Green Dental Office Design - Improving the Lighting

One of the biggest areas of concern in dental office design is making sure that there is proper lighting, especially in the operatories. Traditionally, fluorescent ceiling lighting has been used to provide general purpose lighting. One of the challenges, however, is to do so with color correcting lamps (bulbs) so that the lighting does not affect the color of the patient's teeth and the best possible color matches can be obtained.

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If the dental office was not built with a dental office designer involved that watched for this, often times low-cost general purpose fluorescent fixtures and standard lamps were installed and the dentist and hygienist have had to deal with the poor illumination and quality that they produce.

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Today, as we move toward higher efficiency and green dental office design, there are better options. Moving to T5 lamp fluorescent fixtures can improve the energy by as much as 28%. For example, a 35W T5 lamp puts out 3650 lumens with an efficacy of 104 lumens per watt. This compares to a 40W T12 lamp at only 3,050 lumens and an efficacy of 81 lumens per watt, or a 32W T8 at only 2,700 lumens and an efficacy of 89 lumens per watt. (source: 1)

If your dental office design makes use of can lighting rather than tube, replacing the lamps with compact fluorescents (CFL) or LED's is a great way to reduce your energy usage and "green" your office. LED's generally score 92 on the Color Rendering Index as compared to 80 to 85 for other light sources, giving a "truer" white light. The sun is measured at 100 CRI. As far as efficacy goes LED's can generate as many lumens at 15W as a fluorescent produces at 35W. That's over a 50% reduction in energy usage. (source: 2)

Another green design advantage LED's have over incandescent and fluorescent lighting is that they contain no hazardous chemicals. Most fluorescent and CFL's contain mercury, lead, sodium, or other hazardous materials that can end up in land-fills and leach into the water supply.

Lastly, in addition to reduced energy usage LED's last a long time. Since they don't really burn out, their life is measured in lumen depreciation, and most LED's can last 50,000 hours or more before their lumen output depreciates to 70% of its original output. This is the point at which the Illuminating Engineering Society says they should be replaced.

So, if you are planning a dental office remodel or a design for your new dental office, be sure to ask your dental office designer to make use of higher efficiency, greener lighting in the design. If your not currently doing a remodel but are looking for ways to green your office and reduce your energy usage, converting your lamps or fixture to T5 fluorescents or LED's is a great place to start!

Source 1: http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/nlpip/lightingAnswers/lat5/pc1a.asp
Source 2: http://luminosityled.com/index.html

Green Dental Office Design - Improving the Lighting

As a LEED Green Associate, James brings a solid understanding of how to apply design principles that will reduce his clients' energy costs and carbon footprint without incurring increased construction and remodeling costs.

James is a regular lecturer on dental office and green design with frequent appearances at the IU School of Dentistry and as part of the Indiana Dental Education and Resource Association Speaker's Bureau. He also serves as an Adjunct Instructor in the interior design department at The Art Institute of Indianapolis. With offices in Dallas, Indianapolis, New York, and Wisconsin, James is on the road regularly meeting with clients and speaking with dentists about their design needs.

James writes regularly on dental office design, green design, and interior branding, and his work has been featured in Building Excellence in Design and Construction, Indianapolis Woman, Metropolis, Metropolitan Home, Home Decor Buyer, Elle Decor, Indianapolis Monthly, Indianapolis Home, Shelter, and The Columbian. For more information visit: http://www.kusterdental.com

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Improving Achievement in Indianapolis Schools

Achievement has been on the docket as a major issue in recent years for Indianapolis Schools. Students just didn't seem to be living up to the standards put before them. So, Indianapolis schools had to take drastic measures for improving achievement among their students. So far they've seen drastic improvements but want to see even more in the coming years.

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Methods of Improving Achievement in Indianapolis Schools

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Indianapolis has different methods and practices put in place to make their schools as successful as possible. Here are a few:

Ï Small Schools: In order to give their students that maximum amount of attention from their teachers, Indianapolis is making its schools smaller. Instead of one large 1,200 to 2,000 person school, the building is split up into four smaller schools consisting of about 400 students. Each school offers the same curriculum as a large school, but also offers small class sizes that make interacting with the teachers less of a challenge and learning more of a priority. All the smaller schools that reside within the same building share the cafeteria, gymnasium, and library. Not only has this improved achievement, but it has also lowered behavioral problems and enhanced social performance.

Ï Literary Improvement: Indianapolis has dedicated itself to improving the literacy rates among all of their students by involving themselves with the National Urban Alliance, which provides job-embedded development for all teachers and principals. The teachers and principals are meeting with literacy instructors, coaches, and leadership academy teachers to learn all there is to know about improving the literacy levels of the children in Indianapolis Schools. This initiative has given the schools national attention, which is making it easier for the students to succeed.

Ï Technology: Indianapolis Schools have COWS ... "Computers on Wheels." These COWS increase the ratio of laptops per student which increases their technological skills. In addition to COWS, Indianapolis is using technology to help engage students and parents by creating an online web portal that allows students to access their homework remotely and allows parents to check grades, attendance, discipline, or homework assignments from their personal computers. The long term goal for Indianapolis Schools is to become a wireless school district so that they can provide free internet access to students from their homes in order to maximize their achievement in school.

Overall, Indianapolis Schools have it right when creating different programs to improve achievement for their students. As parents, we should applaud the effort that the Indianapolis Schools are putting into our children's education. Let's help them all we can in encouraging the schools to continue what they are doing and our children to learn all they can learn from their teachers. This is the only way they'll be able to make it in a world where a high school diploma doesn't get you as far as it used to.

Improving Achievement in Indianapolis Schools

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Indianapolis Public Schools

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