Schoolchildren's performance up 15% with improved indoor climate

Researchers from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) shows significant improving in performance of schoolchildren with better indoor climate in the classroom.

The International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy (ICIEE) at DTU has revealed part studies from a large scale study of the indoor climate in schools, and the results are stunning.

“The size of the improvement in performance that could be obtained by improving the physical conditions in classrooms was up to 30% in some kinds of schoolwork and averaged 15% across all the tasks that were significantly affected by the conditions”, says associate professor Geo Clausen from ICIEE at DTU.

The analysis of the experiments is still in progress, but the results obtained in three separate experiments in which ventilation rates were changed, and in two experiments in which summertime temperatures were reduced by 2-3 degrees C.

Recently ICIEE has made several studies of the impact of indoor climate on work performance and the economical consequences hereof. These studies have received worldwide attention. The ICIEE literally showed the link between indoor climate and company figures. According to the researchers from DTU, this new study requires a far more complex cost-benefit analysis.

“Productivity improvements achieved in adult workplaces by improving working conditions can often be shown to make good economic sense, as they literally pay for themselves, but this cannot be argued as easily in schools, because the benefits of better learning take time to work through the system and benefit the whole of society instead of benefiting the particular commercial enterprise that invested in better working conditions. Parents and politicians will have to make the case, and the role of ICIEE is to provide the basis for a rational decision”, says associate professor Geo Clausen.

Full details will be made public when ASHRAE - the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers - decides to hold a Press Conference on the study. This is expected to be in connection with the publication of two reports from the ICIEE in the HVAC&R Research Journal, expected mid-June.