Window opening behavior and resultant thermal and air quality environment in elementary school classrooms

A study was performed in 6 elementary schools in Japan,and measurements were made on temperature in classrooms and corridors, outdoor temperature, CO2 concentration and closing or opening of windows and doors. As a result, it was found that when cooling or heating systems were not operated at room temperature of 20-30oC, there were relatively high variations in the opening and closing conditions of windows and doors, and it was supposed that the opening conditions were being positively adjusted to improve indoor thermal environment.Also, when outdoor temperature was 30oC or lower, indoor and outdoor temperature was within 80% tolerance limit of the adaptive model in most cases. There were the cases where CO2 concentration exceeded the level of 5000 ppm during lesson hours if windows were completely closed when cooling or heatingsystems were operated. The results of the study suggestthat excessive increase of indoor CO2 concentrationlevel may be avoided through suppression of the influence on indoor thermal environment by opening windows and doors on corridor side.