Abstract
A report released by the WHO indicates that aerosols from infected people are one of the major sources of the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, as the COVID-19 infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads, it has become necessary to reconsider the design and operation of buildings. Inside school buildings in cold regions, not only is it not easy to increase ventilation during the winter, but it may also be difficult for students to attend classes while wearing masks during the summer because such buildings are not equipped with air-conditioning systems. In short, school buildings in cold climates have more problems than those in warm climates. We report on the results of indoor environmental measurement using our developed CO2-concentration meters, a questionnaire survey on students’ feeling of being hot or cold (i.e., ‘thermal sensation’), and a comparison of energy consumption before and after the spread of COVID-19 infection in schools in Sapporo, Japan, a cold-climate area. The results indicate that (1) more than 70% of the students participated in window ventilation by the CO2 meter, and (2) a relatively good indoor environment was maintained through the efforts of teachers and students. However, we also found that (1) 90% of the students felt hot in summer and (2) 40% felt cold in winter, (3) energy efficiency worsened by 7% due to increased ventilation, and (4) air quality was not as clean as desired during the coldest months of the year. Therefore, investment in insulation and air conditioning systems for school buildings is needed.
Highlights
The spread of COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has had a major impact on building operations
We report on the results of indoor environment measurements with our developed CO2 -concentration meters, a questionnaire survey on students’ thermal sensation, and a comparison of energy consumption before and after the spread of the virus
We reported how school buildings operated before and after an outbreak of COVID-19 in Sapporo, a city with a severely cold climate, and how these operations affected the indoor environment and energy consumption
Summary
The spread of COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has had a major impact on building operations. In cold-climate regions with severely cold winters, increasing the ventilation rate by opening windows in winter increases the heating load for ventilation It deteriorates the indoor climate since outdoor air directly enters the building, which can be more than 20 ◦ C colder. Teachers and students have been forced to open and close windows of the school to maintain a sufficient amount of the indoor environment The defects in such buildings, such as inadequate insulation and a ventilation system with a heat exchanger, have been neglected. Stabile et al installed a ventilation system with heat exchange in the naturally ventilated school They evaluated CO2 , VOCs, and Particle Matter (PM) to see the effect of improving indoor air quality [15]. We report on the results of indoor environment measurements with our developed CO2 -concentration meters, a questionnaire survey on students’ thermal sensation, and a comparison of energy consumption before and after the spread of the virus
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