CO 2 Concentrations and Thermal Comfort Analysis at Onsite and Online Educational Environments

Alba Alegría-Sala (), Elisenda Clèries Tardío, Lluc Canals Casals, Marcel Macarulla and Jaume Salom
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Alba Alegría-Sala: Enginyeria del Medi Ambient (ENMA), Department of Project and Construction Engineering (DPCE), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Elisenda Clèries Tardío: Thermal Energy and Building Performance Group, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), 08930 Catalonia, Spain
Lluc Canals Casals: Enginyeria del Medi Ambient (ENMA), Department of Project and Construction Engineering (DPCE), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Marcel Macarulla: Group of Construction Research and Innovation (GRIC), Department of Project and Construction Engineering (DPCE), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), 08222 Barcelona, Spain
Jaume Salom: Thermal Energy and Building Performance Group, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), 08930 Catalonia, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 23, 1-17

Abstract: In building areas with high occupancy, such as classrooms, transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2 are increased when indoor air quality is deficient. Under this scenario, universities have adopted ventilation measures to mitigate contagious environments. However, the lack of adequate equipment or designs in old educational buildings is a barrier to reach minimum requirements. This study aims to quantify the indoor air quality and thermal comfort at universities and compare it to conditions in students’ households. In this regard, several classrooms in buildings of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia were monitored for temperature, CO 2 concentration and relative humidity. The people who used these classrooms were surveyed about their comfort perceptions. A sample of students was also monitored at their homes where they reported to studying during the exam period. By means of point-in-time surveys, students reported their daily comfort, for comparison with the monitored data. The results show that the recommendations for CO 2 concentration, temperature, and relative humidity are not always met in any of the study spaces. These factors are more critical at universities due to the high occupancy. In addition, the surveys highlighted the perception that the environment is better at home than at university.

Keywords: IAQ; thermal comfort; on-site education; online education; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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