Air Quality of Private Interiors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Dormitory Interiors as Shared Spaces

Rengin Aslanoğlu, Begüm Ulusoy and Jan K. Kazak ()
Additional contact information
Rengin Aslanoğlu: Institute of Spatial Management, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzka 55, 50-357 Wrocław, Poland
Begüm Ulusoy: Interior Architecture and Design, School of Design, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK
Jan K. Kazak: Institute of Spatial Management, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzka 55, 50-357 Wrocław, Poland

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: COVID-19 was a wake-up call for many researchers and designers that encouraged them to create better interiors. Keeping air quality within safe standards is fundamental and the best strategy to stop the spreading of viruses. Being aware of the severity of indoor transmissions of infections, exploring and understanding how they are spread, and how to avoid them can be critical steps to enhance public health. However, many of the private spaces, residential areas and places where multiple people accommodate together remain unattended, such as dormitory buildings. Since many of them do not have an HVAC system, natural ventilation is the primary method for airing dormitory rooms. Therefore, this study aims to reveal existing ventilation conditions in university dormitories, occupants’ behaviors, disinfection, and air cleaning methods in wintertime. For this, a dormitory complex was selected in Ankara (Turkey), whose climate can be compared to many other cities in the northern hemisphere, as an initial case study to provide insight. Overall, it was found that window-opening behaviors of university students are mostly determined by the density of their rooms. The study findings will raise awareness and motivate further studies in architecture, interior architecture, and design disciplines and provide initial knowledge about the topic.

Keywords: disinfection; air cleaning; self method; dormitory rooms; case study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/886/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/886/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:886-:d:1322867

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().