THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

THE FIRST TEST OF INDOOR AIR QUALITY IN KINDERGARTENS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA

ABSTRACT
The first experimental results of the indoor air quality in two kindergartens located in the Republic of Srpska are presented in this paper. Kindergarten representatives for the year of construction (old and new), building materials, and energy efficiency have been chosen. Indoor air quality measurements (air temperature, relative humidity, ventilation rate, CO2, and radon concentration) were performed during the winter of 2015/2016. Measured indoor air quality parameters are discussed and compared to the international standards BAS EN 16798-1, ASHRAE 62.1, and ISO 7730. The average measured radon concentrations for both buildings have not exceeded the level of 200 Bq/m3, but for reliable results, long-term measurement needs to be performed. The CO2 concentration in the old kindergarten fulfills the BAS EN 16798-1 requirement for Category I during 62.43% of total occupancy time, while for the new kindergarten, it is only 5.79% of full occupancy time. Results of CO2 concentration confirm that good sealing of the envelope of new buildings and user behavior (number of users and natural ventilation) does affect air quality. Furthermore, a high correlation between CO2 concentration and relative humidity in both buildings and a more considerable correlation for the new building have been observed.
KEYWORDS
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2023-01-14
PAPER REVISED: 2023-09-24
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2023-10-03
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2023-12-10
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI230114252A
CITATION EXPORT: view in browser or download as text file
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR 2024, VOLUME 28, ISSUE Issue 3, PAGES [2565 - 2578]
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© 2024 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence