IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i3p1186-d1330087.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Interaction between Thermal Conditions and Ventilation in Kindergartens in Melbourne, Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Brett Munckton

    (School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia)

  • Priyadarsini Rajagopalan

    (Sustainable Building Innovation Laboratory, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
    Post Carbon Infrastructure and Built Environment Research Centre, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia)

Abstract

Kindergartens are important community facilities that introduce children to a classroom learning environment. The research aimed to examine current practices in kindergarten heating, cooling, and ventilation and investigate how IAQ and thermal comfort interact with each other at five selected kindergartens in Melbourne. This research used field measurements to investigate indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic and used CO 2 concentration levels as an indicator of IAQ. The research found that high CO 2 levels above recommended maximums were reached in operational kindergartens. The highest level identified during class time was 1908 ppm. Conditions outside recommended levels for thermal comfort were also recorded. A kindergarten operating with the use of both mechanical and natural ventilation was found to have lower CO 2 levels than the kindergartens relying solely on mechanical ventilation. However, thermal comfort was compromised in this kindergarten. The data collected in kindergartens in their natural settings offered insights into the actual ventilation conditions in these facilities and provided baseline data for developing pandemic-resilient kindergartens. The findings are relevant to kindergartens in other countries that have dynamic window/door-opening behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Brett Munckton & Priyadarsini Rajagopalan, 2024. "Interaction between Thermal Conditions and Ventilation in Kindergartens in Melbourne, Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-16, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:3:p:1186-:d:1330087
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/3/1186/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/3/1186/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laura Borgese & Giuseppe Tomasoni & Filippo Marciano & Annalisa Zacco & Fabjola Bilo & Elena Stefana & Paola Cocca & Diana Rossi & Paola Cirelli & Angelo Luigi Camillo Ciribini & Sara Comai & Silvia M, 2022. "Definition of an Indoor Air Sampling Strategy for SARS-CoV-2 Detection and Risk Management: Case Study in Kindergartens," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Vesna Lovec & Miroslav Premrov & Vesna Žegarac Leskovar, 2021. "Practical Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort in Kindergartens. A Case Study of Slovenia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-14, September.
    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. Chih-Pei Hu & Jen-Hsiung Cheng, 2022. "Challenges and Actions of IAQ under COVID-19: A Survey of Taiwanese People’s Perception of Epidemic Prevention and Indoor Places Certification," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-19, November.
    2. Giulia Lamberti & Francesco Leccese & Giacomo Salvadori, 2024. "Analysis of the Interplay between Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort in University Classrooms for Enhanced HVAC Control," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-22, October.

    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:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:3:p:1186-:d:1330087. 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.