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© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Kindergartens are important community facilities that introduce children to a classroom learning environment. The research aimed to examine current practices in kindergarten heating, cooling, and ventilation and investigate how IAQ and thermal comfort interact with each other at five selected kindergartens in Melbourne. This research used field measurements to investigate indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic and used CO2 concentration levels as an indicator of IAQ. The research found that high CO2 levels above recommended maximums were reached in operational kindergartens. The highest level identified during class time was 1908 ppm. Conditions outside recommended levels for thermal comfort were also recorded. A kindergarten operating with the use of both mechanical and natural ventilation was found to have lower CO2 levels than the kindergartens relying solely on mechanical ventilation. However, thermal comfort was compromised in this kindergarten. The data collected in kindergartens in their natural settings offered insights into the actual ventilation conditions in these facilities and provided baseline data for developing pandemic-resilient kindergartens. The findings are relevant to kindergartens in other countries that have dynamic window/door-opening behavior.

Details

Title
Interaction between Thermal Conditions and Ventilation in Kindergartens in Melbourne, Australia
Author
Munckton, Brett 1 ; Rajagopalan, Priyadarsini 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia; [email protected] 
 Sustainable Building Innovation Laboratory, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia; Post Carbon Infrastructure and Built Environment Research Centre, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia 
First page
1186
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20711050
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2924018690
Copyright
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.