Thermal Performance of School Buildings: Impacts beyond Thermal Comfort

Bin Su, Renata Jadresin Milic, Peter McPherson and Lian Wu
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Bin Su: School of Architecture, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland 0600, New Zealand
Renata Jadresin Milic: School of Architecture, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland 0600, New Zealand
Peter McPherson: School of Architecture, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland 0600, New Zealand
Lian Wu: School of Healthcare and Social Practice, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland 0600, New Zealand

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: Based on field study data regarding the winter indoor thermal environment of three classrooms with different building envelopes, this study compared and evaluated these environments, not only related to students’ thermal comfort but also to their health. The inadequacy of the conventional New Zealand school building for maintaining a comfortable and healthy winter indoor thermal environment has been identified. A classroom with thermal mass had 31%, 34% and 9% more time than a classroom without thermal mass when indoor temperatures met 16 °C 18 °C and 20 °C respectively and has 21.4% more time than the classroom without thermal mass when indoor relative humidity was in the optimal range of 40% to 60%, in a temperate climate with a mild and humid winter. Adding thermal mass to school building envelopes should be considered as a strategy to improve the winter indoor thermal environment in future school design and development. Adding thermal mass to a school building with sufficient insulation can not only increase winter indoor mean air temperature but can also reduce the fluctuation of indoor air temperatures. This can significantly reduce the incidence of very low indoor temperature and very high indoor relative humidity, and significantly improve the indoor thermal environment.

Keywords: building envelope; indirect health effects; indoor allergen; indoor microclimate; indoor thermal environment; insulation and thermal mass; school building; thermal comfort; occupant health; thermal performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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