LED lighting : This is our third blog post in our miniseries about the advantages associated with applying LED lighting in the public sector. The previous blog post concerned LED lighting at haspitals and in this post, we will highlight the advantages connected to replacing traditional fluorescent tubes with LED lighting in school buildings.
It has been proved that lighting is crucial to a healthy working and learning environment. Bad lighting can have a negative influence on the behaviour of the pupils as well as affecting test scores and the absence from school. For that reason, it is important that schools and other institutions provide as optimal lighting solutions as possible.
In August 2014, the controversial Danish school reform came into force with regard to streamline the education and make it more effective. In this connection, the pupils are exposed to an increased amount of classes, and the principals and teachers are offered further education. However, healthy and efficient lighting is not part of the reform.
Fluorescent tubes are the most common source of light at schools. Not only are traditional fluorescent tubes harmful to the environment; they also have a negative impact on our psychical well-being due to their low lighting quality.
By replacing traditional fluorescent tubes with LED lighting, the schools will be able to provide a healthier working and learning environment.
There are many advantages associated with LED compared to traditional light sources such as fluorescent tubes. Accordingly, LED lighting have a much higher colour rendering (CRI), which provides the best possible imitation of daylight. Besides, LED differ from fluorescent tubes by not flickering.
Apart from improving the lighting quality, LED lighting reduce the energy consumption as well, which makes this light source more sustainable and energy efficient in proportion to traditional sources of light. The average lifespan of LED lighting is typically 50,000 hours compared to a lifespan of 10,000-20,000 hours for fluorescent tubes, wherefore LED is associated with less maintenance. Consequently, the schools can save money by replacing old lighting sources such as fluorescent tubes with new lighting.
From this, LED solutions are optimal for schools and similar institutions. Below we provide an overview of how LED can improve classroom efficiency in order to secure a healthy working and learning environment for pupils and teachers.
- Pupils: In Danish public schools, pupils spend between 30 and 35 hours a week in classrooms and gymnasiums. Flickering fluorescent tubes can cause a headache and provoke exhaustion. Besides, it can increase the rate of absenteeism and affect the pupils’ results and behaviour during the classes. Accordingly, the high lighting quality connected to LED improve the learning environment and provide pupils and teachers with the best possible conditions.
- Teachers: Just like the pupils, the teachers spend several hours a week in classrooms, wherefore they need optimal conditions to be able to improve classes and increase classroom efficiency. This can be secured by replacing the old fluorescent tubes with LED lighting.