Ventilation in Schools and Childcare Spaces

Proper ventilation in schools and childcare spaces is important for a myriad of reasons, ranging from helping lower absenteeism to improving academic excellence.  That’s right, improving academic excellence.  Access to fresh air can have a pronounced effect on how quickly students progress through learning grades, with the importance of air quality directly contributing to the students ability to learn, understand and retain information.  

 

Let’s take a closer look at how and why…

 

The Research Linking Classroom Design with Academic Advancement

In 2015, the University of Salford in Manchester released their groundbreaking summary report of the HEAD (Holistic Evidence and Design) Project.  ‘Clever Classrooms’ describes the clear evidence linking the physical characteristics of classrooms to learning progress, detailing how a well designed classroom explains 16% of the variation in learning progress in reading, writing and maths, over a 12 month period for students.

 

To put this in better context, the research found that moving the average child from the least effective learning space to the most effective, would result in a gain of 1.3 sub-levels for that student.  This is sizable considering that pupils typically make 2 sub-levels progress per year.  

 

The three physical characteristics of classrooms being assessed was known, somewhat comically, as SIN (Simulation, individualisation and Naturalness).  Of those, Naturalness was discovered to have the biggest impact, and was composed of light, temperature and air quality.  Together they accounted for half the learning impact.

 

Individualisation (ownership and flexibility) accounted for about one quarter of the learning impact, as did Simulation (complexity and colour).

 

 

The Role of Air Quality in Classrooms

Air quality has become increasingly important in classrooms over the last few decades.  Hard floors have been covered with carpets, and those carpets are coveted with pollutants, many of them from the children themselves as classroom sizes have grown beyond capacity.  Exasperating this are building-related health problems which are accelerated by children's quick breathing and high metabolic rates.  

 

With New Zealand’s school building stock (mostly) in need of updating, with old classrooms and poor maintenance, it’s no surprise that air quality has become an issue, probably more so than those classrooms in England in which the research was carried out.  

 

Within the Naturalness category of physical characteristics, air quality accounts for 16% of the learning outcome.  That’s significant.  

 

The research made a number of interesting observations about ventilation in relation to air quality.  It recognised the usefulness of openings high in the classroom, such as glazed ventilation louvres, for the ability to allow the hottest and stalest air to escape more effectively. However, using roller blinds against the glazing limits that effectiveness and lowers ventilation to troublesome levels.  

 

Larger classrooms tended to fare better owing to a lower concentration of carbon dioxide and more air on hand to dilute any airborne nasties.  Alas, that also means the reverse is true and overpacked classrooms become problematic, which is certainly the case for 17% of New Zealand classrooms classified as exceeding capacity.  

 

Interestingly, even in the largest classrooms (volume = 300 m3) with no ventilation it took only 55 minutes for ‘resting’ pupils (we know - ‘rested’ is unlikely in early childhood centres) for the air quality to be classified as poor (+1000 ppm of CO2) if no ventilation is accessible.  In smaller classrooms (volume = 78 m3) it takes just 26 minutes for the air quality to become poor.  

 

Ministry of Education Recommendations for Air Quality in Schools

The Ministry of Education holds one of the largest property portfolios in New Zealand, comprising over 2000 schools and in excess of 30,000 buildings, and their recommendations on designing schools sets forth minimum expectations, borrowing heavily from the findings in the University of Salford study.

 

Their guidelines state how “learning can be impeded if poorly ventilated rooms result in unwanted thermal effects (both through temperature and humidity) and lead to high levels of carbon dioxide, which could cause drowsiness. Indoor air pollutants can be odorous and could irritate the nose and eyes, causing itching and other negative reactions impeding learning.”

 

The MoE goes on to describe how children are more at risk from environmental pollutants than adults as they breathe higher volumes of air relative to their body weight, with body tissue and organs still growing.  Where air quality is poor it can impact cognitive functionality and inhibit learning, increased irritability, and increased rates of absenteeism. 

 

The primary strategies identified for making sure the above doesn’t happen and improving air quality focus on:

 

1. Providing suitable ventilation with clean fresh air.

2. Selecting low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) building materials.

3. Maintaining a good cleaning system.

4. Using entry/exit mates to capture dust and dirt from entering the building.  

 

We can probably discount no.4 above, as any parent who has reminded their child 126 times to wipe their feet before coming inside can attest to.  

 

Specifically, the MoE mandatory requirements specify natural ventilation can be achieved with either of the following:

 

o Single-sided ventilation, when:

 the depth of the space is to be no more than twice the floor to ceiling height at its lowest point (CIBSE: AM10, 2005), and  total opening area is more than 10% of the floor area, and

o Cross-ventilation when:

all parts of the enclosure are within 7 m of an openable window, and in compliance with AS1668.4:2012 Section 3.5; or a total opening area ≥ 5% of the floor area, distributed across at least two sides, whichever is the greater, and openings are distributed approximately proportionately on each outside wall.

 

Where natural ventilation is precluded then mechanical ventilation can be used. The goal is to reduce CO2 levels to the recommended levels, which sit at 800ppm. Without ventilation, that level will be exceeded in less than 30 minutes in small classrooms and less than an hour in large classrooms.  

 

What it all boils down to is classrooms need fresh air for students to thrive.  And the best way to get fresh air is to allow it in by opening ventilation louvres (windows work too but they can let ‘the weather’ in and less well-behaved students out) or using mechanical ventilation.  

 

We arguably didn’t need research to prove fresh air is good for the mind.  But understanding how and just how much an impact fresh air can have of academic progress really is mind-blowing (pun absolutely intended). 

If we can help with your classroom or early childhood centre, please contact us.