Evaluation of indoor environmental conditions in university classrooms

Abstract

Analysing learning environments is important because classrooms can affect students’ well-being and learning performance. In this paper, a field study was conducted based on a mixed method for a better understanding of indoor environmental conditions in six buildings of Balikesir University in Turkey. The perceptions of students were combined with measurements and surveys. The environmental parameters such as indoor and outdoor air temperature, indoor black globe temperature, indoor and outdoor relative humidity, indoor carbon dioxide concentration and air velocity were measured. A total of 1782 responses from students were also obtained. The recorded values of mean indoor air temperature, relative humidity, black globe temperature and air velocity were 23·4°C, 39·8%, 22·9°C and 0·09 m/s, respectively. Carbon dioxide concentrations usually exceeded the threshold of 1000 ppm. Over 55% of students said they found indoor conditions thermally acceptable in all classrooms during the field study. The mean neutral temperatures, as predicted by actual and predicted mean values, were 21·7 and 23·1°C. Indoor measured temperatures were mostly found to be higher than neutral temperatures. The findings can be used for the design and evaluation of indoor conditions and heating systems in university buildings.