Evaluating Indoor Environmental Quality of Public School Buildings in Jordan

Abstract

This paper aimed to investigate the indoor environments of schools in Jordan. It considers the availability of public safety conditions and conformity of school's environmental conditions to standards, and also aimed to obtain baseline data about environments in schools that could help decision makers in their efforts to improve the school environment. Indoor environmental quality is an integral part of the entire building performance that encompasses several environmental parameters such as air quality, air temperature, relative humidity, and acoustics. Creation of a successful indoor environment is dependent on an understanding of the environmental factors that include building design and setting. A cross multiple design strategy was adopted that included objective measurements (building physical measurements, monitoring, and archival data) and subjective measurements that included (questionnaires, interviews, and student's medical records). Seventeen schools were selected based on a multi-stage systematic sampling strategy. The sample size was sufficient to be representative of the entire school building stock in the country. The school-building design was adapted to the prototype systems that were duplicated in different locations in Jordan. The findings indicated that there were significant differences among building prototypes and across the locations of the schools. Site selection and planning were found to play a significant role in improving indoor environment quality. Building design should take the environmental factors into consideration from the early stages of design and construction. Overall these strategies depend on adapting passive design techniques that can improve energy efficiency and enhance occupant comfort and satisfaction.