S.E.A.L.

LED Lights are coming to town!

 

     The Skagway School has sent out a request for proposals for lighting upgrades to an LED system for the gym, library and shop in hopes of saving energy and money in the years to come. The school is seeking 60,000-hour minimum life expectancy bulbs that have an immediate response when turned on. The bulbs in the library must have a dimming capability. The RFP comes in response to a February 2013 Alaska Energy Engineering, LLC energy audit which detected several energy- and money-saving changes. During the November 19 School Board meeting, two issues from the report were addressed: heating and lighting.

 

     As a first step to fix these issues, Superintendent Josh Coughran had new boilers installed. The boilers provide heat to seven air handling unit systems, unit heaters, and perimeter hydronic systems. In addition to meeting the heating demands of the school, the boilers have the capacity to compensate for all hot water needs. Coughran said the next step will be to replace the lights in the library, shop and gym with more energy-efficient LED lights. “It could be the difference in the winter of needing to run diesel or not. It could save the ratepayers of Skagway and Haines money, too,” said Darren Belisle, Skagway School Board president.

   

     Belisle also said that, if they weren’t going to replace all the lights at the same time, he recommends they do the gym first, because it’s the biggest space and uses the most energy, and then the library and shop. Tim Cochran, the Skagway Borough Assembly’s Health, Education and Welfare Committee chair, said the school could also save money if it could override the heater. Cochran mentioned that during last year’s school Christmas program, the heater was very loud. When someone asked the maintenance worker if he could turn it off, he said there was no way to override the system. “A lot of times athletes complain about it being too hot in the gym and needing to open a door,” he said. “If the door is open it’s letting the heat out and wasting money. There should be a way to override the system.”

— ZW, The Skagway News November 27, 2013