Critical analysis of monitoring indoor air quality in education centres

Abstract

Indoor Air Quality perception in education centres has being a special concern based on their high occupancy and lack of ventilation. This study aims to present an overview of 20 relevant previous studies carried out in the last 5 years regarding monitoring and evaluating Indoor Air Quality in education centres. This analysis focuses on four specific aspects: general description of each study, ventilation typology, indicators measured and the number of locations measured. The results show that 60 % of the studies were located in an urban context, 75 % included primary schools and 75 % included naturally ventilated buildings. Indoor and outdoor was measured in 60 % of the studies. The most measured indicators were CO2 (60 %), PM2.5 (55 %), Temperature (50 %) and Relative Humidity (40 %) all indoor. In 60 % of studies were carried in more than five centres, mostly two rooms were measured and 35 % of studies placed one sensor per room. This can be a major limitation, as the monitored data may differ significantly from the actual situation. In conclusion, the greater correlations found relating to what indicators have been measured, were the ventilation typology and the location of the building, which influences what parameters and concentration can be expected.