Indoor environmental quality of classrooms and occupants' comfort in a special education school in Slovak Republic

Abstract

The indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of five classrooms in a school special for students diagnosed with learning challenges and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, located in Kosice, Slovak Republic was investigated. Objective measurements of environmental factors were performed in the selected classrooms, including: Temperature, relative humidity, particulate matters (PM) and carbon dioxide concentrations, sound level, and lighting conditions. Subjective evaluations were also carried out through completing survey questionnaires by a total of 34 students and five pedagogical staff in the school. The goal was to determine the influence of IEQ on occupants' comfort and performance. Thermal comfort of occupants was assessed using predicted mean vote–percentage of people dissatisfied (PMV–PPD) model. The major issues in the classrooms were found as extremely large PM10 concentrations for large particles, low level of illuminance (visual discomfort), relatively large CO2 concentration, and high noise (acoustic discomfort). Prevalence of some sick building syndrome symptoms among students and staff were observed. Substantial correlations and differences were found between PMV and thermal sensation votes (TSV) methods results and between PPD and actual percentage of dissatisfied indices (APD). While students were not feeling thermally comfortable in the classrooms, the most concerns of occupants were about the acoustic discomfort. The results confirmed the close relationships between IEQ and performance of the school building occupants.