Indoor air quality of classroom

Indoor air quality (IAQ) has become a growing concern among people as they spend 90% of their time indoors. Poor air quality can affect the comfort, health and productivity of an individual. Due to the hot and humid climate in Singapore, large number of commercial buildings, schools, shopping malls, recreational facilities and public transportation are served by air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation (ACMV) systems to sustain a thermally comfortable indoor environment. To provide a comfortable and healthy environment for students and staff to study and work in respectively, it is essential to maintain good indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools and institutions. This study aims to investigate the IAQ status of a specified classroom and to study how poor indoor air quality can affect the comfort and health of students and staff in the school. A classroom and an outdoor location were selected and air quality measurements were conducted over two days to compare various indoor pollutants at different time period. Thermal comfort parameters like temperature and relative humidity, concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), total volatile organic compounds in terms of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), formaldehyde (HCHO), dust particles and microbial counts were measured. In addition, questionnaires and student’s performance were completed by the staff and students in order to obtain feedback of the indoor air quality. Through this study, the school can use the collated IAQ results as a reference to assess on the school indoor air quality status for future air improvement.Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental Engineering