Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Maria L. de la Hoz-Torres, Antonio J. Aguilar, Diego P. Ruiz, Maria Dolores Martinez-Aires
Summary: The study evaluated the impact of natural ventilation strategies on indoor air quality and acoustic environment. Results showed that specific ventilation strategies have a relevant impact on background noise in indoor spaces, with ventilation rates and background noise varying significantly between different configurations.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Kaiser Ahmed, Tero Hasu, Jarek Kurnitski
Summary: The study focused on improving building energy performance, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality in newly built Finnish daycare and school buildings. Monitoring of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), energy performance, investment, and life cycle cost (LCC) was conducted. The study found potential energy-saving measures while ensuring good thermal comfort and IAQ. Accurate energy prediction was emphasized for cost considerations.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Kaiser Ahmed, Tero Hasu, Jarek Kurnitski
Summary: The study focused on improving building energy performance in Finnish daycare and school buildings while maintaining good thermal comfort and indoor air quality. Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), energy performance, investment, and life cycle cost were monitored. Energy performance was evaluated through simulations, showing potential for energy savings while ensuring comfort and IAQ.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
S. Miao, M. Gangolells, B. Tejedor
Summary: Modeling indoor air quality and thermal conditions in naturally ventilated educational buildings is important for protecting students' health and well-being. This paper proposes a data-driven model that accurately predicts indoor air quality and thermal comfort levels using the random forest algorithm. The model incorporates key factors such as occupancy, windows and doors operation, and outdoor environmental parameters, while building characteristics have no practical contribution to the predictions.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2023)
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Nishant Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar, Tabish Alam, Anuj Kumar, Kishor S. Kulkarni, Paolo Blecich
Summary: Research on Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) in Indian school classrooms has been lacking organization and comprehensive methodology, hindering the assessment and improvement of IEQ parameters. Future research should focus on integrating current conditions with advancements in technology and addressing the impact of factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and Artificial Intelligence on IEQ in educational settings.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Antonio J. Aguilar, Maria Luisa de la Hoz-Torres, Nelson Costa, Pedro Arezes, Ma Dolores Martinez-Aires, Diego P. Ruiz
Summary: The quality of the classroom environment has a significant impact on the physical and mental health of students and teachers. This study highlights the potential negative effects of ventilation protocols on acoustic conditions in classrooms, as well as the importance of considering the synergy between indoor acoustic and air quality conditions to ensure optimal learning environments.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Mary Myla Andamon, Priyadarsini Rajagopalan, Jin Woo
Summary: This paper presents field measurements of CO2 concentration levels in classrooms in Victoria, Australia, showing insufficient ventilation and elevated CO2 levels. The study highlights the importance of improving classroom design, promoting proper ventilation practices, raising awareness of building ventilation in schools, and developing guidelines for ventilation and indoor air quality in schools.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Acoustics
Chiara Visentin, Simone Torresin, Matteo Pellegatti, Nicola Prodi
Summary: Soundscape research on indoor environments is becoming increasingly important for creating supportive and comfortable spaces. This pilot study focuses on the indoor soundscape of classrooms for primary school children and investigates both the actual soundscape and the children's ideal soundscape. The findings suggest that children are mostly exposed to unpleasant sounds in classrooms, with their preferred sounds being music and nature-related sounds. These findings have implications for designing positive and inclusive learning environments.
JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sami Lestinen, Simo Kilpelainen, Risto Kosonen, Maria Valkonen, Juha Jokisalo, Pertti Pasanen
Summary: The study compares pre-started, continuous, and intermittent ventilation methods in educational buildings, finding that night ventilation has negligible effects on microbial concentrations and that total volatile organic compound concentrations are maintained at similar levels at the beginning of occupied periods with all ventilation methods, reaching a minimum level after 2-hour ventilation._TOTAL volatile organic compound concentrations are higher during the day compared to night, indicating that space usage has a larger effect on them. Continuous night ventilation is not significantly affecting biological and chemical contaminants, suggesting that a 2-hour flushing period is sufficient for indoor air freshening before occupancy.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Norsafiah Norazman, Adi Irfan Che Ani, Wan Norisma Wan Ismail, Afifuddin Husairi Hussain, Khairul Nizam Abdul Maulud
Summary: The study aims to evaluate students' satisfaction and perception of classroom comfort level, along with recommendations to improve indoor environment quality. The adaptation of Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is recommended for continuous monitoring and management of indoor environmental aspects in school buildings.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2021)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Diana Rodriguez, Itziar R. Urbieta, Angel Velasco, Miguel Angel Campano-Laborda, Elena Jimenez
Summary: This study evaluated the ventilation conditions, COVID-19 risk, and indoor air quality (IAQ) in secondary school and university classrooms in Toledo, Spain. The results showed that university classrooms had better ventilation conditions and thermal comfort compared to secondary school classrooms. The IAQ was generally good in all classrooms, with outdoor sources of gaseous pollutants and heterogeneous sources of particulate matter. Controlled mechanical ventilation systems and wearing well-fitting masks were recommended to minimize the transmission risk of COVID-19 and other airborne infectious diseases.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Maria L. de la Hoz-torres, Antonio J. Aguilar, Nelson Costa, Pedro Arezes, Diego P. Ruiz, Ma Dolores Martinez-Aires
Summary: Providing suitable indoor thermal conditions is crucial for students' performance and well-being in educational buildings. A field survey was conducted to analyze and evaluate the clothing insulation of university students. A predictive clothing insulation model was developed using an artificial neural network algorithm, considering various factors such as indoor and outdoor temperatures, radiant temperature, gender, and season. The model showed good performance compared to the ASHRAE-55 Standard.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Zhou Yuhe, Yang Guangfei, Li Xianneng
Summary: Understanding the changes in PM2.5 concentrations is crucial for assessing and controlling air pollution in classrooms. This study investigated PM2.5 concentrations in a primary school in North China and utilized an intelligent data-driven symbolic regression method to model the relationships between various factors and PM2.5 concentrations. Results showed that outdoor PM2.5 concentrations can affect indoor concentrations through meteorological variations, and student behaviors can lead to rapid changes in indoor PM2.5 over a short timeframe.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Shamila Haddad, Afroditi Synnefa, Miguel Angel Padilla Marcos, Riccardo Paolini, Steven Delrue, Deo Prasad, Mattheos Santamouris
Summary: A field study was conducted in secondary school classrooms in Sydney, Australia, where the use of a cloud-connected demand-controlled mechanical extract ventilation system (DCV) significantly improved air quality and comfort. Students demonstrated adaptability to indoor temperature and CO2 concentration changes. Understanding indoor air quality and thermal environment is crucial for developing child-friendly design guidelines for schools.
ENERGY AND BUILDINGS
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Alberto Meiss, Hector Jimeno-Merino, Irene Poza-Casado, Alfredo Llorente-Alvarez, Miguel Angel Padilla-Marcos
Summary: This paper describes the implementation of various ventilation strategies in a nursery and primary school from September 2020, during the COVID pandemic, to reduce the risk of infection without significantly decreasing hygrothermal comfort. The results showed that certain strategies were effective in improving indoor air quality while maintaining comfortable conditions, suggesting their potential extension beyond the pandemic period.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Virpi Leivo, Mihkel Kiviste, Anu Aaltonen, Tadas Prasauskas, Dainius Martuzevicius, Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy
JOURNAL OF BUILDING PHYSICS
(2019)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Liuliu Du, Virpi Leivo, Tadas Prasauskas, Martin Taubel, Dainius Martuzevicius, Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jordan Peccia, Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy, Martin Taubel, Drew R. Gentner, Richard Shaughnessy
Summary: This commentary provides a research roadmap for utilizing chemical and molecular-biological technological advances to address dampness and mold in buildings, emphasizing the collaboration between industry practitioners and academic researchers. The main focus is on developing new tools to improve building diagnosis and clearance certification for mold inspectors and remediators. The workshop aims to encourage the transfer of scientific research into practical solutions for dampness and mold in indoor environments, targeting industry, field practitioners, and government agencies for collaboration in future research agendas.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Rachel I. Adams, Hanna Leppanen, Anne M. Karvonen, Jose Jacobs, Alicia Borras-Santos, Maria Valkonen, Esmeralda Krop, Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy, Kati Huttunen, Jan-Paul Zock, Anne Hyvarinen, Dick Heederik, Juha Pekkanen, Martin Taubel
Summary: In Finland, specific microbial indicators were positively associated with a respiratory symptom score, while in the Netherlands, the associations tended to be mostly inverse and statistically non-significant. In Finland, abundance of the Sphingomonas bacterial genus and endotoxin levels partially explained the associations between moisture damage and symptom score. Overall, the associations between damage-associated individual taxa and respiratory health were limited.
Editorial Material
Construction & Building Technology
Oluyemi Toyinbo, Linda Hagerhed, Sani Dimitroulopoulou, Marzenna Dudzinska, Steven Emmerich, David Hemming, Ju-Hyeong Park, Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Maria Gabriela Zapata-Lancaster, Miltiadis Ionas, Oluyemi Toyinbo, Thomas Aneurin Smith
Summary: This research conducted in two primary schools in South Wales monitors the temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide levels. It explores the actions taken by teachers and students to balance thermal comfort and reducing CO2 levels. The study also investigates the comfort perceptions of pupils and teachers in relation to classroom conditions. It offers insights into end-users' understanding of indoor environments and thermal experience in schools.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Pentti Kuurola, Tuomas Raunima, Joonas Ketko, Oluyemi Toyinbo, Juha Vinha, Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy
Summary: Ventilation in buildings is important for indoor air quality, health, and comfort. This study investigated the effects of shutting down mechanical ventilation at night on indoor air quality and health. The results showed that shutting down ventilation at night had no noticeable effects on perceived indoor air quality and health outcomes.
ENERGY AND BUILDINGS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sani Dimitroulopoulou, Marzenna R. Dudzinska, Lars Gunnarsen, Linda Hagerhed, Henna Maula, Raja Singh, Oluyemi Toyinbo, Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy
Summary: Buildings need good indoor air quality and thermal comfort, which are dependent on HVAC systems that may increase energy consumption. To achieve a balance between energy use, IAQ, and thermal comfort, scientifically sound limit values for indoor pollutants and indoor parameters such as ventilation, indoor temperature, and relative humidity need to be established and regulated. National regulations and international guidelines provide guidance on these parameters while considering energy saving.
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL
(2023)
Review
Construction & Building Technology
Oluyemi Toyinbo
Summary: This article reviews the impact of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) on schools, focusing on ventilation, thermal comfort, moisture and mold, and cleanliness. Adequate ventilation and thermal comfort are recommended to reduce the risk of communicable diseases, but natural ventilation may be limited in some regions.
Letter
Allergy
R. Shaughnessy, S. Khan, Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy
ANNALS OF ALLERGY ASTHMA & IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Esmaeil Zarghami, Milad Olfat, Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy, Dorsa Fatourehchi
HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY
(2020)