Building and indoor environmental quality assessment of Nigerian primary schools: A pilot study

Abstract

A total of 15 classrooms went through on‐site assessments/inspections, including measurements of temperature (T), and concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). In addition, the level of surface biocontamination/cleaning effectiveness was assessed by measuring adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels on students' desks. Based on the data, the quality of facilities in the buildings was low. Classroom occupancy exceeded ASHRAE 50 person/100 m2 standard in all cases indicating overcrowding. However, concentrations of CO2 remained below 1000 ppm in most classrooms. On the other hand, indoor T was above the recommended levels for thermal comfort in all classrooms. Maximum indoor CO was 6 ppm. Median ATP concentrations on the desk tops were moderately high in all schools. The use of open incinerators and power generator sets near classrooms, which was suspected to be the main source of CO, should be discouraged. Improved hygiene could be achieved by providing the students access to functioning bathroom facilities and cafeteria, and by effective cleaning of high contact surfaces such as desks. Although ventilation seems adequate based on CO2 concentrations, thermal comfort was not attained especially in the afternoon during extreme sunlight. Therefore, installing passive and/or mechanical cooling systems should be considered in this regard.

Indoor Environmental Quality Evaluation of Lecture Classrooms in an Institutional Building in a Cold Climate

“…Several attempts have been made to conduct on-site standardized academic or physical tests, such as cognitive tests, spirometry tests, memory tests, and mathematics and reading tests, to evaluate how IEQ elements affect learning performance in elementary and middle school classrooms or productivity in offices [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. Since ventilation is a critical parameter for indoor environmental performance, most research used experimental, modeling or field-testing methods to examine natural ventilation or natural ventilation combined with a simple fan system to observe the impacts of outdoor environmental parameters on IEQ [25,31,[42][43][44][45][46]. Mechanical systems are another prevailing ventilation method, especially in non-mild climate zones or noisy or polluted regions.…”

Ventilação natural e qualidade do ar em salas de aula

“…Peng, Deng e Tenorio (2017), na China, apontaram que o ar externo poluído influenciou negativamente a qualidade do ar interno das salas, em virtude da entrada pelas aberturas e infiltrações, o que, em conjunto com as repetidas re-suspensões causadas pelas atividades de alunos e professores, elevou o número de particulados a valores acima dos padrões da OMS (WHO, 2005) e padrões nacionais chineses. Toyinbo et al (2019) revelaram que, apesar da concentração média de 452,8 ppm de CO2 obtida em virtude da ventilação constante, o uso de geradores à gasolina, em locais próximos às salas de aula, elevou os níveis de monóxido de carbono no ar interno, que chegou ao máximo de 23 ppm em um dos ambientes. Becerra et al (2020), em seu trabalho efetuado em Sevilha, Espanha, relataram maiores níveis de particulados nas salas de aula de uma escola localizada próximo de grande avenida, apesar de terem ficado abaixo das diretrizes de qualidade.…”

Classroom Environment, Teacher, and Girl Students’ Learning Skills

“…Similarly, teachers' support is also reported for students' learning in Kenya by Wara et al (2018). Additionally, research studies from several countries show that classroom environment has significant positive effects on students' learning skills includes Ghana (Asomah et al, 2019), Tanzania (Halai et al, 2018), South Africa (Segalo & Rambuda, 2018), Nigeria (Toyinbo et al, 2019), Sri Lanka (Halloluwa et al, 2018), Brazil (Fernandes et al, 2019), Ethiopia, India, and Vietnam (Moore & Rossiter, 2018), and Nepal (Acharya et al, 2018).…”