High performance schools: displacement ventilation an improvement?

Ventilation in schools is very important as it has a direct relation to health and performance of pupils.The status quo of school ventilation in the Netherlands is presented: lots of problems and insufficientsituations were found. Different aspects of the problems were studied to find new solutions.A new Integral Design approach was developed to design adequate solutions for ventilation of school buildings. The design procedure and a first design result are described: a displacement ventilation system for indoor climate control of schools.The design is implemented in an existing school and measurements were done in this school. In anexisting school building a new displacement ventilation system was installed in a classroom.Afterwards during several weeks all relevant parameters were measured to calculate the PMV values. In the same period users of this classroom had to fill in a questionnaire in which they ratedtemperature, stability of temperature and air speed.The measurements and calculations provide an insight in the effects of displacement ventilation on the climate itself and the individual perception of the thermal comfort. Bench marking of specificparameters concerning thermal comfort gives a clear picture of the performance of the concept.Displacement ventilation is good solution for classroom ventilation.