A study of carbon dioxide concentrations in elementary schools

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. In order to examine the effect of CO2 concentrations on students’ productivity, they were asked to take two productivity tests during their stay at school. Results showed that, higher concentrations of CO2 have a negative impact on students’ productivity. Also, the effect of window opening on CO2 concentration was further examined and there has been an effort to correlate indoor and outdoor CO2 concentrations. Finally, the correlation between the occupancy density and the increase of CO2 concentrations was also investigated.