Learning lessons
Ian Ellis, Marketing Manager at Siemens Buildings, discusses the issue of indoor air quality in education.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is an important issue across a wide range of buildings. The air that we breathe can have a significant impact not only on how we feel but also on longer-term health outcomes.
In education environments, its effects can be particularly acute. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has consistently ranked indoor air pollution as one of the top five environmental risks to public health, and numerous studies have been conducted in schools, colleges, and universities to demonstrate how air pollution can negatively affect students’ cognitive and respiratory health, reducing their learning performance and increasing their susceptibility to diseases in adult life. Such issues have raised the profile of how a building’s systems can be controlled to help address these problems.
Controlling IAQ
Studies suggest that 40–60% relative humidity is ideal for indoor human health and for reducing virus vitality. With each person delivering approximately 8 liters of air per minute through breathing (children typically half that amount), the released air contains CO2 plus droplets and aerosols. CO2 levels should be kept below a certain threshold to help provide wellbeing for students and teachers alike.
The variation in levels in a typical school is illustrated in a report by DEFRA, which, under the heading ‘CO2 in Schools’, states: “…significant variations during the day associated with changes in occupancy of the rooms and changes in air ventilation: typical values are about 1,000 ppm in winter and 650 ppm in summer.”
These variations are where an effective building management system (BMS) can help. It is important here to recognise the role of sensors.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term that is heard a lot these days, none more so than in education where the concerns are largely focused on its implications in providing the means for students to effectively cheat by using AI to complete assignments. However, it also has an important role to play in the control of buildings. AI is only as powerful as the data it is given, with the quality of the AI decisions depending directly on the input provided. This is true of room sensors, with technologies now available to deliver high-resolution, real-time contextual data, enabling AI to detect subtle trends, anticipate behaviour and optimise complex systems with surgical precision. It is the difference between reacting and predicting – between automation and true intelligence.
Simplification through traffic light system
While such an approach is at one end of the complexity scale, much simpler options are available in BMS which can still significantly help to improve air quality. IAQ room sensors are available based on a traffic light system to enable issues to be identified at a glance. Such sensors use a green, amber or red light to indicate the respective good to bad levels of air quality in real-time. It is unreasonable to expect a teacher to have an in-depth understanding or the time to constantly monitor CO2 levels, but a simple red light provides an immediate alert that the air quality is poor and that it is time to open a window or improve the air circulation through the building’s BMS.
This visual cue empowers building occupants to take control of their environment without needing technical expertise. It also fosters awareness and behavioural change, encouraging proactive ventilation habits that improve IAQ without relying solely on automated systems.
Connecting the dots for MATs
With the shift towards a more holistic approach to managing a building, so the need for connectivity of the sensors and control devices is becoming ever more important. Solutions are now available which allow daily building management tasks to be undertaken from one place via a cloud-based interface with no additional gateway or software.
With the ongoing trend towards adopting Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) in education, having control not only across a number of buildings but also, increasingly, across different sites is becoming a more regular requirement. The capability to retrofit a BMS into existing buildings, as well as into new-builds, means the benefits can be realised across buildings which may vary significantly in age.
Intuitive online access can be available via desktop or smartphone, with installation achieved via plug and play, so system integrators, technicians and facility managers do not need engineering skills to set up, configure and operate systems. It is important that such interfaces can support a range of communication protocols to optimise connectivity (wired or wireless) – BACnet, LoRaWan, M-Bus, Modbus and KNX are all protocols used in BMS.
Health and academic benefits
Controlling the environment of buildings through BMS is increasingly becoming the norm rather than the exception. While the advantages this provides in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability continue to be important, the contribution to the health and wellbeing of a building’s occupants is now firmly part of the decision-making process and should not be underestimated. In educational environments, this is particularly pertinent.
Alongside the health benefits there are the academic advantages of better IAQ: increased student focus, engagement and test performance; reduced classroom disruption due to illness and absenteeism; and enhanced teacher productivity and quality of teaching.
