The document discusses the importance of indoor air quality (IAQ) in school buildings and the negative impact that poor IAQ can have on student and teacher health, attendance, and educational performance. It reviews literature showing how air pollutants from materials and activities in schools can impair cognitive function. The paper also examines examples of sustainable school designs that effectively control IAQ through strategies like high ventilation rates, low-emission materials, and passive ventilation systems.

1. The Sustainable School
Effective and Energy Efficient Ventilation in the Classroom, and the Questions of
Educational Performance and Wellbeing
Dr. Andrea Wheeler, Assistant Professor, Iowa State University, Department of Architecture. andrea1@iastate.edu
Introduction
Temperature and air quality are, in a large proportion of classrooms, so
poor as to have a negative effect on children’s health and educational
performance. Evidence, in support of mechanical systems that control
air quality, contradicts trends towards natural ventilation proposed in
order to conserve energy consumption. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is
generally not stressed, or indeed challenged, in the program to design
sustainable schools, but questions of air quality, children’s wellbeing in
school and educational performance, if ill considered, raise critical issues
about the drive to reduce energy consumption in schools.
Methodology
This research critically examines literature on the subject of
contemporary air pollution, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and its effects on
children’s health, wellbeing, and educational performance. The research
provides the first stage in a project which will examine the IAQ in
contemporary high-performing, energy-efficient schools built within the
last five years in the US.
FIGURE 1: POSSIBLE SOURCES OF INDOOR AIR POLLUTANTS
Responding to the increased problem of air pollution, at crisis point in
cities such as Shanghai and Paris; the Parisian philosopher Luce Irigaray
has argued for air pollution to be considered a crime against
humanity.[1] Last year, the international press commented on a building
trend in China to provide school children with covered air conditioned
play areas in response to concern over air quality in cities. One private
school, the International School of Beijing installing a $5,000,000
domed structure over the playground.[2] In Chinese cities, the media
broadcasts air quality reports warning residents on days where levels of
pollutants in the air pose a risk to the health. But outdoor air pollution is
not the only source of abuse being caused to human respiratory
systems. More than half of the body’s intake is inhaled indoors and
many illnesses related to environmental exposure to pollutants are
related to Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). [3] Levin writes that IAQ concerns
have suffered due to a lack of a comprehensive assessment
methodology: many guidance or rating systems fail as sustainable
design requires a system for the evaluation of building performance to
address trade-offs between human and non-human health and
wellbeing. [4] Persily similarly argues that whilst some discussions of
energy efficient buildings include the need for non-energy performance
attributes such as IAQ, most discussions tend to focus on energy
performance and reliance on minimal standards is not sufficient.
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) refers to the air quality in and around buildings
as it relates to the health and comfort of building users. IAQ can be
affected by CO, Radon (Rn), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), PM10
and PM2.5, and microbial contaminants (such as mold and bacteria)
CO2 and even asbestos fibres. CO can derive from space heaters and
defective central heating boilers or furnaces, and particulates, especially
the most dangerous PM2.5, can be found arising from tobacco smoke.
VOCs are gases which are known to have short and long term adverse
health effects. Examples of materials that give off such compounds
include: paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies,
pesticides, carpets, furnishings and building and construction materials.
CO2 is an indoor pollutant (for the purposes of IAQ) exhaled by
humans, correlating with human metabolic activity. CO2 is an air
pollutant where at unusually high levels it may cause occupants to grow
drowsy, to get headaches, and to function at lower mental activity
levels. Numerous studies have determined the effect of IAQ on health,
and it is not difficult to project that absence days caused by illness will
impact upon educational performance. [5] What is significant is
evidence also of the effect of pollutants on cognitive performance, in
addition to health. [6]
Why is IAQ important in schools?
• Children and teachers spend 8 or more hours per day inside school
buildings
• Everyday materials, finishes, and equipment in school buildings emit
air borne pollutants contributing to poor IAQ (Figure 1)
• Poor IAQ causes health problems and can result in more teacher sick
days and student absenteeism
• Good IAQ leads to an increase in student performance (Figures 2, 3)
• Children are more vulnerable to airborne pollutants than adults due
to their developing lungs and higher respiration rate
• Environmental exposure to high levels of pollution can have long-term
consequences for children (Figure 4)
• Teachers and children are often unable to perceive poor IAQ.
• Children are especially unable to communicate concerns related to
IAQ and pollutant levels.
• “Sustainable” schools often face logistical issues in their operation in
order to control IAQ.
• Sustainable schools often fail to consider the broad range of factors
contributing to IAQ problems.
Examples of sustainable schools with an emphasis
on IAQ
Project Frog: El Sol Science and Arts Academy
(Case Study 1)
• All buildings have high fresh air ventilation rates and all interior
materials have low or no VOC emissions
• Utilize sophisticated software to analyze stack effect and cross
ventilation in the buildings
• Software accounts for building’s local climate, thermal and spatial
properties, wind speed, temperature, pressure, and airflow through
all openings
• Exterior walls have a rain screen system to minimize areas that hold
moisture and mold
• No recirculation of stale indoor air
BOORA Architects: Clackamas High School (Case Study 2)
• Uses outside air to ventilate the building, carefully situated to take
advantage of wind patterns
• Long-lasting, low or no emission, low maintenance materials
• Air vents underneath windows provide enough fresh air to
thoroughly ventilate the school and replace a traditional heating
and air-conditioning system
Conclusion
Designing sustainable schools cannot only address energy
conservation, but value concerns about health and wellbeing.
Pollutants cause illness, absenteeism, and decreased performance.
IAQ cannot be neglected in the design of new sustainable schools.
Project Frog
BOORA Architects:
[1] Irigaray, L., and Marder M. (2014, March 17). Without clean air, we have nothing. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/17/clean-air-paris-pollutioncrime-against-humanity;
[2] Stamp, J. (2013, February 26). How to Survive China’s Pollution Problem – Masks and Bubbles The Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-tosurvive-chinas-
pollution-problem-masks-and-bubbles-27725540/?no-ist ; Doane, S. (2013, 17th July). Beijing pollution forces students to play under dome, CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/beijing-pollution-
forces-students-to-play-under-dome/; [3] Sundell, J. (2004). On the history of indoor air quality and health. Indoor Air, 14(7), 51-58; [4] Levin, H. (2005). Integrating indoor air and design for sustainability.
Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Beijing, China [5] Anderson, H.R., et al. (1983) Morbidity and school absence caused by asthma and
wheezing illness. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 58(10), 777-784; Hill, R.A., et al (1989) Asthma, wheezing and school absence in primary schools. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 64(2), 246-251
[6] Mendell, M. J., & Heath, G. A. (2005). Do indoor pollutants and thermal conditions in schools influence student performance? A critical review of the literature. Indoor Air, 15(1), 27-52; Wargocki, P., & Wyon, D. P.
(2007). The effects of moderately raised classroom temperatures and classroom ventilation rate on the performance of schoolwork by children (RP-1257). HVAC&R Research, 13(2), 193-220;
Organized by: Promoted by: With the participation of: