Assessment of Indoor Climate for Infants in Nursery School Classrooms in Mild Climatic Areas in Japan

In Japan, the standard of indoor climate in nursery school classrooms has not been established, and the control and maintenance of indoor climate in the classrooms are entrusted to individual childminders. Therefore, indoor climate in nursery school classrooms was measured to prepare fundamental information for proper environmental design and environmental control, considering infants’ comfort and health. The climate of 0-year-old and 1-year-old children’s rooms in 15 nursery schools located in mild climatic areas in Japan were measured in the summer and winter over four years. Consequently, a lower average temperature was found during winter at lower heights at which infants spend time and indoor air quality was found to be poor in both summer and winter due to a lower ventilation rate in some classrooms with a smaller area per infant compared to the minimum standards for child welfare institutions. One classroom with an average CO2 concentration of over 1500 ppm was found in both summer and winter due to less ventilation. Illumination less than 300 lx in one-third of the studied classrooms and high equivalent noise level in most classrooms were measured. The need for indoor environmental standards was indicated in terms of infants’ comfort and health.

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