Related Studies

According to Bakó-Biró, Z., Clements-Croome, D. J., Kochhar, N., Awbi, H. B., &

Williams, M. J. (2012), the effects of classroom ventilation on pupils’ performance were

investigated in 8 primary schools in England. In each school the concentrations of

carbon dioxide and other parameters were monitored for three weeks in two selected

classrooms. In 16 classrooms interventions were made to improve the ventilation rate

and maintain the temperature within an acceptable range using a purpose-built portable

mechanical ventilation system. As a result of the interventions the provision of outdoor

air to the classrooms was improved from the prevailing levels of about 1 l/s per person

to about 8 l/s per person.

The pupils and teachers in the classrooms studied were usually exposed to

unacceptably poor air quality conditions, with CO 2 concentrations of up to 5000 ppm,

much higher than the average recommended levels of 1500 ppm and the preferred level

of 1000 ppm.

The results of computerized performance tasks performed by more than 200

pupils showed significantly faster and more accurate responses for Choice Reaction (by

2.2%), Colour Word Vigilance (by 2.7%), Picture Memory (by 8%) and Word

Recognition (by 15%) at the higher ventilation rates compared with the low ventilation

conditions.

The present investigation provides strong evidence that low ventilation rates in

classrooms significantly reduce pupils’ attention and vigilance, and negatively affect
memory and concentration. The physical environment therefore affects teaching and

learning.

According to Varjo, J., Hongisto, V., Haapakangas, A., Maula, H., Koskela, H., &

Hyönä, J. (2015), in Condition A, neutral temperature (23.5 °C), low intelligibility of

speech (high absorption and low masking sound level) and high fresh air supply rate

(30 l/s per person) were applied. This was contrasted to Condition B with high room

temperature (29.5 °C), highly intelligible speech (low absorption and high masking

sound level) and a negligible fresh air supply rate (2 l/s per person). Sixty-five

participants were tested. In Condition B, performance decrement was observed

especially in working memory tasks. Based on subjective assessments, mental

workload, cognitive fatigue and symptoms were higher and environmental satisfaction

was lower in Condition B. It was concluded that special attention should be paid to the

design of whole indoor environment in open-plan offices to increase subjective comfort

and improve performance.

According to Snow, S., Oakley, M., & schraefel, M. (2019, June), poor indoor air

quality (IAQ) can affect health and cognitive performance prior to users becoming aware

of the declining air quality. Yet office occupants rarely have access to IAQ information

upon which to base their ventilation decisions. This paper details the design and

deployment of a situated IAQ display as a probe to explore ventilation and building

operation practices when IAQ information is made available. Based on deployments in

11 naturally ventilated offices, we present an analysis of how reflection and sense

making around IAQ can inform interactions with buildings. We suggest displays that are

locally situated, non-disruptive and visualise the effects of poor IAQ with human
analogies may hold potential for engaging office occupants with IAQ. We highlight how

ambient displays represent a stepping-stone towards more informed interactions which

can improve air quality and cognitive performance, and how IAQ feedback may usefully

contribute to alternative HCI research agendas such as Human-Building Interaction.

According to Hviid, C. A., Pedersen, C., & Dabelsteen, K. H. (2020), a field lab

study was conducted to determine how much the indoor climate parameters, ventilation

and lighting, influence children's academic abilities. The study involved 92 children,

aged 10–12 years, who over four weeks answered a questionnaire and three different

performance tests, which measured their processing speed, concentration, logical

reasoning and math solving abilities. An experimental design was constructed to test

the effect of changing the lighting from constant warm light with a maintained correlated

colour temperature average of 2900 K and lighting level of 450 lux to a dynamic cool

light of 4900 K and 750 lux. The change was tested at both low (3.9 l/s per person) and

high ventilation rate (10.6 l/s per person). The results showed that processing speed

(6.6%, P < 0.001), concentration (8.3%, P < 0.001) and math skills (11.8%, P < 0.006),

improved the most in the combined scenario with high ventilation rate and dynamic cool

lighting. The logical reasoning test did not show any significant changes. The

questionnaire results of the pupils' perception of the indoor environment suggested that

they were satisfied in general, but the indoor environmental changes had only very

limited effect on how they perceived the classroom. The combination of dynamic lighting

and increased ventilation rate indicated a boosted positive impact on the speed and

concentration of the children which means that future renovations would benefit from a

holistic design including both of these factors.

According to Fisk, W. J. (2017), there is compelling evidence, from both cross‐

sectional and intervention studies, of an association of increased student performance

with increased ventilation rates. There is evidence that reduced respiratory health

effects and reduced student absence are associated with increased ventilation rates.

Increasing ventilation rates in schools imposes energy costs and can increase heating,

ventilating, and air‐conditioning system capital costs. The net annual costs, ranging

from a few dollars to about 10 dollars per person, are less than 0.1% of typical public

spending on elementary and secondary education in the United States. Such

expenditures seem like a small price to pay given the evidence of health and

performance benefits.

According to Kabirikopaei, A., Kuhlenengel, M., Arthur, A., Bovaird, J., Lau, J.,

Waters, C., & Wang, L. M. (2019, January), the thermal, indoor air quality (IAQ),

acoustics, and lighting conditions gathered from 220 classrooms in the Midwest region

of the United States were studied. The data have been collected under occupied and

unoccupied conditions for two days in three seasons from 2015–2017. IAQ and thermal

measurements included the indoor concentration of carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, the

count of particles with aerosol diameters ranging from 0.3 µm to 2.5 µm and aerosol

diameters ranging from 2.5 µm to 10 µm, air temperature, relative humidity, and globe

temperature. View, day lighting, and electric lighting data were collected for lighting

condition. Assorted background and occupied noise levels and room impulse responses

from which reverberation times are extrapolated were collected for acoustics data. In

addition, demographics and students’ performance data were included in this study. The
field measurements revealed that all classrooms meet IES recommended illuminance

level for reading and writing but only 20% of classrooms in this study meet the ASHRAE

Std. 62.1 ventilation rate requirements. In comparison to ANSI S12.60, 91% of the

classrooms do not meet the recommended maximum background noise level for

unoccupied conditions, while 15% do not meet the recommended maximum

reverberation time. Statistical analysis is currently in progress. These analyses include:

(1) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to define latent variable constructs that describe

the indoor environmental quality, and (2) structural equation modeling (SEM) to

evaluate the correlation of these indoor environmental factors and student’s academic

achievement.

According to Zamri, E. M., Ismail, A., & Ajis, A. M. (2019), a phenomenon of

global climate change and global warming led to an increase of study on indoor thermal

comfort as it causes an increase in air temperature in both outdoor and indoor

environments. Thermal comfort of indoor condition had a significant impact on

occupants' performance, especially in the educational building. The impact is more

crucial in a natural ventilated building as it is influenced by both outdoor and indoor

condition. This paper presents an overview of a study on thermal comfort over the past

ten years in the classroom that use the passive ventilation system. The study is divided

into two sections; the first reviews the variables that are measured to determine thermal

comfort and the second section reviews the other factors that could influence the

thermal comfort. The factors that have been reviewed include climatic condition, design

of ventilation system of the building, building envelope design and occupants behavior

that had influence the thermal comfort in the building, hence influenced the occupants'
performance. Most of the studies had found that the occupants were dissatisfied with

the indoor environment and the results of the studies found that thermal comfort is not in

the comfort range, as stated in the standards. The ventilation factor has been

highlighted in most studies to be the crucial factor that influences the indoor

environment and thus influence the thermal comfort of the building.

According to Johnson, D. L., Lynch, R. A., Floyd, E. L., Wang, J., & Bartels, J. N.

(2018), associations have been shown between poor classroom indoor air quality (IAQ)

and schoolchildren's risk of asthma, increased absenteeism, and impaired performance

on standardized tests. Mechanically ventilated classrooms often lack an adequate fresh

air supply. There is also concern that outdoor pollutants, particularly vehicle exhaust

products, may penetrate classrooms. The purpose of this work was to characterize IAQ

in elementary school classrooms and estimate average effective fresh air ventilation

rates under cold, mild, and warm season conditions. IAQ measures were made in third-

grade classrooms of 12 elementary schools. Particulate matter, CO2, CO, NO2, total

VOCs, and formaldehyde concentrations, as well as relative humidity and temperature,

were measured for 24-h periods in each season. Effective fresh air ventilation rates

were estimated using a transient mass balance modeling approach. The schools

measured had generally adequate temperature and humidity control, extremely low

non-occupant related pollutants, and little to no incursion of outdoor vehicle-related

pollutants. However, there was a lack of adequate fresh air ventilation in many cases.

Ventilation adequacy varied within the schools across seasons but with no consistent

pattern, perhaps reflecting variations in class size as well as seasonal demands on the

HVAC systems and/or HVAC seasonal operating mode. Transient mass balance
method effective fresh air ventilation estimates near or above ASHRAE-recommended

fresh air ventilation rates for people-related pollutants corresponded well with good

CO2 control in the classrooms.

For the students and teachers, this study may be used to spread

awareness on how proper ventilation affects the performance of, e.g., but not limited to

students.

For the future researchers, the relationship between ventilation and academic

performance of students may be useful for information about the process of the study.

For the community, this study may raise actions to help the students focus on

their academic performance through donations and forming organizations such as the

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA).

The researchers seek to determine the relationship of ventilation and academic

performance of students.

Specifically, this study aims to answer the following questions:

1. How does classroom’s ventilation affect the academic and cognitive

performance of students?

2. What do students do because of poor ventilation?

3.