Indoor Air and Light Quality Assessment in a University Campus Classroom

Abstract

Educational buildings should provide a secure, healthy, and comfortable indoor environment for students since they spend a noteworthy part of their time inside. The present study aims to identify and assess the key indicators related to the light and air quality of a campus classroom, which contributes to the health of students. The indicators are chosen from an existing green rating tool, the WELL Building Standard (WBS). The research methodology consists of three main phases; indicator selection, impact assessment, and validation process. The engagement of stakeholders was taken into the account in the entire research framework. The research findings showed that there is a considerable gap among the acceptable range of indoor air and the light quality of the classroom. This led to verifying various health issues among the students, including dryness and irritation of the skin and eyes, and consequently increased their dissatisfaction rate. The study provides some significant insights based on the obtained results, highlighting the importance of incorporating student health and wellness into educational building design and operations, including visual comfort and indoor air quality conditions, which are often worse than the stipulations in standards.