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

Following the health emergency caused by SARS-CoV2, the MarcheRegion (Italy) implemented a series of interventions to finance mechanical ventilation systems in schools. These interventions enabled the implementation of ameasurement campaign to evaluate the functioning of mechanical ventilation insideeducational buildings. Specifically, the following study investigates the dynamicsregarding IAQ according to occupant behavior and the presence or absence of ventilation system on three different classrooms by analyzing the trend of measured CO2concentration. From the results obtained, it is evident that the classroom without aventilation system reaches much higher CO2 values than the classrooms with theventilation system, with a difference from the maximum values of 45.3%. In addition, the combination of natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation is crucial toobtain acceptable CO2 levels. These aspects are directly related to the behavior ofoccupants (opening/closing windows, using the ventilation system), who must beinformed about the various ventilation strategies and directed toward their conscioususe.