Evaluation of CO2 and TVOC concentration in a school in Palma during the month of June

Abstract

In the context of a warmer climate, one of the population sectors most affected are children. Therefore, it is important to consider the study of school buildings since children invest there about 30% of their time. In schools, human activities (CO2) are the main sources of pollution, along with the emissions of construction materials and cleaning products (TVOC). Additionally, reaching good indoor air quality should not be to the detriment of adequate thermal comfort. This work aims to make a comparison between different classrooms of a school in Palma (Mallorca, Spain) by assessing the values of relative humidity, temperature, TVOC and CO2 concentration during the month of June, the warmest month. This study aims to contribute to the field with the achieved outcomes. It is observed that CO2 increases until it exceeds the limit levels, established by current policies, up to 54% of the time during school time. TVOC concentration also exceeds the limit, up to 65% of the time. On the other hand, indoor temperature is above the comfort range between 75 and 100% of the time, being higher than the outdoor temperature. The relative humidity is mainly within comfortable values.