Indoor environmental quality and pupil perception in Italian primary schools

Abstract Working or studying in a comfortable environment enhances not only well being, but also satisfaction and therefore productivity and learning. This research collects some pictures of indoor environmental conditions taken in seven primary schools near Venice (Italy, North-East). Spot measurements were recorded in 28 non air-conditioned classrooms, in springtime, while 614 children (age 9–11) completed a questionnaire about the evaluation of indoor environmental conditions and the related psychological impact, their behaviour towards discomfort and if their level of interaction with the environment (opening a window, switching off a light etc.). Nonparametric statistical tests were carried out to find significant differences between schools and between girls and boys in the same school and to see if gender might influence perception. Moreover, physical measurements were compared to the answers given to the questionnaire to find a relationship between them. Finally, children's reactions towards discomfort were evaluated to understand if pupils behave like “passive users” as frequently occurs with adults. Monitoring revealed very high CO 2 concentration levels, which confirm insufficient air exchange by means of open windows, occasional insufficient lighting levels over the desks and, in general, nonuniform illuminance-distribution, probably due to improper solar shading use or even inappropriate shades. Pupils complained mostly about thermal conditions in warm seasons, poor indoor air quality and noise. Classroom conditions depended strongly on teachers' preferences; therefore a building management system would be advisable to provide good indoor environmental quality, which cannot be otherwise guaranteed.

[1]  P. Wargocki,et al.  Literature survey on how different factors influence human comfort in indoor environments , 2011 .

[2]  G. Heath,et al.  Do indoor pollutants and thermal conditions in schools influence student performance? A critical review of the literature. , 2005, Indoor air.

[3]  William A Suk,et al.  Environmental hazards to children's health in the modern world. , 2003, Mutation research.

[4]  Peter Boyce,et al.  Human Factors in Lighting , 2014 .

[5]  Luigi Salmaso,et al.  Permutation Tests for Stochastic Ordering and ANOVA: Theory and Applications with R , 2009 .

[6]  Derek Clements-Croome,et al.  Ventilation rates in schools , 2008 .

[7]  Ian Ridley,et al.  Winter indoor air quality, thermal comfort and acoustic performance of newly built secondary schools in England , 2009 .

[8]  Gail Brager,et al.  Developing an adaptive model of thermal comfort and preference , 1998 .

[9]  Wei Yang,et al.  Elementary school absenteeism and air pollution. , 2000, Inhalation toxicology.

[10]  Valeria De Giuli.  Modeling and experimental results in daylighting analysis to improve visual comfort and to reduce energy demand in buildings , 2010 .

[11]  L. Salmaso,et al.  Permutation tests for complex data : theory, applications and software , 2010 .

[12]  F. Pellerey,et al.  Subjective and objective assessment of acoustical and overall environmental quality in secondary school classrooms. , 2008, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[13]  Paulo Henrique Trombetta Zannin,et al.  Acoustic, thermal and luminous comfort in classrooms , 2004 .

[14]  R. Küller,et al.  Health and behavior of children in classrooms with and without windows , 1992 .

[15]  L. T. Wong,et al.  Student learning performance and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in air-conditioned university teaching rooms , 2012 .

[16]  Paulo Henrique Trombetta Zannin,et al.  Objective and subjective evaluation of the acoustic comfort in classrooms. , 2007, Applied ergonomics.

[17]  S. Murakami,et al.  Study on Productivity in the Classroom (Part 3) Nationwide Questionnaire Survey on the Effects of IEQ on Learning Performance , 2007 .

[18]  S. Karjalainen.  Gender differences in thermal comfort and use of thermostats in everyday thermal environments , 2007 .

[19]  N. Kochhar,et al.  Ventilation Rates in Schools and Learning Performance , 2007 .

[20]  E. Faustman,et al.  Mechanisms underlying Children's susceptibility to environmental toxicants. , 2000, Environmental health perspectives.

[21]  J. Veitch.  Psychological Processes Influencing Lighting Quality , 2001 .

[22]  A. Wilkins,et al.  Lighting and discomfort in the classroom , 2009 .

[23]  J. J. Higgins,et al.  A Study of Multivariate Permutation Tests Which May Replace Hotelling's T2 Test in Prescribed Circumstances. , 1994, Multivariate behavioral research.

[24]  Marco Filippi,et al.  Thermal comfort in Italian classrooms under free running conditions during mid seasons: Assessment through objective and subjective approaches , 2009 .

[25]  van Jemh Annelies Bronswijk,et al.  Indoor environment in Dutch primary schools and health of the pupils , 2005 .

[26]  Luigi Salmaso,et al.  A review and some new results on permutation testing for multivariate problems , 2012, Stat. Comput..

[27]  M. A. Humphreys,et al.  A study of the thermal comfort of primary school children in summer , 1977 .

[28]  Nyuk Hien Wong,et al.  Thermal comfort in classrooms in the tropics , 2003 .

[29]  Jan Hensen,et al.  Adaptive thermal comfort in primary school classrooms:creating and validating PMV based comfort charts , 2011 .

[30]  Marco Filippi,et al.  Perception of the thermal environment in high school and university classrooms: Subjective preferences and thermal comfort , 2007 .

[31]  M G Apte,et al.  Indoor air quality, ventilation and health symptoms in schools: an analysis of existing information. , 2003, Indoor air.

[32]  Francesca Romana D'Ambrosio,et al.  Indoor Environment and Energy efficiency in Schools. Part 1 Principles. Rehva Guidebook n. 13. (F.R. d'Ambrosio editor) , 2010 .

[33]  Derek Clements-Croome,et al.  Ventilation rates in schools and pupils' performance , 2012 .