The perception of the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) through questionnaires in conjunction with in-field measurements related to the indoor air quality (IAQ), the thermal comfort and the lighting environment were studied in nine naturally ventilated schools of Athens, Greece. Cluster analysis was carried out in order to determine the ranges of indoor air pollutants, temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), and ventilation rates at which the students were satisfied with the indoor environment. It was found that increased levels of particulate matter did not have a negative effect on students' perception while students seemed to link the degradation of IAQ with temperature variations. Statistically significant correlations were further found between measurement results and students' perception of the IEQ. Students' sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms and performance of schoolwork were also investigated as a function of the levels of indoor air pollutants and ventilation, and there were found significant positive correlations between particulate matter (PM) and certain health symptoms. Students' learning performance seemed to be affected by the ventilation rates and carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations while certain health effects positively correlated to the levels of PM and CO₂. The energy consumption of schools was rather low compared to other national findings, and both the electricity and oil consumption for heating positively correlated to the levels of indoor air pollutants.

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There are international activities and on-going initiatives, particularly at the European level, to define what Positive Energy Districts should be, as the driving concept for the urban transition to a sustainable future. The first objective of the paper is to contribute to the on-going and lively debate about the definition of the notion of Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhood (SPEN), which highlights the multiple dimensions when talking about sustainability in districts moving beyond the traditional and strict building energy assessment. Based on a holistic methodology which ensures the consideration of the multidimensional nature and goals of SPEN, the paper outlines an evaluation framework. The evaluation framework defines the key performance indicators distributed in five categories that consider energy and power performance, GHG emissions, indoor environmental quality, smartness, flexibility, life cycle costs and social sustainability. This framework is designed to be implemented during integrated design processes aiming to select design options for a neighbourhood as well within during the operational phase for monitoring its performance. Further work will include the implementation and validation of the framework in four real-life positive energy neighbourhoods in different climate zones of Europe as part of syn.ikia H2020 project.

Indoor Air Quality degradation is of exceptional concern due to the potential adverse effects indoor air pollutants have on human's health. Students are a susceptible group of people, who spend a lot of their time within classrooms. The purpose of this study is to investigate the concentration levels of particulate matter (PM) and total airborne fungi, in school classrooms. Further objective is to examine possible correlations between PM 10 , PM 2.5 , PM 1 , ultrafine particles (UFPs, di-ameter<100 nm), and airborne fungi. The measurements were performed using fully automated instrumentation. The results indicate that a lot of PM 10 concentrations exceeded the proposed daily limit of 50μg/m 3. Also, in some cases the concentration of the total airborne fungi indoors, exceeded their concentration outdoors. There is evidence that certain correlations exist between PM and airborne fungi.

The concentration levels of particulate matter (PM), airborne fungi, carbon dioxide as well as temperature and relative humidity were investigated in the indoor and outdoor environment of two schools in Athens, Greece during the period January to May 2011. The overall concentration ranges ofthe indoor measured pollutants were: PMio: 14.92-166.18 pg/m 3 , PM 25 : 3.16-31.27 pg/m 3 , FMi: 0.72-9.01 ug/m 3 , UFP 4188-63093 pfcm 3 , total airborne fungi: 28-2098 CFU/m 3 and C0 2 : 389-1717 ppm. The relationships between PM and airborne fungi were mainly examined, and bi vari ate correlations of all the measured environmental parameters are also reported. The results indicate that PM of certain aerodynamic diameters significantly correlate to the total airborne fungi and their prevalent genera. Pénicillium, Cladosponum ana Aspergillus. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted so as to cluster variables of common characteristics. Furthermore, simple and multiple linear regression models were developed to investigate several cases of dependent variables to be used for prediction purposes in health risk assessments.