Design and Indoor Air Quality in Kindergartens in Italy

The serious social and health crisis faced as a result of the spread of SARS-Cov 2 has highlighted the weaknesses of human beings but has mainly highlighted the inadequate static response of existing buildings; all those confined spaces characterised by the simultaneous presence of a large number of people, such as classrooms, have shown, over the past two years, how unhealthy are because of the high possibility of contraction of the virus inside them. The following investigation project aims at improving the air quality within the educational spaces by applying strategic solutions of natural ventilation in order to reduce the possible propagation of an airway transmissible virus. To this end, through a defined working methodology, a real monitoring and a data collection campaign has been conducted within two children’s institutes located in the province of L'Aquila (Abruzzo, Italy), as a result of which it has been possible to conclude that the optimal values of CO2 concentration within the classrooms under study have been disregarded for almost all of the time. Moreover, natural ventilation alone is not a valid strategic solution to improve air quality inside the classroom and the consequent reduction of the risk of transmission of Covid-19.