CLASSES BASK IN NEW GLOW.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - As Hamlin Middle School library assistant Nancy Bales observed one recent morning, you often don't realize how bad something is until something better replaces it.

She and other Hamlin employees were struck by that notion when they returned to school in late August and found new or retrofitted lighting throughout the building. Once dim and shadowy, the library is bright and inviting, with attractive, suspended light fixtures throughout - and new blue carpet and a year-old paint job to boot.

"Between the paint and the carpet and the lights, we're feeling really uptown," Bales said.

Hamlin was one of nine Springfield schools that received a complete lighting update this summer, bringing an eight-year upgrade effort at every school nearly to a close. So far, the district has replaced 4,322 fixtures and retrofitted another 10,524, lighting project manager John Saraceno said.

Within the next six months, the last two schools on the list - Thurston and Brattain elementary - will have their turn.

In an era of painfully tight budgets, lighting may seem like it ought to rank low on the list of priorities. But in fact, saving money is the principal reason to replace antiquated fixtures, Deputy Superintendent Steve Barrett said. The new fixtures will pay for themselves in four to six years, he said, and reap savings for years to come.

"We believe we're now saving about $253,000 in annual avoided energy costs," he said, reducing the district's annual electric bill by about one-fourth. With this summer's improvements, he said, the district expects to save another $128,000 a year.

The project would have taken far longer were it not for nearly $500,000 worth of rebates from the Springfield Utility Board. The total project will cost close to $800,000 when done, Barrett said, with the district picking up the balance.

SUB issues rebates based on the number of kilowatt hours saved with the new fixtures. The utility, which offers similar rebates to its other commercial customers, covered about three-quarters of those rebates through a conservation grant from the Bonneville Power Administration.

Lighting upgrades are among the most obvious - and affordable - ways that schools can reduce their energy costs. Projects such as adding building insulation or replacing inefficient boilers carry a much higher price tag.

But there are other good reasons to purge old light fixtures, Barrett said.

"(Energy savings) is primary, but a second reason is it improves the educational environment," he said.

Employees and even students at Hamlin Middle will vouch for that.

"I noticed it when I came in here," said eighth-grader Becca Lowry, who works as a library assistant during second period. "It's definitely a lot brighter now."

Bob Spangler, who teaches P.E., health and computers, said teachers complained about the hum and glare of the classroom lights.

"After you'd been grading a couple hundred papers, you'd get a headache," he said.

Watching his kids in P.E. class last week, Spangler said the new gym lights are brighter, less harsh and considerably quicker. With the old system, it took nearly 10 minutes after flipping the switch for the lights to come on fully.

Seventh-grader Lena Dial said she noticed a difference right away.

"Now it's, like, really shiny," she said. "The first time I walked in here I felt like I was being blinded."

"Now they just need to buy new school food," quipped her classmate, Megan Buckley, also a seventh-grader.

Aside from the cost savings and improved learning climate, there's also the matter of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, which were commonly used in lighting ballasts until the late 1970s. Banned in 1978, PCBs accumulate in the environment and may cause harmful health effects.

Springfield, like many school districts with fixtures dating back to the 1960s, had some lights containing PCB ballasts. While Springfield never had a problem with leaks, other school districts have. In 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency levied fines against the West Linn-Wilsonville School District after a light ballast at Wilsonville Primary School leaked over books, desks and other equipment. The agency found several instances of improper use, storage and disposal of the old fixtures.

Springfield has followed all proper disposal steps, Saraceno said, which include sending the material in sealed drums to Arizona to be incinerated.

School districts around the state have embarked on similar efforts to replace and upgrade lighting. The Eugene district began a building-by-building replacement project in 1991, taking advantage of similar rebates from Eugene Water & Electric Board, and it has completed all but a handful of buildings, said Jon Lauch, assistant director of facilities. The district has earmarked money in two recent bond measures to help finish the job, he said.

Bethel completed a districtwide lighting update in 1995, maintenance supervisor Pat Bradshaw said, also using rebates and bond funds.

CAPTION(S):

New fixtures are making an impact at Hamlin Middle School in Springfield where Becca Lowry, 13, works in the school library. The new lighting fixtures will pay for themselves in four to six years, Deputy Superintendent Steve Barrett said. Paul Carter / The Register-Guard The gym at Hamlin Middle School now has a system that is brighter, less harsh and much quicker to reach full illumination.