Search Results (91)

Improving HVAC energy efficiency while maintaining collective thermal comfort remains challenging in multi-occupant shared indoor environments, where occupants differ in thermal sensation, activity level, clothing condition, and spatial distribution. This study develops and field-validates an integrated edge-cloud IoT framework that connects non-invasive occupant-state sensing, INT8 edge thermal-sensation inference, and group-comfort-oriented HVAC setpoint optimization for classroom-based shared spaces. The proposed system integrates localized temperature–humidity sensing, vision-derived occupancy, posture, and clothing estimation, cloud-based thermal sensation model training, and edge-deployed real-time control on a HUB 8735 ULTRA device. A 4-day model-training data collection campaign with structured questionnaires was first conducted to obtain occupants’ Thermal Sensation Votes (TSVs) as ground-truth labels. The trained model was compressed from Float32 to INT8 through post-training quantization and deployed on the edge device for real-time inference. Predicted individual TSV values were then transformed into a PPD-inspired TSV-derived dissatisfaction index and used to determine the HVAC setpoint through rolling-horizon group comfort optimization. A separate eight-school-day single-blind daily-block A/B field validation was conducted, with four validation days assigned to the proposed smart control strategy and four days assigned to a fixed 25 °C baseline. The validation dataset included 2194 valid TSV questionnaire responses, which were aggregated into 116 valid 30 min classroom sessions for statistical comparison. The proposed control achieved a session-level mean TSV of −0.13, compared with −0.66 under the baseline, with Welch’s t(100) = 11.2, p < 0.001 and Cohen’s d = 2.11. Daily HVAC energy use decreased from 2.61 to 2.32 kWh/day, corresponding to a cumulative reduction of 1.16 kWh, or 11.1%, over the validation period. These results support the short-term feasibility of the proposed classroom-level human-centric HVAC control framework. However, because the validation was limited to a short-term classroom setting without full weather/load normalization, longer multi-season and multi-room studies are required to further evaluate generalizability and long-term energy performance. Full article

Learning space design has become an increasingly important consideration in educational buildings; however, existing studies have predominantly focused on the perceptions and comfort of students, teachers, and administrators, while limited attention has been given to the roles and professional perspectives of interior designers and architects, who are directly responsible for translating government design standards into built classroom environments. Hence, this study investigates the students’ dissatisfaction with current learning space and interior design strategies for primary school classrooms in China from the perspective of professional interior designers. Card sorting techniques and group interviews were conducted with 72 students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen experienced designers involved in school design and renovation projects, and the data were analysed using thematic analysis supported by NVivo 14 plus software. The findings identify that four key design dimensions influence the designers’ decision-making. These include improved indoor environmental quality (IIEQ), flexible spatial design (FSD), appropriate decoration (AD), and institutional support (IS), which all influence the environmental performance and functional adaptability of classroom. This study developed the affordance theory and the SIN model to improve the current learning space. These dimensions highlight the role of interior design strategies in addressing issues related to thermal comfort, daylight control, ventilation, spatial flexibility, visual comfort, and implementation conditions within school buildings. The study proposes a set of design recommendations and practical interior strategies for primary school classrooms. Full article

Indoor air quality (IAQ) plays a critical role in the health and cognitive performance of students, making its assessment essential for sustainable building design in educational environments. This study evaluates whether the ventilation flow rates prescribed by the Spanish Regulation for Thermal Installations in Buildings (RTIB), together with the occupancy densities defined by the Technical Building Code (TBC), are sufficient to maintain CO₂ concentrations within regulatory limits in classrooms and library reading rooms. A validated three-dimensional CFD model was developed to simulate airflow patterns and CO₂ distribution under typical operating conditions. The model was experimentally validated using measurements from a dedicated test room in the KUBIK experimental building of Tecnalia, demonstrating high predictive accuracy with average relative errors between 14% and 20%. Results indicate that, under current RTIB and TBC design criteria, (modelled for a 36 m² classroom with 24 occupants and a fresh air supply of 1080 m³/h), CO₂ levels frequently exceed the 910 ppm regulatory thresholds established by the RTIB’s direct method, highlighting potential shortcomings in existing standards for educational spaces. Additionally, two mechanical ventilation configurations were analyzed, revealing that floor-supply ventilation promotes more homogeneous pollutant dispersion and lower concentration peaks compared with ceiling-mounted systems. These findings underline the need to reconsider ventilation design strategies in educational buildings and demonstrate the value of CFD modelling as a tool to support evidence-based decisions toward healthier and more sustainable indoor environments. Full article

During the winter, school-age children spend much of their time in two indoor environments, homes and classrooms, where ventilation is often restricted to conserve heat, favoring the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO₂). This study evaluated CO₂ exposure in both environments in Santiago de Chile to characterize real conditions and their daily combinations. Continuous CO₂ monitoring was conducted using sensors in four dwellings with school-age children and four classrooms from different schools during August 2024. Hourly profiles, time over the operating threshold of 1250 ppm, and equivalent hours of exposure, standardized to a daily reference time, were analyzed. In classrooms, levels above the threshold were observed episodically. They were more concentrated during school hours, with marked differences between establishments, ranging from recurrent exposure to high levels to no exposure above the established level. In the bedrooms, the increases were concentrated during the night and early morning hours, consistent with reduced effective ventilation during prolonged stays. Overall, the bedroom-classroom combined exposure showed high variability across cases; together, it allows identifying priority scenarios and the orientation of winter ventilation strategies without neglecting thermal comfort. These results support the incorporation of winter ventilation operational criteria into schools and homes as input for implementing indoor environmental quality policies and standards in urban contexts. Full article

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) strongly influences health, comfort, and learning performance in academic buildings, yet assessment practices remain fragmented and rarely aligned with sustainability goals. This study conducted a PRISMA 2020-guided systematic literature review to identify, screen, and map IEQ indicators for educational facilities and to develop a sustainability-aligned framework for classroom evaluation. Searches of Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science (2010–2025) yielded 365 records; after de-duplication and eligibility screening, 142 peer-reviewed studies were included. From these, 118 unique IEQ indicators were extracted and classified into six domains: thermal comfort, indoor air quality, acoustic quality, visual comfort, environmental quality, and spatial quality. Using sustainability-oriented screening criteria (measurability, relevance, reliability, data accessibility, understandability, and long-term applicability), 50 indicators (42%) were retained as methodologically robust, while 68 (58%) were excluded due to weak standardization or limited practical applicability. The retained indicators were systematically mapped to the environmental, social, and economic pillars and aligned with key SDGs (3, 4, 7, 11, and 13). The resulting Sustainability-Aligned IEQ Indicator Framework integrates quality-screened indicators with pillar/SDG alignment and a mixed-method pathway that combines objective monitoring and occupant perception, supporting context-sensitive evaluation, particularly for naturally ventilated and tropical learning environments. Full article

In the face of increasing global temperatures, this study aims to explore ventilation strategies that could provide passive cooling to mitigate overheating in studied low-energy school buildings, in particular those that use ventilative cooling. This study utilises building modelling calibrated with field data to tackle the challenge of maintaining indoor thermal comfort and cognitive performance levels during increasingly warm seasons. The calibrated building model is used to evaluate the vulnerability of classrooms, identifying and addressing risks based on standardised overheating and resilience criteria. Two primary school classrooms were simulated in three main cities across Ireland to assess the possibility of natural ventilative cooling for maintaining indoor thermal conditions without sacrificing energy efficiency. The study highlights the critical need to enhance natural ventilation strategies to protect against projected future overheating, with peak indoor temperatures reaching 29 °C to 31 °C during May, June, and September. Implementing a maximum natural ventilation strategy during occupied times, with a 9.6% opening-to-floor area ratio, can reduce peak indoor temperatures by up to 2.5 °C. Findings show Irish classrooms in low-energy buildings equipped with hybrid ventilative cooling can act as potential climate shelters during July and August under extreme weather conditions, underlining their capacity to provide a comfortable environment for vulnerable people during heatwaves and reduce overheating risk by 42–48% compared to natural ventilation. Additionally, projections show that cognitive performance loss in students may rise to 23% by 2071 due to raised indoor temperatures; however, this can be reduced to below 10% in 2021 and 2041 with maximum natural ventilation. The novelty of this work lies in its systematic evaluation of ventilative cooling resilience under future climate scenarios across multiple Irish city contexts, providing a robust evidence base for designing climate-resilient, energy-efficient learning environments. Full article

Indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort influence the health and cognitive performance of school occupants. This study investigated carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), thermal comfort, and ventilation rates (VRs) in eight naturally ventilated (NV) primary school classrooms in Ireland during October 2024, combining environmental monitoring with teacher surveys. Mean CO₂ concentrations ranged from 796 ppm to 2469 ppm, exceeding national guidelines in seven of the eight classrooms. NO₂ levels ranged from 3.4 µg/m³ to 7.2 µg/m³, with indoor/outdoor ratios increasing with VRs and influenced by window orientation and road proximity. Indoor temperatures remained within recommended limits, while relative humidity ranged from 53% to 78% mirroring CO₂ trends and exceeding guideline levels in classrooms with lower VRs and temperatures. Occupied VRs ranged from 1.2 L/p/s to 4.1 L/p/s with window opening behaviours, reliant on teachers’ perceptions of thermal comfort, accounting for 84% to 96% of VRs. Ventilation in NV classrooms is often insufficient, yet increasing VRs can compromise thermal comfort and increase ingress of outdoor pollutants and noise. The findings highlight the ineffectiveness of current school ventilation standards, which rely heavily on user operation. Integrating occupant-led strategies, including scheduled purging, awareness campaigns, and pre-emptive air quality alerting, into policy offers practical, immediate pathways to improving IAQ, fostering healthy, sustainable learning environments. Full article

Public educational buildings, particularly schools, are often overlooked in energy efficiency initiatives, despite their potential for substantial energy and cost savings. This study presents an integrative, measurement-informed, calibrated model-based approach for assessing and enhancing energy performance in elementary schools located in Israel’s hot-arid climate. By combining multiscale environmental monitoring with a rigorously calibrated Energy Plus simulation model, the study evaluates the impact of three demand-side management (DSM) strategies: night ventilation, external envelope insulation, and a combination of the two. Quantitative results show that night ventilation reduced average indoor temperatures by up to 3.3 °C during peak occupancy hours and led to daily energy savings of 10–15%, equating to approximately 1500–2200 kWh annually per classroom. Envelope insulation further reduced diurnal temperature fluctuations from 7.75 °C to 1.0 °C and achieved an additional 9% energy savings. When combined, the two strategies yielded up to 20% energy savings and improved thermal comfort. The findings provide a transferable framework for evaluating retrofitting options in public buildings, offering actionable insights for policymakers and facility managers aiming to implement scalable, cost-effective energy interventions in educational environments. Full article

Urban school environments often face significant thermal discomfort due to extensive paved surfaces, limited vegetation, and outdated building designs. This study examines how green spaces can mitigate temperature extremes and improve thermal comfort at two secondary schools in Coimbra, Portugal: Escola Secundária José Falcão (ESJF) and Escola Secundária D. Dinis (ESDD). Using a mixed-methods approach that combined school community surveys with on-site microclimatic measurements, we integrated user feedback on comfort with data on temperature and humidity variations across different indoor and outdoor spaces. Results revealed that tree-shaded areas consistently maintained lower air temperatures and higher relative humidity than unshaded zones, which experienced intense heat accumulation—up to a 5 °C difference. At ESJF, the older infrastructure and large asphalt surfaces led to severe heat retention, with east-facing classrooms recording the highest indoor temperatures. ESDD’s pavilion-style layout and existing green spaces provided comparatively better thermal conditions, although insufficient vegetation maintenance and limited shade reduced their effectiveness. The findings demonstrate a clear correspondence between the school community’s perceptions of thermal comfort and the measured microclimatic data. Vegetation—particularly deciduous trees—plays a critical role in cooling the school microclimate through shading and evapotranspiration. Strategic interventions such as expanding tree cover in high-exposure areas, installing green roofs and walls, and carefully selecting species can significantly reduce temperature extremes and improve outdoor usability. In addition, fostering environmental education and participatory co-design programs can encourage sustainable behaviors within the school community, underlining the importance of inclusive, nature-based solutions for climate adaptation. This research highlights that integrating green infrastructure in school design and management is a cost-effective strategy for thermal regulation. Green spaces, when co-designed with community involvement, not only enhance climate resilience and student well-being but also contribute to broader sustainable urban development goals. Full article

Systems thinking (ST) is a foundational cognitive skillset to advance sustainability education but has not been well examined for learners prior to higher education. This case study research in rural middle schools in the Midwestern U.S. examines systems thinking outcomes of a place-based energy literacy unit focused on energy-efficient building design. The unit employs the science of energy-efficient, green buildings to illuminate the ways in which energy flows between natural and built environments. The unit emphasized electrical, light, and thermal energy systems and the ways these systems interact to create functional and energy-efficient buildings. This study focuses on three case study classrooms where students across schools (n = 89 students) created systems models as part of pre- and post-unit tests (n = 162 models). The unit tests consisted of student drawings, annotations, and writings, culminating into student-developed systems models. Growth from pre- to post-test was observed in both the identification of system elements and the linkages between elements. System elements included in the models were common classroom features, such as windows, lights, and temperature control, suggesting that rooting the unit in place-based teaching may support ST skills. Full article

Lecture halls are characterized by large spatial dimensions, deep floor plans, and high occupant densities. Lectures are typically conducted using multimedia and blackboard-based teaching, placing higher demands on the indoor light and thermal environment compared to standard classrooms. This study aims to simulate the interrelationships between multiple building envelope parameters and building performance, in order to improve visual and thermal comfort while reducing energy consumption in cold-region lecture halls. Based on seven key envelope parameters—including openable window area ratio, west-facing window-to-wall ratio, exterior insulation thickness, shading element spacing, angle and width, and window glass type—a multi-objective optimization framework was established. The optimization process targeted three key performance indicators—useful daylight illuminance (UDI), energy use intensity (EUI), and thermal comfort percentage (TCP)—in the context of a stepped classroom. The results show that increasing the thickness of exterior insulation and reducing the width of shading components contribute positively to photothermal comfort without compromising thermal and visual performance. Compared with the baseline design, optimized schemes that incorporate appropriate west-facing window-to-wall ratios, openable window areas, insulation thicknesses, and external shading designs can reduce annual energy consumption by up to 10.82%, and increase UDI and TCP by 12.79% and 36.41%, respectively. These improvements are also found to be economically viable. Full article

International thermal comfort requirements, such as ASHRAE standards, are used for classroom design in many countries, such as Australia, despite these standards serving thermal preferences for adult office workers in the USA or Europe. Subjected to mismatched thermal guidelines, students can be thermally uncomfortable in classrooms that are not correctly designed for their needs, and education buildings may consume significant energy on heating and cooling that is not appropriate to the location. The objective of this study is to critically examine the appropriateness of ASHRAE thermal comfort standards for classrooms in climates equivalent to New South Wales, Australia. Through a systematised literature review, this paper presents findings in four key areas: the relationship between thermal comfort and (i) local climate areas, (ii) classroom building types, (iii) students’ thermal comfort preferences and (iv) air conditioning. The research finds that international thermal comfort standards do not always provide suitable guidance for classrooms in diverse climate zones. The research identifies that reliance on mechanical heating and cooling can fail to meet students’ thermal comfort needs and undermines global environmental sustainability goals. This paper recommends localised thermal comfort benchmarks tailored to NSW’s climatic and educational contexts, contributing to improved classroom design, student wellbeing and energy-efficient learning environments. Full article

Sustainable informal learning environments are increasingly recognized as critical components of educational architecture, yet their environmental and behavioral dynamics remain underexplored. Informal learning spaces (ILS) support flexible, student-driven learning beyond formal classrooms. While prior research often isolates individual environmental factors, integrated multi-domain interactions and reciprocal occupant–space dynamics receive less attention. This study adopts a dual-perspective analytical framework, combining spatial analysis and student surveys (n = 1048) across 130 ILS in five academic buildings in China. The findings highlight several environmental dimensions influencing student experience. One extracted factor combines acoustic and thermal comfort with learning atmosphere—domains seldom grouped together—indicating their collective relevance to student experience. Additionally, spatial openness and natural connectivity further enhance student experience. Importantly, the results show that frequently used spaces receive lower physical quality ratings, group collaboration areas outperform individual study zones, and spontaneously formed spaces—informally appropriated, unplanned areas such as corridors or leftover corners—score lowest. These patterns may reflect mismatches between spatial supply and use intensity, institutional investment priorities, and differing levels of student autonomy and environmental control. This research extends conventional post-occupancy evaluations by introducing a comprehensive dual-perspective framework that links spatial characteristics with user-driven dynamics, and by identifying the combined effects of multi-domain physical environmental and supportive elements on student experience. The insights offer empirical grounding and actionable strategies for campus planners and architects, including prioritizing sensory comfort, enhancing spatial diversity, and supporting student-led adaptations to promote sustainable learning environments. Full article

Evaluating ventilation behavior inside classrooms in hot climates is fundamental to ensure good indoor air quality and proper thermal comfort, thus guaranteeing a healthy environment for the users. This study analyzes the impact of mixed ventilation strategies, which combine mechanical extractors and organic air cleaners (OACs), on CO₂ concentration and temperature distribution in an air-conditioned classroom with closed doors and windows. We used computational fluid dynamics simulations to analyze the effect of different extractor and OACs configurations on airflow distribution and average temperature, as well as the temporal evolution of average CO₂ concentrations inside the classroom. The configuration with one extractor and two OACs reduces CO₂ concentrations to 613 ppm, representing an effective solution with lower energy consumption. These findings demonstrate that hybrid ventilation systems can significantly improve IAQ and maintain thermal comfort, offering viable and energy-efficient alternatives for enclosed classrooms in hot climate regions. Full article

Indoor environmental quality profoundly impacts student learning outcomes and teacher effectiveness, particularly in primary education, where children spend most of their developmental years. The study compares the New Zealand Ministry of Education’s Designing Quality Learning Spaces (DQLS) version 2.0 for primary school classrooms with international standards set by OECD countries to develop IAQ and thermal comfort best practices in New Zealand across six climate zones. The research evaluates indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort factors affecting students’ and teachers’ health and performance. Using Ladybug and Honeybee plugin tools in Grasshopper with Energy Plus, integrated into Rhino 7 software, the study employed advanced building optimisation methods, using multi-criteria optimisation and parametric modelling. This approach enabled a comprehensive analysis of building envelope parameters for historical classroom designs, the Avalon block (constructed between 1955 and 2000). Optimise window-to-wall ratios, ceiling heights, window placement, insulation values (R-values), clothing insulation (Clo), and window opening schedules. Our findings demonstrate that strategic modifications to the building envelope can significantly improve occupant comfort and energy performance. Specifically, increasing ceiling height by 0.8 m, raising windows by 0.3 m vertically, and reducing the window-to-wall ratio to 25% created optimal conditions across multiple performance criteria. These targeted adjustments improved adaptive thermal comfort, ventilation, carbon dioxide, and energy efficiency while maintaining local and international standards. The implications of the findings extend beyond the studied classrooms, offering evidence-based strategies for overall design and building performance guidelines in educational facilities. This research demonstrates the efficacy of applying computational design optimisation during early design phases, providing policymakers and architects with practical solutions that could inform future revisions of New Zealand’s school design standards and align them more closely with international best practices for educational environments. Full article