A field survey on the indoor environmental quality of the UK primary school classroom

The indoor environmental quality (thermal, visual, acoustic and air quality) of the primary school classroom has an impact on pupils' learning and wellbeing. A field study, conducted on random days from 2012 to 2013, was carried out in 203 classrooms from 30 primary schools in 3 areas within the UK.

Physical parameters were measured at the site: illuminance, air temperature, relative humidity, CO2 concentration and noise level. It was inferred that: 30.9% classrooms did not meet the proposed standards limiting the level of CO2 levels; light levels were found to be notably low (less than 500lux) because the pedagogy was reliant on smart boards; high noise levels (between 40 to 80dBA) were caused mainly from the adjacent activity areas to the classroom. Based on the findings, practical suggestions are proposed to maximise the environmental benefit to the pupils.