Overheating in Schools: Factors Determining Children’s Perceptions of Overall Comfort Indoors

Abstract

Climate change is raising the length and intensity of the warm season in the academic year, with a very significant impact on indoor classroom conditions. Increasingly frequent episodes of extreme heat are having an adverse effect on school activities, whose duration may have to be shortened or pace slackened. Fitting facilities with air conditioning does not always solve the problem and may even contribute to discomfort or worsen health conditions, often as a result of insufficient ventilation. Users have traditionally adopted measures to adapt to these situations, particularly in warm climates where mechanical refrigeration is absent or unavailable. Implementation of such measures or of natural ventilation is not always possible or their efficacy is limited in school environments, however. Such constraints, especially in a context where reasonable energy use and operating costs are a primary concern, inform the need to identify the factors that contribute to users’ perceptions of comfort. This study deploys a post-occupancy strategy combined with participatory action to empower occupants as agents actively engaging in their own comfort. It addresses user-identified classroom comfort parameters potentially applicable in the design and layout of thermally suitable spaces meriting occupant acceptance.