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It was a big risk to take for one of the leading design firms in the western U.S., and the Clark County School District in Las Vegas.

The firm, Tate, Snyder and Kimsey of Las Vegas, decided to specify active daylighting units in the new 2,400-student Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas. It was the fourth of five "Prototype 2000" schools the Clark County School District had scheduled for construction to meet the city's growing student population.

Firm Design Principal Windom Kimsey said, "We had designed the schools to be energy efficient, environmentally responsible and healthy places to learn and work."

That meshed perfectly with the school district's objective of building increasingly energy efficient schools by reducing the demand for electricity.

Timothy Kusz, project manager with the school district's new-construction department, said, "We have worked to improve the design with each school built. The idea is to save tax dollars over and over again."

The first three prototype schools had been built without active daylighting technology and were performing as expected. But the architectural firm and school district felt more could be done because the Desert Oasis High School is ideally situated to capitalize on sunlight.

"The building's axis runs along an east/west orientation (at latitude 35°59' 29'' N) to maximize daylight and minimize solar heat," Kimsey said.

Active daylighting, however, was an order of magnitude higher than daylighting technologies incorporated into the first three schools. The firm researched the technology and considered it promising, but would the energy savings materialize? The industry was rife with examples of technologies promising much, but delivering little.

In the end, the philosophy of building prototype schools to test new designs and technologies won out. The architectural firm specified sixty-six active daylighting units for the school's gymnasium, auxiliary gym, activity center, four resource rooms and a prep room.

Nine times more daylight

The units, branded SunTracker and manufactured by Ciralight of North Salt Lake, Utah, each produce up to nine times more light than a passive skylight. They distribute light more evenly, over a wider area and more than twice as long as passive skylights, including early in the morning and late afternoon.

While Las Vegas is ideally suited to capitalize on daylighting because of its climate, active daylighting technology performs effectively in latitudes as far north as Sweden.

The performance of the units really shines when compared to electric lighting. Each unit generates illumination equivalent to 800W of fluorescent lighting, or more than a 1,000W metal halide lamp.

"It's amazing how well they work," Kimsey said. "There's a Wow factor. You have to see it to believe it."

Kusz agreed. "The benefits of the daylighting units are immediately recognizable in whatever room they're installed," he said. "They will never have to turn on the electric lights, except on extremely gloomy days, or at night."