International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

Abstract—Growing awareness on the subject of classroom’s indoor air quality and concerns regarding the probable link between indoor air quality, student’s attendance and academic performance, support recent legislation limiting classroom’s indoor pollutant concentrations. A consequence of this legislation is the generalized shift towards air-conditioned classrooms and increased budgets for schools energy running costs. According to the scientific literature, demand control ventilation systems are suited for classrooms, ensuring indoor air quality and thermal comfort with significant energy savings. Based on detailed building energy simulation this paper compares a demand control ventilation system and a (traditional) constant air volume system considering a typical classroom located in two distinct climatic regions: Portugal and Macao. Based on hourly results of classroom’s indoor CO2 concentrations and indoor air temperatures, and on annual air-conditioning energy consumptions, advantages of the demand control ventilation system are discussed.

Index Terms—Classroom indoor air quality, demand control ventilation, energy efficiency, thermal comfort.

R. Duarte is with the Setubal Polytechnic Institute, IPS Campus, Estefanilha, 2910-761 Setúbal, Portugal (e-mail: rogerio.duarte@estsetubal.ips.pt).
I. Beltrão-Coelho is with the Independent Architect and Consultant in Sustainability and Energy Efficiency, Rua do Campo, n. 206, Edif. Fu Luen – 29 D, Macau.

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Cite:Rogério Duarte and Ingride Beltrão-Coelho, "Reconciling Indoor Air Quality and Energy Efficiency in Air-Conditioned Classrooms: Case Studies for Portugal and Macao," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 168-172, 2013.