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Title: The ventilation problem in schools: literature review

Abstract

Based on a review of literature published in refereed archival journals, ventilation rates in classrooms often fall far short of the minimum ventilation rates specified in standards. We report that 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. Finally, such expenditures seem like a small price to pay given the evidence of health and performance benefits.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Indoor Environment Group
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1437972
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1399162
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Indoor Air
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 27; Journal Issue: 6; Related Information: © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd; Journal ID: ISSN 0905-6947
Publisher:
Wiley
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY; 42 ENGINEERING; carbon dioxide; costs; health; performance; schools; ventilation

Citation Formats

Fisk, W. J. The ventilation problem in schools: literature review. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1111/ina.12403.
Fisk, W. J. The ventilation problem in schools: literature review. United States. https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12403
Fisk, W. J. 2017. "The ventilation problem in schools: literature review". United States. https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12403. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1437972.
@article{osti_1437972,
title = {The ventilation problem in schools: literature review},
author = {Fisk, W. J.},
abstractNote = {Based on a review of literature published in refereed archival journals, ventilation rates in classrooms often fall far short of the minimum ventilation rates specified in standards. We report that 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. Finally, such expenditures seem like a small price to pay given the evidence of health and performance benefits.},
doi = {10.1111/ina.12403},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1437972}, journal = {Indoor Air},
issn = {0905-6947},
number = 6,
volume = 27,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jul 06 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Thu Jul 06 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 140 works
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Works referenced in this record:

Respiratory Health among Korean Pupils in Relation to Home, School and Outdoor Environment
journal, January 2011


Indoor air quality investigation according to age of the school buildings in Korea
journal, January 2009


School air quality related to dry cough, rhinitis and nasal patency in children
journal, January 2010


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journal, July 2014


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journal, January 2002


Indoor air quality in Michigan schools
journal, April 2007


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journal, November 2015


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journal, October 2015


A holistic approach for the assessment of the indoor environmental quality, student productivity, and energy consumption in primary schools
journal, April 2015


Ventilation rates in schools and pupils’ performance
journal, February 2012


Assessment of ventilation and indoor air pollutants in nursery and elementary schools in France
journal, July 2015


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journal, January 2014


Indoor air quality and health in schools
journal, June 2014


Ventilation in day care centers and sick leave among nursery children
journal, April 2015


Effects of Classroom Ventilation Rate and Temperature on Students’ Test Scores
journal, August 2015


Classroom Carbon Dioxide Concentration, School Attendance, and Educational Attainment
journal, August 2014


A preliminary study on the association between ventilation rates in classrooms and student performance
journal, December 2006


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journal, October 1998


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journal, October 2001


Improving energy performance of school buildings while ensuring indoor air quality ventilation
journal, September 2007


Indoor air pollutants in schools: nasal patency and biomarkers in nasal lavage
journal, February 2000


Use of visual CO 2 feedback as a retrofit solution for improving classroom air quality
journal, May 2014


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journal, October 2008


The Effect of Low Ventilation Rates on the Cognitive Function of a Primary School Class
journal, September 2007


Particulate matter in the indoor air of classrooms—exploratory results from Munich and surrounding area
journal, February 2007


Semivolatile compounds in schools and their influence on cognitive performance of children
journal, January 2013


Is CO 2 an Indoor Pollutant? Direct Effects of Low-to-Moderate CO 2 Concentrations on Human Decision-Making Performance
journal, December 2012


Works referencing / citing this record:

Direct human health risks of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide
journal, July 2019


How home ventilation rates affect health: A literature review
journal, May 2018


Birth month is associated with learning capacity in childhood in Northeast China
journal, October 2019


Estimating the nationwide transmission risk of measles in US schools and impacts of vaccination and supplemental infection control strategies
journal, July 2020


Associations between indoor environmental quality in schools and symptom reporting in pupil-administered questionnaires
journal, December 2019


Carbon Dioxide Human Gains—A New Approach of the Estimation
journal, December 2019