Improving the indoor air quality in nursery buildings in United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Children inhale indoor air at 400 mL/min·kg per body weight, 2.76 times more than adults. They have weaker immunity than adults and are more exposed to asthma, allergies, and atopic diseases. The objective of this paper is to suggest effective management and improvement measures for indoor air quality for nurseries. As a methodology, 16 nurseries (total of 35 classrooms) were selected to measure the indoor air quality compared with WHO IAQ Standard, and identify the daily concentration change of the pollutants. Based on the measurements, IAQ improvements for selected facilities are carried out to compare the results before and after improvement. The result has shown that the concentration of Carbon Dioxide (CO2 ), Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC), Total Suspended Particles (TSP) and formaldehyde (CH2 O) exceeds WHO IAQ standards. The concentration of CO2 and TSP is changed mainly by physical activity of children and that of CH2 O and TVOC is changed mainly by ventilation after school start. TVOC decreased by 46.4% and the TSP decreased by 21.7% after air purifier, but CH2 O and TVOC increased 1.8–3.8 times after interior renovation with low-emission finishing materials. After new ventilation installation, the CH2 O and TVOC reduced half and the TSP reduced one third. It is proven that the most effective way to reduce the concentration of air pollutants in nurseries is the installation of a new ventilation system, followed by an air purifier. The renovation with low-emission finishing materials cannot improve IAQ in a short period of time.