IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i5p2866-d761866.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluation of Children’s Thermal Environment in Nursery School: Through the Questionnaire and Measurement of Wearable Sensors Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Xin Yuan

    (Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu, Hibikino1-1, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan)

  • Yuji Ryu

    (Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu, Hibikino1-1, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan)

Abstract

Due to psychological and physical differences, children are more vulnerable to the influence of the surrounding environment than adults. A nursery school in Japan was selected as the research object. The actual thermal environment of children aged 1 to 5 in the classroom was evaluated based on measured data in winter and summer. Through a questionnaire survey of nursery teachers, this paper analyzed and compared the relationship between teachers’ thermal adaptation behavior and children’s thermal sensation. Compared with the traditional fixed-points measurement method, a method of wearable sensors for children was proposed to measure the indoor temperature distribution. The traditional measurement results showed that 73% of classroom indoor temperatures and humidity do not meet the thermal comfort standard stipulated by the government. The method proposed in this paper indicates that: (1) nursery teachers’ thermal adaptation behavior may not be based on children’s thermal sensations; (2) solar radiation and weather context could lead to uneven indoor horizontal temperature distribution, hence, specific attention should be paid to the thermal environment when children move to the window side; and (3) the density of occupants causes the temperature around the human body to be relatively high. We suggest that teachers improve the thermal comfort of gathered children through thermal adaptive behaviors. The results of the study provide valuable information for nursery managers to formulate effective indoor thermal environment strategies from the perspective of children.

Suggested Citation

  • Xin Yuan & Yuji Ryu, 2022. "Evaluation of Children’s Thermal Environment in Nursery School: Through the Questionnaire and Measurement of Wearable Sensors Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-19, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:2866-:d:761866
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2866/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2866/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zomorodian, Zahra Sadat & Tahsildoost, Mohammad & Hafezi, Mohammadreza, 2016. "Thermal comfort in educational buildings: A review article," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 895-906.
    2. Liang, Han-Hsi & Lin, Tzu-Ping & Hwang, Ruey-Lung, 2012. "Linking occupants’ thermal perception and building thermal performance in naturally ventilated school buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 355-363.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Attia, Shady & Shadmanfar, Niloufar & Ricci, Federico, 2020. "Developing two benchmark models for nearly zero energy schools," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    2. Betty Lala & Solli Murtyas & Aya Hagishima, 2022. "Indoor Thermal Comfort and Adaptive Thermal Behaviors of Students in Primary Schools Located in the Humid Subtropical Climate of India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Giulia Lamberti & Giacomo Salvadori & Francesco Leccese & Fabio Fantozzi & Philomena M. Bluyssen, 2021. "Advancement on Thermal Comfort in Educational Buildings: Current Issues and Way Forward," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-29, September.
    4. Carolina Rodriguez & María Coronado & Marta D’Alessandro & Juan Medina, 2019. "The Importance of Standardised Data-Collection Methods in the Improvement of Thermal Comfort Assessment Models for Developing Countries in the Tropics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-22, August.
    5. Girish Rentala & Yimin Zhu & Neil M. Johannsen, 2021. "Impact of Outdoor Temperature Variations on Thermal State in Experiments Using Immersive Virtual Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-36, September.
    6. Agustín Zaballos & Alan Briones & Alba Massa & Pol Centelles & Víctor Caballero, 2020. "A Smart Campus’ Digital Twin for Sustainable Comfort Monitoring," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-33, November.
    7. Van Craenendonck, Stijn & Lauriks, Leen & Vuye, Cedric & Kampen, Jarl, 2018. "A review of human thermal comfort experiments in controlled and semi-controlled environments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3365-3378.
    8. Liu, Gang & Chen, Huizhen & Yuan, Ye & Song, Chenge, 2024. "Indoor thermal environment and human health: A systematic review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    9. Payam Nejat & Fatemeh Jomehzadeh & Hasanen Mohammed Hussen & John Kaiser Calautit & Muhd Zaimi Abd Majid, 2018. "Application of Wind as a Renewable Energy Source for Passive Cooling through Windcatchers Integrated with Wing Walls," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-23, September.
    10. Iasmin Lourenço Niza & Evandro Eduardo Broday, 2022. "An Analysis of Thermal Comfort Models: Which One Is Suitable Model to Assess Thermal Reality in Brazil?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-19, July.
    11. Enescu, Diana, 2017. "A review of thermal comfort models and indicators for indoor environments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1353-1379.
    12. Oriol Pons & Saeid Habibi & Diana Peña, 2018. "Sustainability Assessment of Household Waste Based Solar Control Devices for Workshops in Primary Schools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-23, November.
    13. Ren, Zhengen & Chen, Dong, 2018. "Modelling study of the impact of thermal comfort criteria on housing energy use in Australia," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 152-166.
    14. Shalin Bidassey-Manilal & Caradee Yael Wright & Thandi Kapwata & Joyce Shirinde, 2020. "A Study Protocol to Determine Heat-Related Health Impacts among Primary Schoolchildren in South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-12, July.
    15. Lin, Haiyang & Wang, Qinxing & Wang, Yu & Liu, Yiling & Sun, Qie & Wennersten, Ronald, 2017. "The energy-saving potential of an office under different pricing mechanisms – Application of an agent-based model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 248-258.
    16. Abad, B. & Borca-Tasciuc, D.-A. & Martin-Gonzalez, M.S., 2017. "Non-contact methods for thermal properties measurement," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 1348-1370.
    17. Hong, Taehoon & Kim, Jimin & Lee, Myeonghwi, 2018. "Integrated task performance score for the building occupants based on the CO2 concentration and indoor climate factors changes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1707-1713.
    18. Apriesnig, Jenny L. & Manning, Dale T. & Suter, Jordan F. & Magzamen, Sheryl & Cross, Jennifer E., 2020. "Academic stars and Energy Stars, an assessment of student academic achievement and school building energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    19. Jozef Švajlenka & Mária Kozlovská, 2021. "Factors Influencing the Sustainability of Wood-Based Constructions’ Use from the Perspective of Users," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, November.
    20. Balali, Amirhossein & Yunusa-Kaltungo, Akilu & Edwards, Rodger, 2023. "A systematic review of passive energy consumption optimisation strategy selection for buildings through multiple criteria decision-making techniques," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:2866-:d:761866. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.