New window and blind installation in SEHS
Over the summer, many 4J buildings districtwide underwent construction projects, including new playgrounds and roofs. In addition, a construction project limited to South Eugene was the installation of new windows and blinds. Awarded to Bridgeway Contracting LLC for more than $1.4 million and completed over the summer, the South Eugene Window Replacement construction project replaced windows in the 100, 200, and 300 halls, and rooms 714 through 704.
South’s new windows offer superior insulation when compared to the old windows. “The old windows did not have weather seals so cold air, hot air, smokey air from the outside would easily find its way into the classroom,” South social studies teacher Zachary Lazar said.
Project Manager Dexter Rummel attributed the new weather seal to the many improvements with the new windows.
“The new windows are double-paned,” Rummel said, “which means there are two panes of glass with a gas seal between them.”
Aiding the new improved weather seal, Rummel credited the thermal barrier that stops heat transfer through the metal and a low-e coating on the windows that “reduces direct ultraviolet (UV) light transmittance,” making sunlight heat the room less.
Unfortunately, the new windows can’t be seen as an objective improvement in all categories.
“The new windows only open about four inches,” Lazar discovered, “so they are not good at venting the air inside the classroom.”
The newer, more modern blinds create a more standardized shade system. This will result in “less strain on maintenance resources in the future,” Rummel said.
Students may have noticed some of their classrooms sporting these new blinds..
“I can quickly adjust blinds to make my classroom dark or lighter,” Lazar said. “In the past, I left the old heavy cloth blinds in the same position all year because they were so difficult to maneuver.”
Other teachers with slat blinds are less enthusiastic about the change: Some have found problems with the different style and off-gassing that the new blinds create.
Some may wonder where funding could come from with 4J in a budgetary crisis.
“The funding for this project is from the 2018 school bond, measure 20-297,” Rummel said. “This bond set aside funding for capital improvements that included new schools and improvements.”
Funding from school bonds can’t be spent on anything other than what the measure approved by voters specifies.
Article by Ty Jones