Graduation Semester and Year

2014

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Earth and Environmental Science

Department

Earth and Environmental Sciences

First Advisor

Melanie L Sattler

Abstract

Indoor air quality (IAQ) in educational facilities is a very important aspect of the educational process because it may affect the students and staff health and performance. This study was conducted during the 2012-2013 academic year in three high schools from two school districts in the North Texas region, to determine whether or not the IAQ in test schools meets Texas IAQ guidelines, investigate the impact of the outdoor quality, school layout, and room type on the IAQ of the test schools. Temperature, relative humidity, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), ozone (O₃), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were monitored for a week in four different classrooms in each school using a Direct Sense IAQ monitor (IQ-610). Outdoor air data (temperature, relative humidity, carbon monoxide and ozone) was obtained from the closest monitor sites of the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality to investigate the correlation between indoor and outdoor air quality in the test schools. The results of this study show that the test schools showed generally low levels of VOCs, CO, O₃, CO₂ within the guidelines and acceptable ranges of temperature and relative humidity. However, a few rooms meet the guideline over half percent of the time for CO₂, RH and VOCs. It is recommended that the ventilation rate be increased to improve the IAQ in these rooms of concern. The data show weak to no correlation trends between indoor and outdoor parameters in test schools. The layout of test school facilities, evaluated using the distance of each room to the nearest school entrance, did not show an effect on the IAQ in the test schools. Different types of rooms (science room, computer room, copy room, and regular classroom) did not show different IAQ concentrations. The ANOVA test used may not have been powerful enough to detect differences..

Disciplines

Earth Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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