Abstract
The influence of a classroom’s indoor environment on children’s health, performance and comfort is a concern that receives increasing attention. Many schools experience problems with inadequate indoor air quality and climate. Investigations of the indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools have been often non-systematic, which can lead to costly ad-hoc remediation actions. It is therefore important to develop a holistic approach to the assessment of IAQ in schools.This paper presents a field study on the indoor air quality and thermal environment conditions of elementary schools in Gothenburg, Sweden. The focus of the paper is on the methodology to investigate the IAQ using both objective measurements and subjective assessment of the perceived IAQ. The indoor environmental measurements include indoor air quality and thermal comfort parameters for which guideline values exist. Finally, a questionnaire was developed to evaluate the perception of the classroom’s thermal environment and air quality by young children.The paper presents the study protocol and diagnostics approach for IAQ in classrooms. Examples of results from the first 10 investigated classrooms are presented.
Highlights
Good indoor environment is of major importance for human health, comfort and cognitive performance, including learning
The indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools is of particular importance because: a) children are more sensitive to environmental exposure than adults, due to their immature, growing and developing bodies [1], b) children spend a substantial part of their day at school; c) poor IAQ poses a risk for exacerbation of health issues, increased absenteeism and decreased learning performance among the pupils, as well as for adverse health effects among staff/teachers
The paper presents the methodology which has been developed within the project “Ways to Improving Indoor Environmental Quality in Swedish Schools” for evaluating the indoor air quality and thermal environment in schools in a holistic way
Summary
Good indoor environment is of major importance for human health, comfort and cognitive performance, including learning. It is of importance to develop comprehensive methods for the evaluation of the indoor air quality and thermal environment in schools. We certainly need to gather and interpret information about factors impacting the indoor environmental quality in schools and to provide simple and economical means, based on sound scientific evidence, to counteract poor indoor air quality and thermal environment. In this manner, we believe that this project contributes to UN SDG 3: Good health and well-being, and UN SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities. The methodology and approach applied in this project can be used as a basis in other indoor environments on a global scale
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