Methodology to evaluate and educate on indoor air quality in Early Childhood Education Centers

Abstract

Several studies indicate that more than one in three children in Europe has bronchial asthma or allergies. The rate of respiratory diseases is progressively increasing and that there is also a clear relationship between school performance and indoor air quality. The increase in IAQ in children's schools produces a decrease in the demand for pediatric health care. The main objective of this project is to analyze the shelter capacity of children's schools against poliution phenomena, through the identification and evaluation of the key parameters in the environmental quality of children's schools. A primary purpose of the project is the transfer of the results to the education sector so that we all hecome aware of the problems caused by IAQ and be able to improve it.

The methodology proposed includes: the characterization of IAQ and outdoor air quality based on in situ measurement of the main eniromental variables; the assessment of its sheler capacity, conducting surveys for teachers and students on enviromental quality; and the execution of awareness activities that reinforce the participatory process in the project of the educational community. This method is innovative because it has been studied transversally between different disciplines to respond to the problem both technically and from awareness and social education.