixture maintenance.

**Full dimming capability. Dimming fluorescent lighting to make classrooms more flexible requires multiple switches which cost more to install.

**Less heat generation than fluorescent bulbs or incandescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs waste as much as 90 percent of their energy as heat, and fluorescent bulbs waste up to 80 percent of their energy as heat.

**Instant on. LED lights instantly and does not consume any energy when it is turned off.

**No flickering or pulsing. The flicker of fluorescent bulbs can trigger migraine headaches and other adverse results in some people.

**Lower cost, less mercury in schools and fewer rare resources consumed. With the upcoming ban in the U.S. and China of incandescent bulbs, the cost of fluorescent lighting is expected to triple in the next five years. Going to LED now will avoid that cost increase and cut down on using mercury and increasingly scarce rare earth minerals – both required to produce fluorescent lighting.

**Better lighting for the people in the school. Fluorescent light tends to be on the blue end of the color spectrum. LED can be set to the warmer end of the spectrum which is more like natural sunlight.

According to Mary Waggoner with Everett Schools the entire construction project is scheduled to be completed in the winter of 2012.

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