Educational Buildings: Analysis of IAQ as a Function of Occupant Behavior and Mechanical Ventilation Systems

Following the health emergency caused by SARS-CoV2, the Marche Region (Italy) implemented a series of interventions to finance mechanical ventilation systems in schools. These interventions enabled the implementation of a measurement campaign to evaluate the functioning of mechanical ventilation inside educational buildings. Specifically, the following study investigates the dynamics regarding IAQ according to occupant behavior and the presence or absence of ventilation system on three different classrooms by analyzing the trend of measured CO2 concentration. From the results obtained, it is evident that the classroom without a ventilation system reaches much higher CO2 values than the classrooms with the ventilation system, with a difference from the maximum values of 45.3%. In addition, the combination of natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation is crucial to obtain acceptable CO2 levels. These aspects are directly related to the behavior of occupants (opening/closing windows, using the ventilation system), who must be informed about the various ventilation strategies and directed toward their conscious use.