The results of this study suggest that increasing the ventilation rates toward recommended guideline ventilation rates in classrooms should translate into improved academic achievement of students. More studies are needed to fully understand the relationships between ventilation rate, other indoor environmental quality parameters, and their effects on students' health and achievement. Achieving the recommended guidelines and pursuing better understanding of the underlying relationships would ultimately support both sustainable and productive school environments for students and personnel.

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Poor conditions leading to substandard indoor air quality (IAQ) in classrooms have been frequently cited in the literature over the past two decades. However, there is limited data linking poor IAQ in the classrooms to student performance. Whereas, it is assumed that poor IAQ results in reduced attendance and learning potential, and subsequent poor student performance, validating this hypothesis presents a challenge in today's school environment. This study explores the association between student performance on standardized aptitude tests that are administered to students on a yearly basis, to classroom carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, which provide a surrogate of ventilation being provided to each room. Data on classroom CO2 concentrations (over a 4-5 h time span within a typical school day) were recorded in fifth grade classrooms in 54 elementary schools within a school district in the USA. Results from this preliminary study yield a significant (P < 0.10) association between classroom-level ventilation rate and test results in math. They also indicate that non-linear effects may need to be considered for better representation of the association. A larger sample size is required in order to draw more definitive conclusions. Practical Implications Future studies could focus on (1) gathering more evidence on the possible association between classroom ventilation rates and students' academic performance; (2) the linear/non-linear nature of the association; and (3) whether it is possible to detect 'no observed adverse effect level' for adequate ventilation with respect to academic performance in schools. All of this information could be used to improve guidance and take regulatory actions to ensure adequate ventilation in schools. The high prevalence of low ventilation rates, combined with the growing evidence of the positive impact that sufficient ventilation has on human performance, suggests an opportunity for improving design and management of school facilities.

In order to examine the associations between different indoor environmental quality (IEQ) indicators and students' performance, absenteeism and health in Southwestern United States, sampling and monitoring were performed in a 70 school district during two academic years.These included measurements of temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and settled dust. A standardized cleaning protocol was employed for surface sampling and cleaning effectiveness evaluation utilizing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) monitoring systems to detect biological contamination, and contact agar (RODAC) plates to detect culturable bacteria.In addition, student data related to socioeconomic background, absenteeism, performance, and number of visits to school nurse was retrieved anonymously from the school district. Significant associations were observed between percentages of students scoring satisfactory in mathematics and reading tests and both indoor T (r = -.353 and r = -.311 respectively) and ventilation rate (r = .417 and r = .479 respectively), which was estimated based on CO 2 levels. In addition, ventilation rate was associated with mean number of visits to school nurse due to respiratory symptoms, and culturable bacteria with mean number of visits due to gastrointestinal symptoms; but there were no significant correlations between absenteeism and IEQ parameters in these school-level analyses. In conclusion, classroom ventilation rate, temperature, and hygiene of high contact surfaces appear to be important IEQ parameters, potentially related to student health and/or performance.

The use of portable air cleaning devices in residential settings has been steadily growing over the last 10 years. Three out of every 10 households now contain a portable air cleaning device. This increased use of air cleaners is accompanied by, if not influenced by, a fundamental belief by consumers that the air cleaners are providing an improved indoor air environment. However, there is a wide variation in the performance of air cleaners that is dependent on the specific air cleaner design and various indoor factors. The most widely used method in the United States to assess the performance of new air cleaners is the procedure described in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) AC-1-2002. This method describes both the test conditions and the testing protocol. The protocol yields a performance metric that is based on the measured decay rate of contaminant concentrations with the air cleaner operating compared with the measured decay rate with the air cleaner turned off. The resulting metric, the clean air delivery rate (CADR), permits both an intercomparison of performance among various air cleaners and a comparison of air cleaner operation to other contaminant removal processes. In this article, we comment on the testing process, discuss its applicability to various contaminants, and evaluate the resulting performance metrics for effective air cleaning.

On the basis of this study, the prevalence of verified moisture problems in school buildings was highest in Spain, but lower and similar in Finland and the Netherlands. Questionnaire-based surveys can be used to assess moisture problems in school buildings, but because of large variation in agreement with inspection data, the questionnaire needs to be validated by on-site inspections in a subsample of the surveyed buildings.

Using a multilevel approach, we estimated the effects of classroom ventilation rate and temperature on academic achievement. The analysis is based on measurement data from a 70 elementary school district (140 fifth grade classrooms) from Southwestern United States, and student level data (N = 3109) on socioeconomic variables and standardized test scores. There was a statistically significant association between ventilation rates and mathematics scores, and it was stronger when the six classrooms with high ventilation rates that were indicated as outliers were filtered (> 7.1 l/s per person). The association remained significant when prior year test scores were included in the model, resulting in less unexplained variability. Students’ mean mathematics scores (average 2286 points) were increased by up to eleven points (0.5%) per each liter per second per person increase in ventilation rate within the range of 0.9–7.1 l/s per person (estimated effect size 74 points). There was an additional increase of 12–13 points per each 1°C decrease in temperature within the observed range of 20–25°C (estimated effect size 67 points). Effects of similar magnitude but higher variability were observed for reading and science scores. In conclusion, maintaining adequate ventilation and thermal comfort in classrooms could significantly improve academic achievement of students.

The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of individual commercially available portable indoor air cleaning units in removing dust particulates, tobacco smoke particulate and vapor phase constituents (nicotine and vinyl pyridine), viable and total fungal spores, pollen, and gaseous contaminants (carbon monoxide[CO], nitrogen dioxide[NO2], and formaldehyde[HCHO]), in a clean air test chamber. The air cleaner chamber results presented here represent initial‐use results. In general, High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) and electrostatic precipitator systems demonstrated the highest efficiencies with respect to particulate, contaminants, followed closely by electret filter systems. Ionizers and ozone generators were least effective in particulate removal. Systems which included sufficient sorbent material (i.e. activated carbon or potassium permanganate) were marginally effective at gaseous contaminant removal. None of the systems tested were effective at carbon monoxide removal. Sensory testing was conducted to discern potential correlation between human perceptive response and measured air cleaner performance (with respect to tobacco smoke removal). An electret filter (EF) loaded with carbon sorbent received the best ratings with respect to odor strength, nasal irritation, eye irritation, and overall air acceptability.