schools

In 2011, the Danish Energy Agency initiated a study into ventilation solutions for the retrofit of schools to identify the most promising technologies. The reason was an increasing awareness that the ability of school children to absorb, adapt and use knowledge was affected negatively by inadequate ventilation rates. This paper presents an output of this study. A method for evaluation of the ventilation systems is proposed. The method consists of three categories with a clear separation to create a scoring board that facilitates transparent and unbiased evaluation.

EU energy policy encourages member states and public authorities to start converting building stock into nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) and adopting exemplary actions. ZEMedS project focuses on the issues related to the refurbishment of schools to nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) in France, Greece, Italy and Spain. Presently, there is a gap in national regulation of Mediterranean countries to embody the 2012/27 EED as far as renovation rates of public buildings are concerned.

The present study aims at investigating carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations inside elementary schools’ classrooms and how students’ productivity is affected. Measurements were conducted in 9 naturally ventilated schools of Attica from April to May 2013. Monitoring lasted for 7 hours per day, for a period of one to five days per school. CO2 concentrations were monitored simultaneously in the inside and the outside environment of the classrooms. Indoor concentrations of CO2 in almost all schools were higher than the ASHRAE threshold limit values.

There is little knowledge on if and how indoor environmental quality influences students’ attendance and productivity. However, this issue has been of growing interest the recent years in the scientific community and results are showing that student learning performance is significantly affected by indoor environmental quality factors. In the present study the learning performance is examined through numerical test scores achieved by primary school students in their classrooms.

The present study investigates the indoor thermal comfort perceived by students through a questionnaire survey conducted during spring 2013 in naturally ventilated primary schools in Athens. Thermal environment parameters such as air temperature, relative humidity, air velocity and mean radiant temperature were simultaneously measured. Then, Fanger’s indices of Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Percentage of People Dissatisfied (PPD) were calculated by using clothing and metabolic rates.

The exposure of children to indoor air pollutants in school classrooms might cause them adverse health effects. In order to confront this issue, the in-depth study and evaluation of the indoor air quality in classrooms is necessary. The aims of this study are to characterize the environmental factors that affect indoor air quality.

The present article deals with the energy classification and the environmental evaluation of the school buildings in Greece. The energy performance of the school buildings, in relation to the normalized annual consumption for heating regarding floor area and climatic conditions, was rated using clustering technique (K-means algorithm) and an energy classification tool developed. The audited school buildings were classified into five energy categories.

The concentration levels of particulate matter (PM), airborne fungi, carbon dioxide as well as temperature and relative humidity were investigated in the indoor and outdoor environment of two schools in Athens, Greece during the period January to May 2011. The overall concentration ranges of the indoor measured pollutants were: PM10: 14.92-166.18 μg/m3, PM2.5: 3.16-31.27 μg/m3, PM1: 0.72-9.01 μg/m3, UFP: 4188-63093 pt/cm3, total airborne fungi: 28-2098 CFU/m3 and CO2: 389-1717 ppm.

This study copes with the problem of ventilation in existing educational environments in terms of indoor air quality (AIQ), comfort and energy consumption. In accordance with international regulations, densely occupied environments such as school classrooms need high air change rates in order to provide sufficient fresh air. Nevertheless, in Italian schools, it is rare to see mechanical ventilation systems or natural systems that are mechanically controlled. This means that it is necessary for the users to control air changes by opening or closing the windows.

The provision of good IAQ in schools is important both for the health of students and in maximising educational achievement. It is, however, common for school classrooms to be significantly under-ventilated and this can lead to high levels of CO2 and other pollutants. Natural ventilation offers the potential to improve IAQ within schools whilst, at the same time reducing running and maintenance costs. Accordingly, this article examines a natural ventilation strategy based on the use of a roof mounted split-duct Windcatcher ventilator. Here, 16 U.K.