Ventilation I
have no doubt that many of you can remember back to your school days, coming in from the playground hot and bothered after charging
around with friends during a lunchbreak or running in soaked to the skin after being caught in a downpour. The classroom begins to feel stuffy, hot, and humid – the perfect environment in which viruses can spread has just been created. In a post COVID-19 climate, well ventilated classrooms have become a top priority for schools to keep students safe and ensure they provide productive and healthy spaces for learning. The simple advice often given to schools is to open windows and doors to let fresh air in, helping to remove air that contains virus particles. Yes, opening windows is an easy way to ventilate
a classroom, but in the middle of London this could reduce the air quality inside a building putting students health at risk. If the school is near a busy road the effect of noise pollution could be detrimental to the comfort of students which could directly impact their learning. If it is cold outside your students could be freezing inside the classroom despite the heating being on full. This is just counterproductive for schools to be paying for increasingly costly gas-fired central heating to keep their students warm, whilst letting all the heat disappear from a room the minute the windows and doors are opened; letting their students get cold in the process!” In August 2018, and before the start of the pandemic, The Education and Skills Funding Agency published its updated Building Bulletin 101 (BB101). The document describes the factors that affect the indoor environment of schools and sets out the regulatory framework for ventilation in schools. The document also provides non-statutory guidance on how to design schools to achieve adequate performance for ventilation, indoor air quality and thermal comfort. As a result of the pandemic the Government
realised it had to do more to improve ventilation in classrooms to halt the spread of the virus. At the start of this academic year, it began providing all state-funded education settings with CO2 monitors, the monitors allow staff to identify where ventilation might need improving and where ventilation measures are working. This £25 million investment in more than 350,000 monitors prioritises special schools and alternative provision because of their higher-than- average number of vulnerable pupils. The amount of CO2 in the air is measured in parts
per million (ppm). A consistent CO2 value below 800pp indicates that an indoor space is well ventilated. Levels consistently higher than 1500ppm in an occupied room indicates poor ventilation and immediate action taken
www.heatingandventilating.net
Make well-ventilated classrooms a priority
Managing director at Whitecode Consulting, Alex Hill, explains why modern ventilation systems are significantly better at achieving optimal conditions in schools than simply opening the windows
Alex Hill, managing director at Whitecode Consulting.
pronounced because their skin temperature tends to be lower on average then men’s. A painful condition linked primarily to an
to ventilate the space. CO2 monitors are recommended in mid-sized workspaces (50-320 square metre) such as a classroom, where a consistent number of people are in the space for over an hour. Following feedback from schools the Government has promised to supply 9,000 air cleaning units to those educational providers who have been unable to maintain good ventilation in their classrooms. The method of ventilation that lets fresh air into a classroom can impact girls more than boys, particularly in the winter months. There is the science now to back up what many of us have known for years, women feel the cold more than men. A study by Dutch scientists in 2015 found that women are comfortable in a temperature that is 2.5˚C warmer than men’s preferable temperature. Women’s perception of temperature and change in temperature is more
12 November 2022
oversensitivity to temperature is also more common in young women and girls. Raynaud’s Phenomenon occurs when small blood vessels within the body’s extremities are oversensitive. This can cause discomfort and pain for those who suffer with it in their toes, ears, nose, and fingers. The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers’ (CIBSE) latest COVID-19 ventilation guidance states that ventilation rates should be increased above the minimum statutory rates where possible, but this should be carefully balanced against the need to moderate energy demand and carbon emissions, whilst ensuring the thermal comfort of a buildings occupants. The Government should have looked at hybrid
ventilation systems that incorporate natural ventilation with traditional mechanical systems to ventilate classrooms and provide students with a healthier indoor climate. These systems reduce energy consumption because they use heat recovery. Human error is also taken out of the equation. Currently schools are just throwing heat and money straight out of their windows and doors.
DOWNLOAD THE HVR APP NOW
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
