Investigation of Microclimate Parameter Assurance in Schools with Natural Ventilation Systems
Slow population growth has limited the construction of new schools, leading to the renovation of existing buildings to achieve energy efficiency goals. While improvements are made to thermal insulation, heating and ventilation systems often remain outdated, presenting challenges in maintaining indoo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Buildings |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/7/1807 |
| _version_ | 1797589996073385984 |
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| author | Tomas Makaveckas Raimondas Bliūdžius Sigita Alavočienė Valdas Paukštys Ingrida Brazionienė |
| author_facet | Tomas Makaveckas Raimondas Bliūdžius Sigita Alavočienė Valdas Paukštys Ingrida Brazionienė |
| author_sort | Tomas Makaveckas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Slow population growth has limited the construction of new schools, leading to the renovation of existing buildings to achieve energy efficiency goals. While improvements are made to thermal insulation, heating and ventilation systems often remain outdated, presenting challenges in maintaining indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools, where children spend a significant amount of time in densely populated classrooms, and whose health is more affected by IAQ than that of adults. Therefore, this study assessed the possibilities to achieve IAQ requirements in schools ventilated by opening the windows by monitoring the carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) concentration, temperature, and relative humidity (RH) fluctuation. The results of the study have shown that it is not feasible to achieve the defined IAQ parameters in classrooms through window opening alone. The measured CO<sub>2</sub> concentration during lessons in many cases exceeded the limit value of 1000 ppm and did not decrease to ambient levels when the windows were opened during the break. Additionally, the internal air temperature dropped below the normative when lessons started, and RH was significantly below the recommended minimum value on all days. It was also found that the use of thermal energy decreases evenly because of inefficient air change leaving no direct economic leverage for the installation of efficient ventilation systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:14:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e8d11dac1bfa472799f66a9e5d473597 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-5309 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:14:06Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj.art-e8d11dac1bfa472799f66a9e5d4735972023-11-18T18:39:14ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092023-07-01137180710.3390/buildings13071807Investigation of Microclimate Parameter Assurance in Schools with Natural Ventilation SystemsTomas Makaveckas0Raimondas Bliūdžius1Sigita Alavočienė2Valdas Paukštys3Ingrida Brazionienė4Alytus College, Studentu St. 17, LT-62252 Alytus, LithuaniaInstitute of Architecture and Construction, Kaunas University of Technology, Tunelio 60, LT-44405 Kaunas, LithuaniaAlytus College, Studentu St. 17, LT-62252 Alytus, LithuaniaInstitute of Architecture and Construction, Kaunas University of Technology, Tunelio 60, LT-44405 Kaunas, LithuaniaAlytus College, Studentu St. 17, LT-62252 Alytus, LithuaniaSlow population growth has limited the construction of new schools, leading to the renovation of existing buildings to achieve energy efficiency goals. While improvements are made to thermal insulation, heating and ventilation systems often remain outdated, presenting challenges in maintaining indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools, where children spend a significant amount of time in densely populated classrooms, and whose health is more affected by IAQ than that of adults. Therefore, this study assessed the possibilities to achieve IAQ requirements in schools ventilated by opening the windows by monitoring the carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) concentration, temperature, and relative humidity (RH) fluctuation. The results of the study have shown that it is not feasible to achieve the defined IAQ parameters in classrooms through window opening alone. The measured CO<sub>2</sub> concentration during lessons in many cases exceeded the limit value of 1000 ppm and did not decrease to ambient levels when the windows were opened during the break. Additionally, the internal air temperature dropped below the normative when lessons started, and RH was significantly below the recommended minimum value on all days. It was also found that the use of thermal energy decreases evenly because of inefficient air change leaving no direct economic leverage for the installation of efficient ventilation systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/7/1807indoor air qualityindoor air exchangeschool ventilationCO<sub>2</sub> monitoringtemperature/humidity fluctuations |
| spellingShingle | Tomas Makaveckas Raimondas Bliūdžius Sigita Alavočienė Valdas Paukštys Ingrida Brazionienė Investigation of Microclimate Parameter Assurance in Schools with Natural Ventilation Systems Buildings indoor air quality indoor air exchange school ventilation CO<sub>2</sub> monitoring temperature/humidity fluctuations |
| title | Investigation of Microclimate Parameter Assurance in Schools with Natural Ventilation Systems |
| title_full | Investigation of Microclimate Parameter Assurance in Schools with Natural Ventilation Systems |
| title_fullStr | Investigation of Microclimate Parameter Assurance in Schools with Natural Ventilation Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigation of Microclimate Parameter Assurance in Schools with Natural Ventilation Systems |
| title_short | Investigation of Microclimate Parameter Assurance in Schools with Natural Ventilation Systems |
| title_sort | investigation of microclimate parameter assurance in schools with natural ventilation systems |
| topic | indoor air quality indoor air exchange school ventilation CO<sub>2</sub> monitoring temperature/humidity fluctuations |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/7/1807 |
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