Air Conditioning Operation Strategies for Comfort and Indoor Air Quality in Taiwan’s Elementary Schools

Ling-Yi Chang and Tong-Bou Chang ()
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Ling-Yi Chang: Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
Tong-Bou Chang: Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 600, Taiwan

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: The Executive Yuan in Taiwan plans to install air-conditioning (A/C) in all elementary schools within two years. However, besides the associated energy consumption and environmental issues, the use of A/C will inevitably result in the doors and windows of the classroom being closed, which will increase the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) within the classroom. An excessive indoor CO 2 concentration can result in reduced cognitive performance and an impaired learning efficiency. Therefore, the moderate introduction of external air into the classroom is essential to increase the air exchange rate (AER) and reduce the CO 2 concentration level. Accordingly, the present study conducts a numerical investigation into the effects of various A/C operation strategies on the CO 2 concentration within the classroom given different proportions of students remaining in the classroom during the recess. Overall, the results indicate that the optimal usage strategy is to operate the A/C over the full school day (08:00~15:50 p.m.) in conjunction with a mechanical ventilation system providing a fresh air exchange rate of 5 l/s for every person in the room. However, the use of a mechanical ventilation system inevitably incurs an additional hardware and energy consumption. Thus, an alternative recommendation is also proposed, in which the windows are opened and the air conditioner is turned off at every recess and during the lunchtime period. It is shown that the resulting CO 2 concentration in the classroom is still consistent with the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) regulations and the thermal comfort of the students is achieved for more than three-quarters of the school day.

Keywords: IAQ; ventilation; air-conditioning; elementary school; thermal comfort (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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