September 26, 2003—Upper respiratory tract infections account for most short-term absenteeism in schools, while allergy, asthma and symptoms of sick building syndrome contribute to longer absences, reports ASHRAE.
Appropriate classroom design and operation can reduce symptom severity and incidence of complaints among children, according to published data. Research to determine whether indoor air quality conditions in classrooms are negatively impacting children’s health and their performance in school is being conducted by ASHRAE.
ASHRAE approved funding totaling $986,953 for eight research projects in the areas of indoor air quality, comfort and health, energy conservation, operating and maintenance tools, environmentally safe materials and design tools at its 2003 Annual Meeting held June 28-July 2.
Among them is 1257-TRP, “Indoor Environmental Effects on the Performance of School Work by Children.” The project is expected to take two years with ASHRAE contributing $195,000. It is sponsored by ASHRAE Technical Committee 2.1, Physiology and Human Environment.
It also has been found that temperatures in classrooms impact the performance of children.
“The current concern is that outside air ventilation rates per person are known to be low in classrooms, mainly due to an overemphasis on reducing installation and operation costs,” Wyon said. “The resulting low air quality may be negatively affecting school performance.”
The research will be carried out in occupied classrooms during school hours. Each experiment will simulate the environmental impact of a classroom HVAC upgrade by producing one or more of the following effects on the indoor environmental quality: reduced indoor air temperature and humidity in warm weather; better control of indoor air temperature; increased outdoor air supply rate leading to reduced levels of airborne pollutants; improved supply air quality; and fewer respirable particles.
