The Effect of Architectural Parameters on the Risk of Infection by Airborne Diseases in Classrooms

The COVID-19 pandemic brought increased concern for the indoor air quality (IAQ) of spaces like classrooms from late 2019 to late 2022, prompting the production and consumption of over 8 millions of tonnes of use plastics (Peng et al. 2021) in the form of face-masks, HEPA filters, gloves and more. As we move forward, it is important to prevent the spread of such diseases as much as we can, without compromising our sustainable development goals. This paper underlines the importance and effectiveness of natural ventilation in reducing airborne infection risk, through the case study of an educational building in Brazil. It demonstrates natural ventilation strategies can keep infection risk to a statistically negligible number, even when the occupants eschew facemasks.