Ahmed, Riham;
Mumovic, Dejan;
Bagkeris, Emmanouil;
Ucci, Marcella;
(2022)
Combined effects of ventilation rates and indoor temperatures on cognitive performance of female higher education students in a hot climate.
Indoor Air
, 32
(2)
, Article e13004. 10.1111/ina.13004.
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Abstract
Impairment in mental functions attributed to the effects of indoor air quality and thermal conditions has received considerable attention in the past decade, particularly for educational buildings where students’ cognitive performance is essential to foster learning. This study explores the combined effects of indoor temperatures and CO_{2} levels as markers for ventilation rates on cognitive performance among female students (16–23 years old) in Saudi Arabia. The longitudinal experiments involved nine conditions combining three CO_{2} concentration levels (achieved via changes in ventilation) and three temperature levels involving 499 participants, all exposed to the nine conditions. The study implemented a computer-based cognitive performance battery with “9Button” keyboards. Univariable and multivariable multilevel regression models explored the association of indoor temperature and CO_{2} levels (as markers for ventilation rates) with cognitive performance after adjusting for potential confounders. Potential benefits were found on speed and accuracy of tasks of cognitive performance when indoor temperature was set between 20 and 23ºC and at CO_{2} levels of 600 ppm compared to higher temperatures and poorer ventilation rates and that both ventilation and thermal environmental control are important and need to be improved for achieving optimum learning conditions. Nevertheless, the results are relevant for short-term exposures lasting no more than 2 h.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Combined effects of ventilation rates and indoor temperatures on cognitive performance of female higher education students in a hot climate |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/ina.13004 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.13004 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2022 The Authors. Indoor Air published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | air-conditioned buildings, cognitive performance, educational buildings, hot climates, indoor air quality, ventilation |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10144200 |
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