6 Electrical Upgrades for Safer, Smarter Schools

What electrical upgrades do schools need for the new school year? Several upgrades make sense to plan for: energy-efficient lighting and controls, reliable network infrastructure, security systems, emergency lighting, backup power and electrical planning for portable classrooms.

September seems to creep up on us every year, doesn’t it? As students and staff return to classrooms, those systems are back under full demand. For facility managers, school districts, universities, colleges and the electrical contractors who support them, the start of a new school year is a good time to identify where infrastructure upgrades could make the biggest difference.

Our summer electrical maintenance plan for school facility managers covers inspection and maintenance tasks to tackle while buildings are quieter. Here, we’re looking at six areas where longer-term upgrades could help schools prepare for what comes next.

What is “good” classroom lighting? It provides comfortable, consistent illumination for students and staff while keeping energy and maintenance demands manageable.

Replacing older fluorescent fixtures with LED alternatives can reduce energy use and maintenance, while selectable fixtures give facility teams more flexibility over light output and colour temperature. Occupancy and daylight controls can take that efficiency further by adjusting lighting according to how a space is actually being used.

Day-Brite CFI from Genlyte, a Signify business, offers selectable LED fixtures suited to classrooms and other commercial spaces, including troffers that allow lumen output and colour temperature to be selected for the application.

School networks now support everything from online learning and administrative systems to phones, security cameras and door access.

As these tech needs expand, aging cabling, crowded network space and limited capacity can all become an issue. With this in mind, consider the following upgrades:

• Category 6 cabling or fibre where appropriate

• Patch panels and organized network racks

• Additional network drops for classrooms and offices

• Infrastructure for wireless access points

• Capacity for cameras and access control systems

• Reliable power for network equipment

EB Horsman & Son carries data communications solutions ranging from Cat 6 cabling and connectivity products to racks and related infrastructure. 

School security systems can include cameras, access control, exterior lighting, network infrastructure and backup power. The key is making sure those systems work together.

When upgrading or expanding a system, you want to consider camera coverage, network capacity and whether entrances, walkways and other exterior areas are adequately lit. IP cameras from Opticom Technologies can form part of that broader setup, supported by the right cabling and network infrastructure.

Planning ahead also helps. If cabling is already being installed for another project, it may make sense to account for future security and communications needs at the same time.

Emergency and exit lighting are essential in a school campus environment, but maintaining a large number of individual units can take time.

Nexus and NexusPro from ABB's Emergi-Lite are designed to simplify monitoring and testing across emergency and exit lighting systems. Nexus uses a wired network, while NexusPro uses a wireless mesh network. Both provide centralized visibility into connected devices and can help facility teams manage ongoing testing and maintenance more efficiently.

For schools with multiple buildings, large footprints or significant numbers of emergency fixtures, centralized monitoring can be especially useful. Individual ABB Emergi-Lite emergency lighting products can also support upgrades and replacements across the facility.

Servers, network equipment, communications systems and security infrastructure all depend on stable power. An uninterruptible power supply, or UPS, can help protect sensitive equipment from outages, brownouts, voltage sags, surges and electrical noise.

The right UPS will depend on the equipment being protected, its power requirements and the amount of runtime needed. For longer-duration or larger backup-power requirements, a more comprehensive solution may be required.

When it comes to portable classroom electrical requirements, what should schools plan for? 

Electrical capacity, lighting, heating and cooling controls and data connectivity should all be part of your planning, to ensure portables function as part of the wider school system. Where will power come from? How will the portable connect to the school network? Does the existing infrastructure have the capacity to support the additional space?

The same lighting and network considerations discussed in the sections above will also apply here, from efficient LED fixtures to Cat 6 cabling. 

Heating requirements might also need to be considered based on the building, climate and electrical capacity available.

For contractors, it is an opportunity to look beyond the immediate installation and help school facility teams understand what the new space may mean for the surrounding electrical and data infrastructure.

School lighting, data, security and backup power are all key aspects of a campus electrical environment. Looking at them together can help schools prioritize upgrades and build infrastructure that’s ready for changing needs.

Need help pulling it all together? E.B. Horsman & Son specializes in helping facility teams and contractors plan upgrades, and find the right lighting, datacom, emergency lighting, power protection and electrical products to get the job done right. Contact our team to get started.