Managing Indoor Air Quality in a Kindergarten: CO2 and PM2.5 Concentrations

The educational and play-related activities of children are proceeded mainly indoors in a kin-dergarten. The exposure of children to high concentrations of PM2.5 and CO2 indoors have leaded to various harmful effects and negatively impact educational outcomes in a kindergarten. Therefore, this study presents a numerical model of CO2 and PM2.5 concentration based on two classrooms in a kindergarten. Using this numerical model, we present different scenarios of oper-ating mechanical ventilation and air purifiers in kindergartens with the aim of optimizing for reducing the concentrations of CO2 and PM2.5. We found that the amount of ventilation required to maintain good air quality, per child, was approximately 20.4 m3/h. However, we also found that as the amount of ventilation increased, so did the concentration of indoor PM2.5; we found that this issue can be resolved through the use of a high-grade filter (i.e., a MERV 13 grade filter with a collection efficiency of 75%). This study provides a scientific basis for reducing PM2.5concentrations in kindergartens, while keeping CO2 levels low.