THE EFFECT OF INDOOR AIR QUALITY TOWARDS STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN REFURBISHED PRIVATE KINDERGARTEN IN MALAYSIA

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1 THE EFFECT OF INDOOR AIR QUALITY TOWARDS STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN REFURBISHED PRIVATE KINDERGARTEN IN MALAYSIA Kamaruzzaman, S.N. 1, Norhanim, Z. 2, and Yau, A.Y. 1 1 Department of Building Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment University of Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur. 2 Department of Quantity Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment University of Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur. syahrulnizam@um.edu.my, norhanimz@um.edu.my ABSTRACT The indoor air quality (IAQ) is an important component of providing good and high ventilation of air in order to give a healthy and comfortable indoor environment in building and school. The IAQ will affect the health condition, comfort, performance and productivity of the staff, children and teachers in the school. According to many studies, the indoor air quality has a mutual relationship with the performance of the students in school. This paper presents the investigation on the relationship between indoor air quality towards student s performance in two private kindergarten in Malaysia. Parameters concentration of Formaldehyde, Carbon Dioxide, Relative Humidity, Temperature and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) were measured. Simultaneously, two trial simplified tests was also conducted to monitor the student performance. An acceptable level of IAQ was found in this research. Nevertheless, several prevention steps are needed to improve indoor air quality such as architectural design, space planning, site planning, ventilation and thermal comfort, material selection and recommendation for air conditioning system. Keywords: IAQ, student performance, kindergarten, refurbishment INTRODUCTION Private kindergarten centre exist in variety form and places in Malaysia such as terrace houses, shop lots, bungalow, apartment, condominium and others. Some buildings are not original build to be a kindergarten usage, but the structure of the building has been modify and undergone refurbishment to convert to kindergarten. The refurbishment might not been meeting the specific requirement which will poor air circulation in the kindergarten. This will eventually harm the students and create sick building syndrome in the building. Poor indoor air quality will be the main issue of private kindergarten because young kids are vulnerable to sick building syndrome. Kindergarten indoor air quality is a sensitive issue that always been concerned by the parents about their kids in the pre-school. Parents worried their children s hygienic and healthy issues since they are lack of independency in managing themselves. Indoor air quality will be one of the factors which transmitted indoor pollutants after refurbishment among by the airborne. Thus, indoor air quality must be properly monitor and control to prevent indoor pollutants spread in the building. 1

2 On the other hands, poor maintenance on the air conditioning system will be one of the reasons of poor indoor air quality. The air conditioning system has not been maintaining according the schedule. There is a lot of dust accumulated on the air conditioning filter and has not been cleaned for years. This is a very common situation being seen on air conditional system in every building in Malaysia. Whereas building owner claimed that they lacked off allocation or budget in maintaining the air conditioning system according to the schedule recommended. Schools with a formal IAQ management program should be in the best position to plan and practice a comprehensive, proactive approach to IAQ. The goals of an IAQ management plan are to fix any existing IAQ problems, create awareness among school staff so that staff can work to prevent IAQ problems, and address IAQ problems as they occur rather than waiting until the problem escalates. (US Environmental Protection Agency; 2003) Often, the presence of both indoor contaminants and other indoor environmental factors makes it difficult to identify direct causes of occupant discomfort and health symptoms. While much attention is given to reactive measures regarding indoor air quality, little research is available to guide the construction and renovation of pre-school buildings to optimize good indoor air quality and minimize the potential for contamination and future problems. The Washington State Department of Health has conducted a survey that revealed 33 of 132 (25%) schools constructed or remodeled within recent years had experienced IAQ problems. The survey found that the average cost to address these IAQ problems was $134,750. Because buildings and building systems are interconnected, it can be very difficult to identify specific causes of IAQ problems. Thus the aim of this paper is to evaluate indoor air quality after refurbishment in the private kindergarten sector which includes measurement of existing indoor air quality as well as student performances toward the indoor air quality. INDOOR AIR QUALITY AND STUDENTS PERFORMANCES School buildings in Malaysia must provide clean, cosy and comfortable environment with good quality of indoor air quality (IAQ) to ensure the studentss having good health condition either physically or psychologically while conducting learning activities inside the building. As reported by Environmental Protection Agency EPA (1997), indoor environments can have pollutants level higher than outdoor. According to Hodgson (2002), indoor environment in a restricted space is a complex and dynamic combination of physical, biological, and chemical factors that can affect the occupants health and physical reactions anytime weather we realize it or not. Cheong and Chong (2001) have mentioned that the only aspect to achieve high IAQ is by providing a comfortable and clean indoor environment for the occupants in a building. Concentrations of specific contaminants in indoor air can often be considerably higher than concentration levels outdoors. Indoor contaminants include formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds, particles, pesticides, radon, fungi, bacteria and nitrogen oxides. In addition to reacting to indoor air contaminants, occupants can experience discomfort and 2

3 health symptoms similar to those attributed to indoor contaminants due to indoor environmental factors such as lighting levels, type of lighting, and noise. As of 1996 there were 88,000 kindergartens through 12th grade public schools in the United States providing daily housing for almost 46 million students and 2.7 million teachers, as well as for extracurricular programmes, daycare centres, and community programmes. There is evidence that many school districts in the United States 5 and schools in other countries have significant and serious indoor environmental problems. Research at five classrooms in Hong Kong has indicated inadequate ventilation with a maximum CO 2 level reaching 5900 µl/l during class. A study of school buildings in Korea found that most of the classrooms showed poor IAQ, significantly below the Korean Indoor Air Standard. From the educational standpoint, the indoor air quality and ventilation in school buildings may affect the health of the children and indirectly affect learning performance. Surprisingly, given the size of the school population, information on indoor air quality in Malaysia s schools is very limited. Thus, this research intends to assemble, evaluate and summarize existing measurement data on ventilation, CO 2 and CO concentrations, and key indoor air pollutants, e.g. volatile organic compounds (VOCs), air velocity and relative humidity, in schools as to provide a platform in the research and development of environmental science in Malaysia. Generally, HVAC systems and water damage to the building envelope are the most common sources of building-related IAQ problems. Other causes of IAQ problems can be attributed to various phases of the building process including poor site selection, choice of materials, roof design, poor construction quality, improper installation or any number or combination of other factors. Compounds of fuel combustion from road transport emit the so-called volatile organic compounds: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and the isomers of xylenes are really especially harmful. The majority of gaseous pollutants are inhaled and affect the respiratory system, but they can also induce haematological problems (provoked by CO and benzene) and even cancer, including leukemia. Poor ventilation is another common issue that affects school occupants. Low ventilation rates generally increase the risk to health. There is also a consistent relationship between health symptoms and ventilation rates or CO 2 concentrations. The increament of ventilation rates up to 20 LS-1 per person decreased prevalence of sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms or improved perception of IAQ while air-conditioned buildings may increase risk from SBS systems compared to those that are ventilated naturally. Table 1 revealed the summary of indoor air quality (IAQ) of various case studies. 3

4 Table 1: Summary of Indoor Air Quality Case studies REFERENCE SAMPLE AREA OF FOCUS (Daisey et al., 2003) (Mendell and Heath, 2005) (Seppanen et al., 1999) (Wargocki et al., 2002) Scientific literature published in journals and conference proceedings as of 1999 Scientific literature through 2003 Reviewed 21 studies with 30,000 subjects. Peer-reviewed papers by EUROVEN scientific committee School Building related health symptoms School environment effect on academic performance. CO 2, ventilation rate and human health responses Ventilation, CO 2 and health symptoms of occupants RESULT/RECOMMENDATION Classrooms are not adequately ventilated. Consistent relationship between ventilation rates or CO 2 concentrations and health symptoms. Exposure to VOCs, moulds, microbial VOCs and allergens measured in floor dust are related to asthma, SBS and other respiratory symptoms Studies link indoor dampness and microbiological pollutants to asthma exacerbation and respiratory infection, which are associated with reductions in performance and attendance. Evidence links low ventilation rates to reduced performance. Ventilation rates below 10 LS-1 per person associated with significant worsening of one or more health or perceived air quality outcomes. 1/3 of carbon dioxide studies indicate decreased risk of SBS symptoms with decreasing CO 2 levels below 800 ppm. Ventilation associated with comfort (perceived air quality), health and productivity. Air-conditioned buildings may increase risk of SBS systems compared to those naturally ventilated. Improper maintenance, design and functioning of air conditioning systems contribute to perceived prevalence of SBS symptoms Indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools can have a substantial impact on children s health, as schools are an important environment where children may be exposed to pollutants and allergens. School provides a major indoor environment for children away or apart from their home. Children may spend 10 hours per day at school, and at least 100 hours per year, depending on the time they arrive at the school and the time they leave. It is of special concern as children are especially susceptible to poor IAQ. Indoor air pollutants might increase the chance of both long- and short-term health problems among pupils 4

5 and staff, reduce the productivity of teachers and degrade the pupils learning environment and comfort 2. A significant influence of overall indoor environmental quality is its effect on student attendance and performance. Studies have shown that poor IAQ results in more illness, absenteeism and asthma attacks. Studies done in the United States 3 indicated that good air quality in schools increases attendance and reduces health problems among pupils. The indoor air quality (IAQ) is an important component of providing good and high ventilation of air in order to give a healthy and comfortable indoor environment in building and school. The IAQ will affect the health condition, comfort, performance and productivity of the staff, children and teachers in the school. According to many studies, the indoor air quality has a mutual relationship with the performance of the students in school. (EPA, 2011) There are variety of particles and contaminants in the air of indoor environments which could carry certain health risk on human being. Those indoor pollutants included by-products of combustion, tobacco smoke, Formaldehyde, other volatile organic compounds and etc. Furthermore, the indoor thermal comfort and relative humidity can affects human health and performance directly and indirectly. The design and architecture of the classroom must be in ways that able to minimize the sources of pollution and maximize the air ventilation rate by both natural and mechanical. The temperature and relative humidity conditions must maintain in an appropriate level to reduce and avoid the sensitivity and allergies of the students in schools, especially children with asthma. (EPA, 2011). Different levels of indoor air quality will lead to different performance of students in school. The poor level of indoor air quality (IAQ) may cause sickness and disease that requiring absence from school. At the same time, severe health condition will also decrease the performance. Recently, there is data suggest that the poor IAQ will cause the reduction in the ability in mental task performance which require memory, thinking, and calculation. According to research, the indoor air ventilation rates are below recommended levels in majority of the school (California Energy Commission, 1995). There are more evidence supporting that the improvement of air ventilation rate can improve the student performance in term of study, test, examination and decrease airborne transmission of infection (Myhrvold, et al., 1996). In one of the preliminary study, the examination results of the students scored 14% to 15% higher in classrooms with higher ventilation rate compared to the classroom with low ventilation rate. (Shaughnessy, et al. 2006). The IAQ can results in absences because of illness caused by poor indoor air quality, for instances, respiratory infection, asthma, allergies and etc. Other than that, irritant reactions to the chemicals used in school may happen due to the sick building syndrome (Smedje, G., and Norback, D ). Majority of the absenteeism from children were caused by the asthma illness, accounting for over 10 million absence days per year (President s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety 5

6 Risks to Children, 1999). In addition, student with asthma illness will feel discomfort in the environment with low ventilation rate and high indoor pollutants that may trigger asthma disease. All this illness and allergies is resulted from the poor indoor air quality management. According to the European study, 800 students from 8 schools generated data on IAQ, health symptoms, and students ability to concentrate on test. (Myhrvold, et al, 1996). Generally, carbon dioxide in indoor will not threaten the human health. However, the high level of carbon dioxide indicates the low ventilation rate, and high level of pollution. Therefore, it had resulted the test scores of student are low. This has indicated the level of the IAQ could affects student academic performance. On the other hand, studies supporting that the performance of human activities such as typing, driving, writing and others will diminished when the temperature in the building or outdoor is too hot or too cold. High levels of temperature will increase symptoms, whereby low levels of temperature will reduce symptoms. Correspondingly, individuals will feel better of the indoor air quality in an environment where the temperature and/or humidity are tend to be low compared to the high end comfort zone (Fang, et al. 1998). Moderate changes in classroom temperature will affect student s abilities in performing mental task that requires memory, thinking, mathematics and etc. MATERIALS AND METHODS Measurement and Parameters The instruments used to carry out the measurement and quantitative data are MultiRAE IR Multi-gas Monitor PGM-54 and PPM Formaldemeter 3 Parameter IAQ Monitor to obtain the data collection. The measurements will be taken in every gathering place, class rooms in every case study. Besides, building inspection will be performed to the kindergarten to determine the potential critical areas which are facing indoor air quality problem. Parameters to be used in the measurement will be limited to temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), volatile organic compound (VOC), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and Formaldehyde (HCHO). These measurements will be compared to the benchmarks value for further studies and analysis. Students Performance Questions papers were given twice a day to the 6 years old student, and three days continuously to monitor the performance of the students. The first set of questions was distributed to the student in the beginning of the class started. Then, the second set of question was distributed to the student during the snake time to minimize the disturbance toward the teaching schedule of teacher. 5 years old syllabus questions will be giving out to the 6 years old students to test their performances. Hence it 6

7 will not have any issue that the students did not study before. Same question papers will be distributed towards kindergarten A and B for 3days. The teachers were asked to give minimum guidance to the students. The results would be collected three days continuously for data analysis. Case Studies Approach Selection Two kindergartens were chosen as the case studies which is Kindergarten A and B located in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Those two case studies background were coming under a same franchise education group. Hence, they were using the similar education facilities and instruments for teaching purposes. The surrounding environments were located in the residential areas which were located far away from the main road or highway. In contrast, there were some major differences between those two kindergartens, which were building height, building age and ventilation system in the kindergarten. Table below shown the differences between Kindergarten A and Kindergarten B. Table 2: Characteristic between kindergarten A and Kindergarten B Kindergarten A Kindergarten B Ventilation System Air conditioning system Natural ventilation system Building Age 5 years old 25 years old Building Height 3 stories height 2 stories height Figure 1: Kindergarten A and Kindergarten B Classroom selection was the vital part to determine the outcome of this research. This is because measurement of indoor air quality will be taken from the occupied classroom when normal class session was being carried out. Three 6 years old classrooms were chosen in the respective Kindergarten A and B. This is because test questions will be distributed to the 6 years old students to 7

8 be answered. The results collected will be used to measure the performance against the indoor air quality. Figure 2: Classroom for Kindergarten A and Kindergarten B DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS IAQ Parameters This section will discuss about the data analysis between Kindergarten A and Kindergarten B. The differences will be highlighted and discussed in detail. Guidelines and standard created by the recognized body and agency are used as the benchmarking. The standard and guideline were produced by the strong foundation and research background body such as ASHREA Standard, DOSH, IDPH, ACGIH TLV, and OSHA PEL. Temperature Figure 3 below shows the temperature of kindergarten A and Kindergarten B located in the range of min 27.1 o C and max 31.7 o C. Kindergarten A has the lower indoor temperature range compared to Kindergarten B because Kindergarten A is an air conditioning classroom while Kindergarten B is a natural ventilated classroom. According to ASHREA Standard , the acceptable thermal comfort is fall within the range 23 o C to 27 o C. According to the bar chart below, Kindergarten A and B felt above the upper limits of 27 o C ASHREA Standard According to (Hwang and Cheng, 2007), the thermal comfort range in Taiwan is slightly higher than the ASHREA standard which were 27.5 o C and 31.7 o C. According to (Ibrahim Hussein, 2009), the neutral acceptable temperature in Malaysia is between 26 o C and 30.7 o C. In 1.30pm to 2.30pm, Kindergarten B indoor temperatures were 31.2 o C and 31.7 o C respectively which exceeded the acceptable temperature 30.7 o C in Malaysian standard. Malaysia is a tropical, warm, and humid country, so the indoor temperature of classrooms tends to be higher than the ASHREA standard s range. 8

9 Formaldehyde Temperature (Celsius) International Engineering Education Conference Temperature in Kindergarten A & B against ASHREA & Tropical Standard Figure 3: Temperature in Kindergarten A & B against ASHREA Standard Formaldehyde Form figure 4 below, it was found that the formaldehyde concentration level between Kindergarten A & B lare ocated in the range of 0.0 minimum to 0.09 maximum. According to (HESIS, 2011), the acceptable limits for the formaldehyde concentration is below 0.75 for eight hours continuously. Hence, the bar chart indicated the Kindergarten A and B is in a safe condition for occupation with acceptable minimum amount of Formaldehyde. The building age of kindergarten A was 5 years old, while kindergarten B is 25 years old. Hence, the kindergarten B tends to have a higher formaldehyde level compare to kindergarten A. 0.8 Formaldehyde in Kindergarten A & B against HESIS,2011 (Max) HESIS, 2011 (Max) Kindergarten A Kindergarten B Figure 4: Formaldehyde in Kindergarten A & B against HESIS(2011) Max Limits 9

10 Relative Humidity (RH) International Engineering Education Conference 2011 Relative Humidity Figure 5 clearly highlights that that Kindergarten A has lower relative humidity than the Kindergarten B. This is because, Kindergarten A is installed with air conditioning ventilation system but Kindergarten B is a natural ventilation. (Illinois Department of Public Health Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality) said that the best relative humidity for comfortable occupancy is above 60%. But ASHREA said that the optimum relative humidity values should maintain in the range of 30% to 60%. Hence, due to Malaysia is the humid tropical country, we use IDPH as the benchmarking in this research for the best suit in this case study. The Kindergarten A tend to have a lower than 60% relative humidity value because of air conditioning system. In contrast, Kindergarten B tends to have higher humidity level, because it is operated under the natural ventilation system Relative Humidity in Kindergarten A & B against ASHREA and IDPH (Min) 0 ASHREA (Max) ASHREA (Min) Kindergarten A Kindergarten B IDPH ( >60RH) Figure 5: Relative Humidity (RH) in Kindergarten A & B against IDPH Min Limits Volatile Organic Compound From figure 6 below, it was found that the VOC level for Kindergarten A & B are within the range of 0.09 to Kindergarten A generally has lower VOC concentration compared to Kindergarten B, which is 0.23ppm VOC concentration. In contrast, Kindergarten B has generally higher VOC concentration level, 0.48ppm than Kindergarten A. According (DOSH, 2005) said that the maximum level of VOC occupants toleration is 3.00ppm. Kindergarten A and B have fulfilled the requirement below 3.00ppm which are safe to occupied. 10

11 Carbon Dioxide VOC International Engineering Education Conference 2011 VOC in Kindergarten A & B Against DOSH 2005 (MAX) Kindergarten A Kindergarten B DOSH 2005 (Max) Figure 6: VOC in Kindergarten A & B Against DOSH 2005 Standard Carbon Dioxide Figure 7 below shows that both kindergarten A and B were having a trend of high carbon dioxide concentration. According to (DOSH, 2005) and (ASHRAE, 2001) said that the maximum carbon dioxide contained in an occupied building cannot be exceeding 1000ppm. Kindergarten A has the highest concentration of carbon dioxide, ppm in the air conditional classroom and exceeding the benchmarking of 1000ppm. On the other hand, kindergarten B is also exceeded the benchmarking of 1000ppm of carbon dioxide, average ppm of CO2 concentration when students were having class. CO2 in Kindergarten A & B Against ASHREA 2001 and DOSH Kindergarten A Kindergarten B ASHREA 2001 & DOSH 2005 Axis Title Figure 7: CO2 in Kindergarten A & B Against ASHREA 2001 and DOSH

12 Students Performance International Engineering Education Conference 2011 Kindergarten A From figure 8 below, it is shown that kindergarten A in day 1 has increased in performance from first test to second test, from 224 marks to 226 marks. Then, in day 2 the kindergarten B performance is slightly decrease from 234 marks to 232 marks. But, the performance of the student increased tremendously in day 3 which is 198 marks to 233 marks. Day 3 is the single day that have largest increased by 35 marks which is 11% improvement from the students DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 CORRECT WRONG FIRST TEST SECOND TEST Figure 8: Kindergarten A Three Days Performances Kindergarten B Figure 9 below shows that there are increased in performance from first test to second test continuously from day 1 to day 3. Day 1 test performance is improved from 139 marks to 166 marks. While, the day 2 performance increased from 243 marks to 251 marks. Besides, the largest performance improvement is from the day 3 test results, which is from 120 marks to 177 marks. It has shown the improvement of 19% in the test performance. 12

13 DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 CORRECT WRONG FIRST TEST SECOND TEST Figure 9: Kindergarten B Three Days Performances In general, air conditional kindergarten A has a lower indoor temperature compared to natural ventilation of kindergarten B. The Kindergarten A has minimum readings of formaldehyde because of its 5 years old building age compared to 25 years old Kindergarten B. Moreover, the kindergarten A also has lower VOC concentration compared kindergarten B because of the building age and air conditional system. Air conditional classroom of Kindergarten A tend to have lower relative humidity compared to natural ventilation kindergarten B. In contrast, kindergarten A has greater carbon dioxide concentration compare to kindergarten B. Air conditional system are lack of the mixture fresh air in circulation of air, then the readings of air conditional kindergarten A has greater CO 2 level than natural ventilation kindergarten B. Besides that, from the data collection found out that Kindergarten A has better performance than Kindergarten B. Kindergarten A has overall achievement of 68.83% in the test question given out. On the other hand, Kindergarten B has overall achievement of 62.25% of marks from the test question. In contrast, Kindergarten B has shown a better improvement on the second test, which is 9.64%. However, Kindergarten A has 2.53% of performance improvement from the student. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS From the findings show that the indoor air concentration fluctuated according to the classroom occupant activities and type of ventilation system installed. Indoor temperature from kindergarten A and B has exceeded the ASHREA Standard , 23 o C to 27 o C. But according to (Ibrahim Hussein, 2009), under the tropical country, the acceptable thermal comfort is in the range of 26 o C and 30.7 o C. Hence, Kindergarten A and B indoor temperature is within the acceptable range of thermal comfort. On the other hand, kindergarten A and B carbon dioxide concentration is exceeded the (ASHRAE, 2001; DOSH, 2005) standard 1000ppm in the classroom. But according to (HSE, OSHA) the acceptable range of carbon dioxide toleration is up to the limit of 5000ppm. Hence, carbon dioxide s concentration in the kindergarten s classroom is in the acceptable level for student to 13

14 perform. Furthermore, the kindergarten A has a lower relative humidity compared to kindergarten B. This is because kindergarten A is air conditional ventilation while kindergarten B is natural ventilation. Both of kindergarten A and B have meet the requirement of air conditioning system ASHREA and natural ventilation standard of IDPH respectively. Moreover, kindergarten A and B has minimum volatile organic compound concentration in the class. The both kindergarten A and B have not exceed the concentration of 1ppm compared to the (DOSH 2005) standard which is 3ppm. Hence, the classroom is safe to be occupied for learning process. Besides, the formaldehyde concentration level of the kindergarten A and B is below the limits of (HESIS, 2011), 0.75ppm for continuously 8hours. The kindergarten A and B formaldehyde level is not exceeding 0.1ppm, hence it is safe to occupy. Overall, the indoor air quality in kindergarten A and B are maintain in an acceptable level for occupants. From the test results show that there are improvements of achievement. It shows that there are no issue of indoor air quality affected the performance of student kindergarten A and B. Indoor air quality is a very important element that affected our daily life in a building. Therefore good quality of IAQ is very important to the building occupants. There are several prevention steps to improve indoor air quality such as architectural design, space planning, site planning, ventilation and thermal comfort, material selection and recommendation for air conditioning system. Architectural design Architectural design plays an important role in preventing IAQ pollution from the contaminant source in terms of external and internal. External contaminant sources are coming from the external activities such as heavy traffic system. For example, the building located near to the heavy traffic road, a proper buffer zone has to be provided so that the external contaminant source can be reduced. In additional, the window and door opening required having a proper design and orientation, hence it can prevent and minimize the contaminant infiltration rate from external sources. On the other hand, internal contaminant source can be defined as internal human activities, such as smoking. Smoking lounge with a proper ventilation system should be provided to minimize the pollution source in the building. Air conditional ventilation system Nowadays, a lot of building is well equipped with air conditional system for indoor thermal control. Therefore, air conditional system is the key elements that determine the IAQ performance in the building. The installation location of air conditional air intake is very important to prevent contaminant source outside the building. For example, the air conditional fresh air intake should be installed far away from kitchen s exhausted fans. This is to prevent the contaminant being ventilated 14

15 back to the building. In other words, the installation of air conditioning system has to be well design to prevent design defects. Building materials and specification The building materials and specification contribute the indoor air performance in the building. The building materials and component specifications release contaminated gases in the air which will contaminate the indoor air quality performance. For example, wood furniture, ceiling, paints, and cleaning products release chemical pollutants that might exceed the acceptable level for human being. Materials selection is vital to determine the indoor air quality of a building. Planned maintenance Maintenance program is essential to determine the quality of air. Air conditioning system and mechanical ventilation system has to be clean regularly to prevent poor air circulation. Dust and dirt accumulation in the air filtering system causes poor circulation of air in the building. Air filter system has to be maintained and clean regularly to make sure no dirt and dust accumulated. The more frequent maintenance schedule should be carried out for the highly polluted area. In additional, air duct has to be performed inspection and maintenance periodically. CONCLUSIONS From the findings show that the indoor air concentration fluctuated according to the classroom occupant activities and type of ventilation system installed. Indoor temperature from kindergarten A and B has exceeded the ASHREA Standard , 23 o C to 27 o C. Kindergarten A and B indoor temperature is within the acceptable range of thermal comfort while, carbon dioxide s concentration in the kindergaten s classroom is in the acceptable level for student to perform. Furthermore, kindergarten A has a lower relative humidity compared to kindergarten B because kindergarten A is air condition ventilation while kindergarten B is natural ventilation. Moreover, kindergarten A and B has minimum volatile organic compound concentration in the classroom and the formaldehyde concentration level is below limit of (HESIS,2011) 0.75ppm for continuously 8 hours. Hence,the classroom is safe to be occupied for learning process. As a conclusion, the indoor air quality in the kindergarten A and B are maintain in an acceptable level for occupants and there are no issue of indoor air quality affected the performance of student. 15

16 REFERENCES [1] Cheong, K. W. and Chong, K. Y. (2001). Development and application of an indoor air quality audit to an air-conditioned building in Singapore. Building and Environment. Vol. 36, pp : [2] EPA (2003). Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools IAQ Coordinator's Guide. US Environmental Protection Agency, pp : [3] ASHRAE (2001). "Ventilation for Acceptable IndoorAir Quality." [4] Hwang, R.L. and Cheng, M.J. (2007). Field survey on human thermal comfort reports in airconditioned offices in Taiwan, The Open Construction and Building Technology Journal, Vol. 1, pp : [5] Ibrahim Hussein, M. H. A. R. (2009). "Field Study on Thermal Comfort in Malaysia." [6] HESIS. (2011). FORMALDEHYDE. [7] "Illinois Department of Public Health Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality." [8] Department of Safety and Health, (DOSH) (2005).Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality. ISBN: , JKKP: GP(1)05/2005. Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia. [9] Daisey, J. M., Angell, W. J. and Apte, M. G. (2003). Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation And Health Symptoms In Schools: An Analysis Of Existing Information Indoor Air, Volume 13, (1), pp : [10] Mendell, M. J. and Heath, G. A. (2005). Do Indoor Pollutants And Thermal Conditions In Schools Influence Student Performance? A Critical Review Of The Literature, Indoor Air, Volume 15, (1), pp : [11] Seppänen, O. A., Fisk, W. J. and Mendell, M. J. Association of Ventilation Rates and CO 2 Concentrations with Health andother Responses in Commercial and Institutional Buildings. Indoor Air, Volume 9, (4), pp : [12] Wargocki, P., Sundell, J., Bischof,W., Brundrett, G., Fanger, P. O., Gyntelberg, F., Hanssen, S. O., Harrison, P., Pickering, A., Seppänen, O. and Wouters, P. Ventilation And Health In Non- Industrial Indoor Environments: Report From A European Multidisciplinary Scientific Consensus Meeting (EUROVEN). Indoor Air, Volume 12, (2) pp : [13] Hodgson, M. (2002). Indoor environmental exposures and symptoms. Environmental Health Perspectives, 110(Suppl 4) pp : [14] Myhrvold A. N, Olsen E, Lauridsen, O. (1996). Indoor Environment In Schools - Pupils Health And Performance In Regard To CO2 Concentrations. Indoor Air '96, proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, held July 21-26, 1996, Nagoya, Japan, Volume 4, pp : [15] Shaughnessy, R. J., Haverinen-Shaughnessy, U., Nevalainen, A. and Moschandreas, D. (2006). A Preliminary Study On The Association Between Ventilation Rates In Classrooms And Student Performance. Indoor Air, Volume 16, (6), pp :

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