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Abstract In France, the total heated surface area of educational buildings represents 19.5% of non-residential buildings, with an average total final energy consumption of 142 kWh/m2/y. Of this, the energy usage for heating is 97 kWh/m2/y. To save energy, building energy assessment seeks a trade-off between energy savings and the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of the buildings. A long-term post-occupancy study was conducted on a two-story educational building with a total floor area of 3200 m2 located in Troyes, France. The Building Management System (BMS) programme was used to analyse the energy consumption for a period of three years from January 2015 to December 2017. Although the building complies with High Environmental Quality (HQE®) standards, the post-occupancy energy demand exceeded the predicted consumption levels owing to the auxiliary equipment. Furthermore, the indoor air quality (IAQ) was assessed by monitoring and analysing CO 2 levels, which were satisfactory for 95% of occupancy period. Moreover, further investigations were performed in the building's foyer, area where indoor thermal comfort was assessed experimentally and numerically. Subjective evaluation was also conducted according to survey questionnaires completed by 41 students between the ages of 17 and 22. The results indicate that increasing the indoor temperature by 1 °C can improve the indoor thermal sensation but led to increased energy consumption of about 12%. Highlights • A long-term post-occupancy study was conducted on a two-story educational building during three years. • The analysed data, from the Building Management System (BMS), was analysed. • Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) was assessed by monitoring and analyzing CO 2 levels. • Subjective evaluations were carried out through completing survey questionnaires by a total of 41 students. • A developed numerical model was validated by the in-situ measurements and the survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Last 2016, Typhoon Nina with the international name NOCK-TEN made landfall over Lubang Island. Damage to both infrastructure and agriculture reached ₱6.2 billion as reported by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). Among the infrastructure, an estimated damage of ₱1.1 billion was attributed to the education sector. Damage to non-structural components such as furniture, learning materials, and computer units were estimated to reach at least ₱34.8 million. Aside from functioning as educational facilities, school buildings also serve as evacuation shelters for post disaster recovery operations. Hence strengthening of these structures are of high importance. The Department of Education Bicol Region reported that around 625 schools were totally damaged, 1,082 schools were partially damaged and needed major repairs, and 988 schools needed minor repairs. Most of the damage were observed at the roof coverings, roof frames, wall openings and the walls. Hence these comprise the building components where the damage will be quantified. Field surveys were conducted through region IV and V of the southern part of Luzon, Philippines. From the field survey, damage of every building component are quantified as the percentage of damaged elements to the total number of units of the corresponding building component comprising one building. Each percent damage to building component is converted to an equivalent ratio of the repair cost to the total building construction cost, defined as the damage ratio. Each damage ratio is plotted against the corresponding maximum local wind speed, forming the empirical vulnerability curves. The wind speed data was retrieved from an open source wind speed data map provided by Professor Mark Saunders from the University College of London. Vulnerability curves were curve-fitted using a cumulative lognormal distribution for wind speeds ranging from 96 – 242kph (26 – 68mps). Results can then be used by the local government in the prioritization of retrofits and the cost-benefit analysis of repairs for different school building designs. The results can also serve as validation for computational vulnerability curves and as a basis for developing a damage prediction tool for school buildings. Applications such as these can be incorporated into pre-disaster mitigation strategies for typhoon prone areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to determine whether the environmental attitudes and behaviors of children attending primary schools designed or adapted for sustainability are different from those of children attending conventional schools. An NEP (Children@school) scale was developed to measure children's environmental attitudes and a GEB (Children@school) scale was developed to measure children's environmental behaviors. Data collected from children aged between 10 and 12 years were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The findings indicate that children attending primary schools designed to engage them with sustainable design had significantly more pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. Thus, it is suggested that pedagogies for environmental education should be developed that require children to directly engage when learning with sustainable design features such as solar panels, the use of recycled water, natural daylighting, gardens and outdoor classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the investigation of a living wall system inside a classroom. Humidity, temperature and the CO 2 -concentration were measured in two classrooms with the same volume. One of the classrooms is equipped with a living wall system. Air temperature and relative air humidity were investigated for 10 months including summer and winter months. In winter the increased relative air humidity of the greened classroom improved the comfort level. In summer mould spores were also investigated in the classrooms and outdoor. Spores from Cladosporium , Penicillium , Aspergillus versicolor , Alternaria and other were found, but the concentration of the mould spores in the greened classroom was below the mould spores concentration in the not greened classroom or outside. The volume of the mass of the plants is about 1 % of the classrooḿs volume. But still a small CO 2 -reduction because of the plants was measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the air quality in primary school placed in district of Taranto (south of Italy), an area of high environmental risk because of closeness between large industrial complex and urban settlement. The chemical characterization of PM2.5 was performed to identify origin of pollutants detected inside school and the comparison between indoor and outdoor levels of PAHs and metals allowed evaluating intrusion of outdoor pollutants or the existence of specific indoor sources. The results showed that the indoor and outdoor levels of PM2.5, BaP, Cd, Ni, As, and Pb never exceeded the target values issued by World Health Organization (WHO). Nevertheless, high metals and PAHs concentrations were detected especially when school were downwind to the steel plant. The I/O ratio showed the impact of outdoor pollutants, especially of industrial markers as Fe, Mn, Zn, and Pb, on indoor air quality. This result was confirmed by values of diagnostic ratio as B(a)P/B(g)P, IP/(IP + BgP), BaP/Chry, and BaP/(BaP + Chry), which showed range characteristics of coke and coal combustion. However, Ni and As showed I/O ratio of 2.5 and 1.4, respectively, suggesting the presence of indoor sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A ground-source heat pump system in combination with different low temperature heating systems was installed in a new school building in Belgium. During the first two years of operation, measurement data indicated that the difference between heating and cooling load could affect the long term thermal stability of the ground storage and thus may result in poor energy efficiency of the GSHP system. This paper describes two low-cost measures that can be taken in order to reduce or prevent such unfavourable conditions. The school building and HVAC system were modeled and on-site measurement data was used for validation. First, the HVAC system was optimized by integrating an additional cooling coil in the exhaust airflow of the air handling unit in order to recuperate waste heat from the exhaust ventilation air. Additionally, the effect of passive cooling during summer holidays on the annual energy balance was investigated. Results indicated that heat recuperation of the exhaust ventilation air and passive cooling of the school building during weekends and summer holidays are complementary and contribute to a more stable ground temperature, consequently significant energy savings can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moisture-damaged indoor environments are thought to increase the toxicity of indoor air particulate matter (PM), indicating that a toxicological assay could be used as a method for recognizing buildings with indoor air problems. We aimed to test if our approach of analyzing the toxicity of actively collected indoor air PMin vitrodifferentiates moisture-damaged from non-damaged school buildings. We collected active air samples with NIOSH Bioaerosol Cyclone Samplers from moisture-damaged (index) and non-damaged (reference) school buildings (4 + 4). The teachers and pupils of the schools were administered a symptom questionnaire. Five samples of two size fractions [Stage 1 (>1.9 μm) and Stage 2 (1–1.9 μm)] were collected from each school. Mouse RAW264.7 macrophages were exposed to the collected PM for 24 h and subsequently analyzed for changes in cell metabolic activity, production of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6. The teachers working in the moisture-damaged schools reported respiratory symptoms such as cough (p = 0.01) and shortness of breath (p = 0.01) more often than teachers from reference schools. Toxicity of the PM sample as such did not differentiate index from reference building,s but the toxicity adjusted for the amount of the particles tended to be higher in moisture-damaged schools. Further development of the method will require identification of other confounding factors in addition to the necessity to adjust for differences in particle counts between samples. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study presents the results of a thorough investigation of a cool-roof application on a public school building (pilot building) located in Athens, Greece. An impact assessment was conducted by means of both energy monitoring and numerical analysis of whole-building's thermal behavior. A twin nearby school building (reference building) was used for comparison purposes. The measuring process in both buildings included the recording of thermal performance indicators (TPIs), i.e. roof internal and external surface temperature, indoor air temperature and relative humidity. The ambient air temperature and incident solar irradiance were also recorded at the roof of the reference building. The duration of the monitoring period was approx. one month, two weeks before and two weeks after the application of the cool roof material. TPIs’ differences before and after the application were based on comparisons to the reference building recordings to ensure the same outdoor climatic conditions. The impact of the cool roof in the building's energy performance was based on hourly dynamic energy simulations (in annual basis). The model developed uses as input conditions: a modified weather file based on the onsite weather measurements, the thermo-physical properties of the building materials taken from the available insulation study, and the optical properties measured from surface samples. Inspection surveys’ with interviews, which provided building's systems operation and occupancy schedules, were also used as input schedule files. The model was validated with comparisons of calculated and measured indoor air temperatures. The results showed that, ten days after the application, the reduction of the daily mean indoor air temperature below the cool roof ranged in 1.3-2.3 0 C and 1.6-1.9 0 C as provided by measurements and simulations, respectively. In terms of annual energy consumption, a reduction of up to 30% in cooling demand was estimated in summer, while the heatingpenalty for winter period reached 12%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses cost-efficient energy performance renovation measures for typical educational buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s in cold climate regions. The study analyzes the impact of different energy renovation measures on the energy efficiency and economic viability in a Finnish case study educational building located in Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) campus area. The main objective of the study was to determine the cost-optimal energy performance renovation measures to meet the proposed national nearly zero-energy building (nZEB) requirements, which are defined according to the primary energy consumption of buildings. The main research method of the study was simulation-based optimization (SBO) analysis, which was used to determine the cost-optimal renovation solutions. The results of the study indicate that the minimum national energy performance requirement of new educational buildings (E primary ⩽ 170 kWh/(m 2 ,a)) can be cost-effectively achieved in deep renovations of educational buildings. In addition, the proposed national nZEB-targets are also well achievable, while improving the indoor climate (thermal comfort and indoor air quality) conditions significantly at the same time. Cost-effective solutions included renovation of the original ventilation system, a ground source heat pump system with relatively small dimensioning power output, new energy efficient windows and a relatively large area of PV-panels for solar-based electricity production. The results and conclusions of this study can be generalized to similar climates and techno-economic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper shows the results of measurements of carbon dioxide concentrations conducted in the school buildings located in two different climates: Białystok (Poland) and Belmez/Córdoba (Spain). CO 2 concentration in first 45 min met requirements of regulations, but with medium occupation of places in classrooms, then the recommended values were excided. We developed a model for CO 2 level estimation. This model allowed us to simulated the CO 2 concentration for full occupation of classrooms in both countries. In these cases CO 2 concentration would exceed maximum value (1000 ppm) during the first hour. Furthermore required air change rates were calculated: for actual occupation they should be in a range 2.5–5 h −1 to maintain IDA2 and carbon dioxide concentration below 1000 ppm, while in case of full occupation even 6–9 h −1 . Finally, surveys of student satisfaction were performed in situ during the measurements of CO 2 level to obtain the dependence of student comfort perception on this concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor air quality was characterized in 10 recently built energy-efficient French schools during two periods of 4.5 days. Carbon dioxide time-resolved measurements during occupancy clearly highlight the key role of the ventilation rate (scheduled or occupancy indexed), especially in this type of building, which was tightly sealed and equipped with a dual-flow ventilation system to provide air refreshment. Volatile organic compounds ( VOCs) and inorganic gases (ozone and NO2) were measured indoors and outdoors by passive techniques during the occupied and the unoccupied periods. Over 150 VOC species were identified. Among them, 27 species were selected for quantification, based on their occurrence. High concentrations were found for acetone, 2-butanone, formaldehyde, toluene, and hexaldehyde. However, these concentrations are lower than those previously observed in conventional school buildings. The indoor/outdoor and unoccupied/occupied ratios are informative regarding emission sources. Except for benzene, ozone, and NO2, all the pollutants in these buildings have an indoor source. Occupancy is associated with increased levels of acetone, 2-butanone, pentanal, butyl acetate, and alkanes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Online Journal of Educational Sciences is the property of International Online Journal of Educational Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In modern societies people spend over 90% of their time indoors. Students spending more time at school than any other building except at home highlights the importance of providing comfortable indoor thermal conditions in these buildings. Thermal comfort since has been related to productivity and well-being and energy conservation in schools, has gained importance in recent years. This paper presents an overview of thermal comfort field surveys in educational buildings over the last five decades. The studies are reviewed in two sections; the first covering the field study methodologies including the objective and subjective surveys, and the second reviewing study results based on the climate zone, educational stage, and the applied thermal comfort approach. Confounding parameters have been discussed to outline priorities for the future research agenda in this field. Reviewed studies have assessed the thermal environment in classrooms compared to common thermal comfort standards. Most of the studies concluded that students׳ thermal preferences were not in the comfort range provided in the standards. Ventilation as an essential determinant of indoor air quality and thermal comfort has been highlighted in most studies. The wide disparity in thermal neutralities underlines the need for micro-level thermal comfort studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming to identify factors causing the adverse health effects associated with moisture-damaged indoor environments, we analyzed immunotoxicological potential of settled dust from moisture-damaged and reference schools in relation to their microbiological composition. Mouse RAW264.7 macrophages were exposed to settled dust samples ( n = 25) collected from moisture-damaged and reference schools in Spain, the Netherlands, and Finland. After exposure, we analyzed production of inflammatory markers [nitric oxide ( NO), tumor necrosis factor- α ( TNF-) α, interleukin ( IL)-6, and macrophage inflammatory protein ( MIP)2] as well as mitochondrial activity, viability, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, particle counts, concentration of selected microbial groups as well as chemical markers such as ergosterol, 3-hydroxy fatty acids, muramic acid, endotoxins, and glucans were measured as markers of exposure. Dust from moisture-damaged schools in Spain and the Netherlands induced stronger immunotoxicological responses compared to samples from reference schools; the responses to Finnish samples were generally lower with no difference between the schools. In multivariate analysis, IL-6 and apoptosis responses were most strongly associated with moisture status of the school. The measured responses correlated with several microbial markers and numbers of particles, but the most important predictor of the immunotoxicological potential of settled dust was muramic acid concentration, a marker of Gram-positive bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using qualitative research in one organization that undertook green building, we examine the processes that occur to foster support for a new initiative among people with diverse values and perceptions. We found that framing was particularly important, but framing contests occurred due to variation in how individuals cognitively connected different frames together. To overcome these contests, the organization used an interactive process we define as “frame decoupling” through which the frames were identified, separated, and prioritized before new language or frame was selected for the collective organizational goal. We develop the concept “Frame Decoupling” to describe how variations in cognitive diagnostic framing by stakeholders within an organization contribute to framing contests and how these contests can be resolved through interactive processes that effectively decouple various preexisting frames. Frame decoupling is an additional frame alignment strategy that social movements and organizations can use to motivate support and action for organizational goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is the result of a field study about overall comfort aspects performed in a secondary-school building in the surroundings of Bologna during the winter season. The campaign aimed at describing overall comfort aspects of the school both from an objective and a subjective point of view, thus a questionnaire was administered to pupils during ongoing lessons to compare physical measurements and subjective responses. The monitored attributes and items concerned typical indoor quality aspects: acoustical, thermal, indoor air, and visual quality. As weak points emerged from the data analysis, possible solutions are illustrated, focusing on acoustics and optimizing effectiveness and cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to provide an overview of a content analysis of sustainability policies from Canadian post-secondary education institutions. The paper reports findings on the orientations to sustainability evident in the policies; references to other policies within the documents; and other key themes on how sustainability is engaged in the policies in relation to overall governance, education, operations, research and community outreach. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 50 Canadian colleges and universities was selected based on representativeness across a range of criteria. A qualitative thematic content analysis of these policies was conducted using a collaborative coding approach. Findings – Results suggest that most sustainability policies described a Brundtland (i.e. intergenerational) and/or three-pillar (e.g. economic, environmental and social) orientation to sustainability. Many sustainability policies also connected to other external municipal or provincial policies. In terms of various domains of sustainability, campus operations was discussed by all of the policies and in the most detail, while discussions of sustainability in education (i.e. the curriculum) and in research were vague, and discussions of sustainability in relation to community outreach were included less frequently. Originality/value – This comparative study provides a broad view of sustainability policies from post-secondary institutions across Canada. It deepens our understanding of the institutions’ conceptualizations of, and priorities for, sustainability. This paper has practical implications for institutions seeking to create or further develop their own policies, and it contributes to the comparative scholarly literature on the institutionalization of sustainability in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal Architecture & Planning is the property of King Saud University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The environmental impacts of a building are determined in the project planning phase, affecting the whole life cycle of the building. Thus, they should be assessed in the project planning phase so as to reduce the whole environment impacts of the building. This study aims to develop a model for predicting the environmental impacts of a building in the project planning phase, focused on educational facilities. This study was conducted in three steps: (i) collection of several information on educational facilities and cluster formation using the decision tree; (ii) development of the prediction model using the advanced case-based reasoning; and (iii) evaluation of the environmental impacts of educational facilities with six categories. The proposed model was verified compared to the actual data. The error rate for the resource depletion potential was determined to be at 14.14%; global warming potential, 6.80%; ozone-layer depletion potential, 27.29%; acidification potential, 12.94%; eutrophication potential, 18.73%; and photochemical oxidation potential, 43.23%. Due to the limitations of the available information in the project planning phase, it was shown that some impact categories might be estimated with relatively lower accuracy. The proposed model allows an architect or a facility manager to easily and accurately estimate the environmental impacts of the educational facilities. It could also be useful for establishing a national environmental policy such as a carbon emissions reduction target. In addition, it could be extended to any other building type or country in the global environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to examine the associations between different indoor environmental quality (IEQ) indicators and students' performance, absenteeism and health data were collected, and sampling and monitoring were conducted in a 70 school district in the Southwestern United States during two academic years. These included measurements of temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and settled dust. A standardized cleaning protocol was employed for surface sampling and cleaning effectiveness evaluation utilizing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) monitoring systems to detect biological contamination, and contact agar (RODAC) plates to detect culturable bacteria. In addition, student data related to socioeconomic background, absenteeism, performance, and number of visits to school nurse was retrieved anonymously from the school district. Significant associations were observed between percentages of students scoring satisfactory in mathematics and reading tests and both indoor T (r = −.353 and r = −.311 respectively) and ventilation rate (r = .417 and r = .479 respectively), which was estimated based on CO 2 levels. In addition, ventilation rate was associated with mean number of visits to school nurse due to respiratory symptoms, and culturable bacteria with mean number of visits due to gastrointestinal symptoms; but there were no significant correlations between absenteeism and IEQ parameters in these school-level analyses. In conclusion, classroom ventilation rate, temperature, and hygiene of high contact surfaces appear to be important IEQ parameters, potentially related to student health and/or performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the project of multi-comfort school is presented. The demands for a school to be multi-comfort are analyzed here. Simple but energy effective building's form was chosen. Thermotechnical calculations were made. Class of energy efficiency is "A++". It is essential for a multi-comfort building to have alternative sources of energy, what increases building's energy efficiency. In this article economical and technical characteristics of solar collectors (that are for water heating) were inspected. Made calculations show that use of collectors produces great advantages. Collectors' scheduled period of payback period is 4 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cross-sectional survey was conducted to characterize the indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools and its relationship with children's respiratory symptoms. Concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOC), aldehydes, PM 2.5 , PM 10 , carbon dioxide, bacteria and fungi were assessed in 73 classrooms from 20 public primary schools located in Porto, Portugal. Children who attended the selected classrooms ( n = 1134) were evaluated by a standardised health questionnaire completed by the legal guardians; spirometry and exhaled nitric oxide tests. The results indicated that no classrooms presented individual VOC pollutant concentrations higher than the WHO IAQ guidelines or by INDEX recommendations; while PM 2.5 , PM 10 and bacteria levels exceeded the WHO air quality guidelines or national limit values. High levels of total VOC, acetaldehyde, PM 2.5 and PM 10 were associated with higher odds of wheezing in children. Thus, indoor air pollutants, some even at low exposure levels, were related with the development of respiratory symptoms. The results pointed out that it is crucial to take into account the unique characteristics of the public primary schools, to develop appropriate control strategies in order to reduce the exposure to indoor air pollutants and, therefore, to minimize the adverse health effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study of cost-optimal building renovation arrangements regarding the heating energy performance. The study is based on 8 different primary schools with different building ages and therefore different constructions. The schools are located in the Alps and thus in a region which is in the antagonism between high energy standards and particular climatic conditions. The calculation method is oriented on standard energy demand and life cycle cost methods. The results show that the cost-optimal performance is between a heating energy demand of 50 to 60 kW h/m 2 p.a. Furthermore the building age has a high effect on the results of the net present value. Also the investment costs of the different building renovation arrangements show a high effect on the results concerning the cost optimal renovation measurements. Where the insulation thicknesses of the envelope have proposed thicknesses of about 10–12 cm the windows only reach the highest U -value of 1.2 because of the higher investment costs. Also the heating energy system with their energy efficiency was considered in the study and the change into a more efficient system is proposed in every case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potential adverse effects on children health may result from school exposure to airborne particles. To address this issue, the variations of indoor and outdoor PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations in inner urban city and overpopulated camps school buildings located in the Mediterranean area were evaluated. Thirty six classrooms in twelve school buildings were investigated during fall, winter and spring seasons of 2011 and 2012. The results of the study show there were greater masses of PM 10 and PM 2.5 indoors that controlled by outdoor sources. For urban schools, the average concentration of indoor PM 10 and PM 2.5 were 320.0 μg/m 3 and 86.2 μg/m 3 , respectively. Meanwhile, the average concentration of indoor PM 10 and PM 2.5 for overpopulated camps schools were 396.5 μg/m 3 and 109.0 μg/m 3 , respectively. Almost all PM showed I/O ratios higher than one which denotes an important contribution from indoor source at urban and overpopulated camps schools. Different spatial distribution pattern among and within the schools was observed. For most of the schools a coefficients of divergence (COD) values varied from spatial homogeneity to moderate spatial heterogeneity. Across the all monitored schools, temporal variation of PM 10 concentration was observed and significantly highly influenced by the seasonal variation. In both areas, the PM 10 concentration displayed a bimodal pattern, with peaks between 7:00 and 11:00 a.m. during spring. Meanwhile a unimodal pattern displayed with peaks between 09:00 and 10:00 a.m. and between 12:30 and 01:30 p.m. for winter and fall, respectively. These peaks were attributed to enhanced anthropogenic activity and to the influence of meteorological conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessments have been made of 153 classrooms in 27 schools in order to identify the impact of the physical classroom features on the academic progress of the 3766 pupils who occupied each of those specific spaces. This study confirms the utility of the naturalness, individuality and stimulation (or more memorably, SIN) conceptual model as a vehicle to organise and study the full range of sensory impacts experienced by an individual occupying a given space. In this particular case the naturalness design principle accounts for around 50% of the impact on learning, with the other two accounting for roughly a quarter each. Within this structure, seven key design parameters have been identified that together explain 16% of the variation in pupils' academic progress achieved. These are Light, Temperature, Air Quality, Ownership, Flexibility, Complexity and Colour. The muted impact of the whole-building level of analysis provides some support for the importance of “inside-out design”. The identification of the impact of the built environment factors on learning progress is a major new finding for schools' research, but also suggests that the scale of the impact of building design on human performance and wellbeing in general, can be isolated and that it is non-trivial. It is argued that it makes sense to capitalise on this promising progress and to further develop these concepts and techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current energy situation in most Romanian schools is unsatisfactory. Energy consumption and hence the depletion of financial resources are high due to the existence of obsolete central heating systems or to their inefficient use as well as to the upward trend in energy prices that are a threat to the budget of these schools. All these impediments can be counterbalanced by implementing renewable energy solutions in line with the strategy and policies of the European Union. In order to improve the energy management in Romanian schools, we propose the implementation of photovoltaic and solar thermal energy systems, which provide electricity and hot water. Photovoltaic and solar thermal energy systems enable significant financial savings and even additional income, considerable energy freedom, high user comfort while protecting the environment and, therefore, are a modern solution that could be widely implemented either individually or through a national programme in Romania schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase of complexity in school buildings to ensure for users comfort and social and functional demands are changing energy consumption patterns. In the Portuguese context, a recent rise in energy consumption, after a major national refurbishment programme, confirms the need to improve energy management in schools in order to reduce their environmental impact. Besides building design and systems, users are also a determining factor impacting energy consumption in buildings. However, behavioural issues are still among the areas least covered by scientific literature. The present paper analyses the energy consumption patterns of eight Portuguese case-study schools, with a methodological approach that integrates quantitative and qualitative data analysis. The approach made it possible to link the energy consumption patterns of the schools (selected as Key Performance Indicators) with the user behaviour and management strategies. As a result, six Key Performance Strategies (KPS) were identified so as potentially to enhance the energy performance of school buildings through use and management. Some of the identified KPS can be implemented directly through school management policies to reduce energy use and enhance efficiency. Others can be incorporated in future building design strategies. Some have the potential for being hereafter integrated into the simulation models of buildings’ energy performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The indoor environmental quality within a classroom is linked to the health, comfort and performance of students. It is well established that there are classroom environments where indoor environmental quality is poor. Therefore, the rehabilitation of school buildings is assumed as an appropriate strategy. Consequently, some countries have sponsored nationwide programs for the rehabilitation of school buildings, whose result has been, in some cases, other than the expected. Classrooms performance in service conditions must be evaluated and, from the results, optimized solutions should be established and carefully designed and executed to have the desired effect. Thus, a research project was defined, aiming to assess the impact of retrofit on the indoor environmental quality of school buildings. The methodology used included the in situ measurement of temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide concentration and ventilation rates. A total of 24 classrooms of 9 school buildings (2 non-retrofitted and 7 recently retrofitted) were studied. A long term monitoring was defined with three measurement campaigns: winter, mid-season and summer conditions, each with three weeks length. The results confirmed that non-retrofitted schools need to improve their indoor environmental conditions and in retrofitted buildings mechanical ventilation systems are not being used, with important consequences on the indoor air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The PM10, PM2.5, and PM1(particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters <10, <2.5, and <1 μm, respectively) concentrations were monitored over a 90-day period in a naturally ventilated school building located at roadside in Chennai City. The 24-hr average PM10, PM2.5, and PM1concentrations at indoor and outdoor environments were found to be 136 ± 60, 36 ± 15, and 20 ± 12 and 76 ± 42, 33 ± 16, and 23 ± 14 μg/m3, respectively. The size distribution of PM in the classroom indicated that coarse mode was dominant during working hours (08:00 a.m. to 04:00 p.m.), whereas fine mode was dominant during nonworking hours (04:00 p.m. to 08:00 a.m.). The increase in coarser particles coincided with occupant activities in the classrooms and finer particles were correlated with outdoor traffic. Analysis of indoor PM10, PM2.5, and PM1concentrations monitored at another school, which is located at urban reserved forest area (background site) indicated 3–4 times lower PM10concentration than the school located at roadside. Also, the indoor PM1and PM2.5concentrations were 1.3–1.5 times lower at background site. Further, a mass balance indoor air quality (IAQ) model was modified to predict the indoor PM concentration in the classroom. Results indicated good agreement between the predicted and measured indoor PM2.5(R2= 0.72–0.81) and PM1(R2= 0.81–0.87) concentrations. But, the measured and predicted PM10concentrations showed poor correlation (R2= 0.17–0.23), which may be because the IAQ model could not take into account the sudden increase in PM10concentration (resuspension of large size particles) due to human activities.Implications:The present study discusses characteristics of the indoor coarse and fine PM concentrations of a naturally ventilated school building located close to an urban roadway and at a background site in Chennai City, India. The study results will be useful to engineers and policymakers to prepare strategies for improving the IAQ inside classrooms. Further, this study may help in the development of IAQ standards and guidelines in India. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Highlights: [•] Construction and HVAC details of schools are recorded. [•] Energy consumption of schools is calculated from bills. [•] Typical secondary school is defined. [•] Energy performance of a typical school is done and energy certification is examined. [•] Simulations for retrofitting scenarios are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor exposure to microbial agents is known to influence respiratory health. Besides home exposure, exposure in schools can affect respiratory health. In this study, we measured endotoxin in settled dust in primary schools in three European countries from three different geographical regions with different climates. Our aim was to characterize endotoxin levels in primary schools and evaluate associations with potential determinants. Endotoxin levels were repeatedly assessed in 23 schools in Spain ( n = 7), the Netherlands ( n = 10), and Finland ( n = 6) using electrostatic dustfall collectors. In total, 645 measurements were taken in 237 classrooms. Endotoxin levels differed significantly between countries; Dutch schools had the highest levels, while Finnish schools showed the lowest levels. In each country, differences in endotoxin levels were observed between schools and over the sampling periods. Estimates improved after adjustment for sampling period. Factors affecting endotoxin levels in a school differed per country. In general, endotoxin levels were higher in lower grades and in classrooms with higher occupancy. School endotoxin levels may contribute significantly to total endotoxin exposure in children and teachers. As the correlation between the repeated measurements is reasonable, single endotoxin measurements form a reasonable basis for estimating annual endotoxin levels in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The recently-built school buildings have adopted novel heat recovery ventilator and air conditioning system. Heat recovery efficiency of the heat recovery facility and energy conservation ratio of the air conditioning unit were analytically modeled, taking the ventilation networks into account. Following that, school classroom displacement ventilation and its thermal stratification and indoor air quality indicated by the CO2 concentration have been numerically modeled concerning the effects of delivering ventilation flow rate and supplying air temperature. Numerical results indicate that the promotion of mechanical ventilation rate can simultaneously boost the dilution of indoor air pollutants and the non-uniformity of indoor thermal and pollutant distributions. Subsequent energy performance analysis demonstrates that classroom energy demands for ventilation and cooling could be reduced with the promotion of heat recovery efficiency of the ventilation facility, and the energy conservation ratio of the air conditioning unit decreases with the increasing temperatures of supplying air. Fitting correlations of heat recovery ventilation and cooling energy conservation have been presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]