AVALIAÇÃO DA QUALIDADE DO AR INTERIOR DURANTE A PANDEMIA DE COVID-19 EM SALAS DE AULA NATURALMENTE VENTILADAS

Abstract

Classrooms’ indoor conditions are important factors for the occupants’ health and comfort, also contributing to the students’ learning process. In order to obtain good indoor air quality (IAQ), the use of an appropriate ventilation system is necessary, with adequate air change rates. In 2020, this issue became especially relevant due to the COVID-19 pandemic, since adequate ventilation strategies in environments with a high occupancy rate such as classrooms can contribute to reducing the transmission potential of respiratory diseases. This study aims to evaluate the air change rates and the CO2 concentration in classrooms of school buildings, in order to identify scenarios that contribute to reducing the risk of spreading the SARS-CoV-2 virus. First, climatic variables were monitored in a classroom in two periods: before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A simulation model was calibrated based on the data collected in loco, using the EnergyPlus software, version 9.3. Subsequently, scenarios varying the number of occupants and the environment’s air change rate were simulated, in order to assess the impact of these variables on the environment’s CO2 concentration. The results showed a difference of approximately 42% between the best and the worst scenarios. The reduction in the number of occupants associated to a ventilation rate over 6,5 hr−1 were effective strategies to reduce the CO2 concentration. However, it is important to emphasize that the adopted strategies must be analyzed for each situation specifically, as well as the risks and benefits for the classroom occupants.