A field survey on the indoor environmental quality of the UK primary school classroom

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The indoor environmental quality (thermal, visual, acoustic and air quality) of the primary school classroom has become of specific concern when it comes to the pupils' learning and well--being.A field study, conducted on random days from 2012 to 2013, was carried out in 203 classrooms from 30 primary schools in 3 areas within the UK. Physical parameters were measured at the site: illuminance, air temperature, relative humidity, CO 2 concentration and noise level. It was inferred 2 that:(i) 30.9% classrooms did not meet the proposed standards limiting the level of CO 2 levels; (ii) light levels were found to be notably low (less than 500 lux) because the pedagogy was reliant on smart boards; (iii) high noise levels (between 40 to 80 dBA) were caused mainly from the adjacent activity areas to the classroom. Based on the findings, practical suggestions are proposed to maximize the environmental benefit to the pupils.

Development and Implementation of a Self-Optimizable Smart Lighting System Based on Learning Context in Classroom

“…The classroom environment is an integrated indoor environmental system that consists of physical layout, interior design, infrastructure, furniture, and equipment, as well as indoor environmental factors including light, temperature, humidity, air quality, and acoustics. Existing studies have revealed that environment quality of classrooms has a significant impact on students' wellbeing and performance [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Among all environmental factors, it is believed that light plays one of the most important roles.…”