Abstract
Schools are amongst the most densely occupied indoor areas and at the same time children and young adults are the most vulnerable group with respect to adverse health effects as a result of poor environmental conditions. Health, performance and well-being of pupils crucially depend on indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of which air quality and thermal comfort are central pillars. This makes the monitoring and control of environmental parameters in classes important. At the same time most school buildings do neither feature automated, intelligent heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems nor suitable IEQ monitoring systems. In this contribution, we therefore investigate the capabilities of a novel wireless gas sensor network to determine carbon dioxide concentrations, along with temperature and humidity. The use of a photoacoustic detector enables the construction of long-term stable, miniaturized, LED-based non-dispersive infrared absorption spectrometers without the use of a reference channel. The data of the sensor nodes is transmitted via a Z-Wave protocol to a central gateway, which in turn sends the data to a web-based platform for online analysis. The results show that it is difficult to maintain adequate IEQ levels in class rooms even when ventilating frequently and that individual monitoring and control of rooms is necessary to combine energy savings and good IEQ.
Highlights
The amount of time people spend indoors exceeds 90% of the total [1,2,3] and as a consequence indoor environment quality (IEQ) is a major concern for health and well-being of the general population.The concept of IEQ entails indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal comfort, as well as light and noise levels inside buildings [4]
Because of its outstanding importance for indoor air quality we demonstrate a gas sensor approach for CO2 employing a concept that may be adapted for further gases including NO2, carbon monoxide (CO), O3, and CO [33,34]
High building standards and good thermal insulation have led to considerable saving in energy expenditure of buildings
Summary
The concept of IEQ entails indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal comfort, as well as light and noise levels inside buildings [4] Because of their increased vulnerability children and young adults are prone to the adverse effects of poor IEQ and especially schools, which usually feature a high occupant density, are focal point of a multitude of challenges. These include the accumulation of hazardous gases and particulate matter (PM), health risks via mold formation as well as the spreading of bacteria [5]. Past research has established the negative health effects originating from exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ), ozone
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