Let There Be ‘Green’ Light
November 30, 2007
By Christina Lent
The Beaverton Valley Times
LIGHT IMPROVEMENTS — Steve Ulestad of Above Standard Construction checks to see if the hole he cut in the ceiling of the hallway of Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School in Beaverton will be wide enough for the Solatube he is installing.
BEAVERTON – Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School is getting a little help from above to light the way for middle school students in the building.
“We’re putting in five solar tubes,” said Allen Herkamp, properties chairman for the Beaverton church. “Now we will benefit from God’s free light.”
Crews spent the last week installing Solatubes in an upstairs bathroom, two along a hallway, one in an entry above the stairs and another near the library entryway in the middle school wing of the building.
“We have some dark hallways in this older part of the building,” Herkamp said, as he pointed out where the solar lighting would be placed. “We tried to put in light fixtures, but it still tends to be dark in here.”
He hopes that the addition of new Solatubes will help.
A Solatube captures sunlight via a dome on the roof of the building and directs it downward into a highly reflective tube through the attic. The sunlight is then distributed from a round window in the ceiling to light a room during the day.
The tubes have the added bonus of being energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
“Since the world is going green, we want to be part of that,” Herkamp said.
Installation of the Solatubes is the latest in a series of improvement projects to make Pilgrim more energy efficient.
With the support of private donations, a grant and energy credits, the church has been able to replace eight single-pane windows that had a tendency to whistle when the wind howled and also replace 12 metal halide light fixtures in the gym.
“By replacing the lights in the gym with Fluorescent T-5s, we’ll get better light in here, be able to control their intensity and save energy,” Herkamp said. “The old lights would take 15 minutes to turn on, and they just didn’t do what we needed them to do.
“The new lights have a dimming feature and occupancy sensor.”
The new lighting system will also eliminate pesky shadows that plagued school events, plays, games, dinners and other activities held in the gym, he added.
The church estimates that the new fluorescent lighting will shave off 43,704 kilowatt hours a year from electricity bills, marking a $12,255 cost savings.
“It’s always great to get projects like these kicked off and have everything come together,” Herkamp said. “I’m just thrilled.”
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