Room-level ventilation in schools and universities

Ventilation is of primary concern for maintaining healthy indoor air quality and reducing the spread of airborne infectious disease, including COVID-19. In addition to building-level guidelines, increased attention is being placed on room-level ventilation. However, for many universities and schools, ventilation data on a room-by-room basis are not available for classrooms and other key spaces. We present an overview of approaches for measuring ventilation along with their advantages and disadvantages. We also present data from recent case studies for a variety of institutions across the United States, with various building ages, types, locations, and climates, highlighting their commonalities and differences, and examples of the use of this data to support de-cision making.

Automated summary

Ventilation is crucial for maintaining healthy indoor air quality and reducing the spread of infectious diseases. However, many universities and schools lack room-level ventilation data for classrooms and other key spaces. This article provides an overview of approaches for measuring ventilation, along with their advantages and disadvantages. It also presents data from case studies across various institutions in the United States, highlighting their similarities and differences, and examples of using this data for decision making.