A power-packed campus

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT COAST -- With the constant threat of rolling blackouts looming

over the state, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District is preparing to

open an energy-saving school that could function comfortably most days

without even turning on the lights.

When Newport Coast Elementary School finally opens its doors next

month, after numerous delays, it will contain the most extensive use of

new conservation technology in Southern California, said Kim Scheer, a

spokeswoman for Southern California Edison.

The campus, on the corner of Newport Coast Drive and Park Ridge Road,

is designed to save energy in a variety of ways, making use of sunlight

and ocean breezes, said Gaylord Christopher, an architect with Perkins

and Will, the firm that designed the school.

If the lights go out at Newport Coast, students probably won’t even

notice. Shelves outside classroom windows and corrugated metal awnings

over outdoor walkways will reflect light into classrooms, keeping them

bright and sunny.

“In addition to putting energy-efficient lighting in, [the design]

tries to optimize daylight by putting in . . . motion-sensor lights,”

Scheer said. “It further uses what’s called photo-sensing lighting that

looks at how much daylight is available. As daylight gets brighter, it

phases the lights off. As sun sets, it phases the lights back on.”

The power company projects that the school will save 43% on its energy

bills, a possible $15,300 a year, Scheer said.

Edison will monitor those savings for the district, she added, and

also use it as a selling point for other consumers.

The innovations by no means stop at the lighting. Special classroom

designs with odd-angled ceilings to reflect light will also allow cool

air to be pulled in through windows and expel hot air through ducts near

the ceiling, Christopher said.

Other classrooms have windows on opposite sides to allow for a cross

breeze -- not a new idea, but unusual in schools.

The classrooms also are well-insulated to save on both heat and air

conditioning, said Mike Shotwell, the construction manager, and each room

has its own electric heating and air conditioning unit, which is more

efficient than heating or cooling an entire school.

But the real standout feature of the new elementary school will be the

solar-heated water.

The majority of all the school’s water will be heated through six

solar panels that face to the south, Shotwell said, though there are

backup gas and electric water heaters.

The water will constantly circulate from two 120-gallon water tanks,

through the six solar panels, and out to the school.

The water will be pumped continuously through the system and back to

the tanks and solar panels so it is always hot, Shotwell explained.

If the water temperature drops to a certain degree, the backup heaters

will fire up, he said, adding that it is much less expensive to have the

gas heaters on than it is to have them firing and heating the water at

all times.

“The other thing that we are really excited about is the opportunity

to explain these things to students so that they may learn about

stewardship of the environment,” Christopher said.

Instead of being enclosed, the water tanks under the solar panels will

be visible to students with a plaque explaining how the system works,

Shotwell said.