An Attempt to Improve Air Quality in Primary Schools

Abstract

Most primary school buildings in Poland rely on natural ventilation. This fact is attributed to the age of these buildings constructed more than dozen or even several tens of years ago. Few of them were fitted with a mechanical ventilation system allowing for the adjustment of microclimate parameters. The national requirements for gravity ventilation provide general guidelines, specifying strict description only for the airtightness of windows and doors and the minimum airflow to be supplied to the rooms. The minimum airflow supplied is independent of the number of occupants and purpose of the room. Low indoor air quality (IAQ) can impact occupants’ health and lead to poor productivity or low academic performance. Therefore the provision of good IAQ in classrooms and laboratories is very important. This paper presents the results of the investigation devoted to the quality of indoor air in classrooms of selected Polish primary school. Six primary school in a town with a population of 200 000 inhabitants were involved in the investigations. The participating school buildings were built between 1976 and 1994 and had gravity ventilation systems. The variability of basic IAQ parameters, i.e., temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide level, was analysed and the assessment of the classrooms in terms of microbiological purity was performed. The outcomes confirmed the low quality of the indoor air in these buildings. The maximum value of CO2 concentration amounted to more than 4000 ppm. Certain modifications aimed at improving IAQ were proposed during the investigations. Two solutions were implemented. The results of this study indicate that the proposed solution offers the potential to improve IAQ within classrooms.

Microclimate in Rooms Equipped with Decentralized Façade Ventilation Device

“…In order to live a healthy life and stay in good shape, people need air with adequate parameters that is free from any pollution. Air quality also affects the learning efficiency and labor productivity of people using rooms [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”

“…Insufficient air exchange ratio in rooms increases both the humidity of the air and the carbon dioxide concentration [30]. However, greater exchange of air in naturally ventilated facilities is not an ideal solution, since it may result in an inside temperature drop [10].…”

Review of IAQ in Premises Equipped with Façade–Ventilation Systems

“…A too low exchange of air causes an increase in both the air humidity and the carbon dioxide concentration [67]. However, increasing the amount of air in naturally-ventilated facilities is not an ideal solution, as it carries the risk of lowering the internal temperature [68]. Figure 2 presents the course of changes in the relative humidity, temperature, and concentration of carbon dioxide of the indoor air from the moment students enter the classroom until they leave it.…”

“…facilities is not an ideal solution, as it carries the risk of lowering the internal temperature [68]. Figure 2 presents the course of changes in the relative humidity, temperature, and concentration of carbon dioxide of the indoor air from the moment students enter the classroom until they leave it.…”

Pool boiling heat transfer performance of the surface modified with laser

“…It needs to be noted that the enhancement of heat transfer can be very important for many areas of engineering such as the ventilation systems [6] and others [7 -11].…”