Assessment and improvement of indoor environmental quality in a primary school

Abstract

This study reports levels of indoor environmental quality variables before and after installation of heat recovery ventilation in a primary school located in an urban area in Izmir, Turkey. A CO 2 -based modeling was performed to determine the required flow rates that would comply with an international ventilation standard, followed by computational fluid dynamics modeling for best airflow distribution in a classroom. Temperature, CO 2 , PM 2.5 , and total volatile organic compounds were found at undesired levels, among which relative humidity, CO 2 , and PM 2.5 were improved after the intervention. Reductions in the mean and maximum concentrations were 29% and 68% for CO 2 and 29% and 46% for PM 2.5 . This intervention study was a part of the city-wide main project that aimed to increase awareness of the students and their families, teachers, and staff regarding importance of indoor environmental quality in both at school and home due to its possible effects on children's health and academic performance, one of the major challenges of today's societies all around the globe.

Date Seeds (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Valorization for Boilers in the Mediterranean Climate

“…Air quality, lighting and acoustics are some of the environmental parameters it regulates [15]. This framework presents us with the study of energy efficiency in public buildings as not only a subject with an increasing interest, but also makes it mandatory to study new measures and seek solutions to promote greater energy efficiency in local institutions [16].There has been a growing interest in recent times towards energy efficiency and sustainability in universities, acquiring this important knowledge in creating an increasingly cleaner and more sustainable future. The energy consumption of buildings is largely dependent on the criteria used for the design and operation of the interior space.…”

“…Aspects such as lighting, noise, ventilation or temperature are of vital importance. Because of this, they can even have an impact on a state of health of a person or their work efficiency [16]. Today, in industrialized countries, city dwellers spend 60%-80% of their time in enclosed spaces, so poor quality living conditions can seriously affect people.…”

“…Air quality, lighting and acoustics are some of the environmental parameters it regulates [15]. This framework presents us with the study of energy efficiency in public buildings as not only a subject with an increasing interest, but also makes it mandatory to study new measures and seek solutions to promote greater energy efficiency in local institutions [16].…”

Investigation of Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality at Elementary Schools in Hanoi, Vietnam

“…Some indoor pollutants are having increasing trends in terms of concentration, including: formaldehyde (HCHO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), radon, fungi and bacteria, by-products of combustion as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matters (PM) [4]. Children are more vulnerable to the adverse health effects of air pollutants than adults because their defense mechanisms are still developing and they inhale a larger volume of air per body weight [1,3,4,[13][14][15]. IAP might be a source of increasing of students' eye and skin diseases, decreasing of teachers' productivity, and degradation of studying environment [4].…”

“…IAP might be a source of increasing of students' eye and skin diseases, decreasing of teachers' productivity, and degradation of studying environment [4]. Since there is no production process, the main sources of air pollution in classes are from construction materials, furniture and the lack of ventilation [7,[13][14][15].…”