The school's move

The importance of ventilation and recirculating air purification for our children's future

Hundreds of Dutch schools and daycare centers are located within 150 meters of a busy road, which means the air is highly polluted and does not meet the GGD's renewed guideline. According to the health service, there is even an "increased risk to public health. While the air meets European standards for air quality, it does not meet the WHO's advisory values, which are much stricter. According to the GGD, this puts children at high risk of respiratory diseases such as asthma, COPD and even lung cancer.

Municipalities decide for themselves whether to translate the renewed GGD guideline into policy, to which only 8 municipalities have currently complied. This means that 97.6% of municipalities do not yet have a policy! Moreover, the policy only applies to new sites. So what about our existing school buildings? The answer is simple: schools will have to pick up the gauntlet themselves to make their indoor air quality fresh and healthy.

Clean Air Agreement

To permanently improve air quality in the Netherlands, numerous initiatives are being taken. Also at the government level. A good example is the Clean Air Agreement, under which the national, provincial and municipal governments are taking measures to reduce air pollution. Euromate and Air Group endorse the importance of this and would like to see the objectives extended to our indoor air.

Fresh Schools

When it comes to air comfort and air quality in school buildings, one often follows the Fresh Schools Program of Requirements, which focuses on the themes of energy, air quality, temperature, light and noise. Within air quality, air volumes, CO2 concentrations and particle concentrations (ppm) in particular are the focus. An important theme added in 2021 is particulate matter. The PoA includes requirements for filters as well as for building or renovating at impacted sites. Requirements for supply air quality have been updated to reflect current building practices. It is described that the supply of fresh outside air must take place on the roof or on the low-traffic side. But also that mechanical ventilation systems at loaded locations must have filters in the supply air with an efficiency (ePM1) of at least 80%. Euromate and Air Group take this a step further, to prevent even the finest contaminants from unexpectedly being brought in with the ventilation from outside.

Refresh more often

Research by Prof. Dr. Bert Blocken, professor of building physics at TU Eindhoven and KU Leuven shows that air cleaners with the right mechanical filters can reduce aerosol levels in a room by as much as 90%. And that reduction is badly needed! When a school meets current Building Code requirements for ventilation, the air is changed only 1 to 1.5 times per hour. While this is sufficient to balance the CO2 level, it is not enough to protect students and teaching staff from fine dust and pathogens. To be truly comfortable and safe for learning and working, an air change or filtration of 5 to 6 times per hour is necessary.

Heat out, pollution in

To refresh the air every 10 minutes, many schools open the windows. Research by an engineering firm commissioned by Euromate shows that on an average winter day, this wastes 6 to 6.6 m³ of gas per classroom per day outside! Moreover, schools - especially in urban areas - take in an enormous amount of particulate matter, exhaust fumes and other pollutants in this way. A solution for existing schools could be to invest in a ventilation system that is 5 times more powerful than the current system. However, the installation industry has calculated that it will take until at least 2050 to adapt all schools. And then we haven't even mentioned the enormous constructional interventions and high consumption costs (energy costs) for the new ventilation system! The standalone air cleaners from Euromate and locally oriented climate solutions from Air Group effectively combat this.

Combination of ventilation and recirculation

By combining ventilation and recirculation, schools can achieve the desired ventilation rates without the need for large investments, complicated permitting processes and major building modifications. This results in a very favorable TCO. Together with the school, in-house installer and dealer partners, Euromate and Air Group identify how ventilation can be optimized at the local level. For example, by cleaning, improving and strengthening the existing ventilation system, a big bang can be made. The same applies to the installation of special (HEPA) filters in the ventilation ducts, which ensure that fine dust and other particles no longer enter the classroom atmosphere. Combined with the right air cleaner, these modifications provide higher comfort as well as safe and healthy indoor air quality. 

Sustainable, energetic, clean and quiet

Euromate air purifiers work on the recirculation principle, where warm indoor air is drawn in instead of cold outdoor air. As a result, heat loss is not an issue. Even better: the heat is actually better distributed through the room, making an energy-efficient school possible. A special filter package removes all pollution from the air, creating a homogeneous and clean air flow. Without noise pollution. Because the air cleaners are available in different versions, a suitable solution is offered for every classroom. A simple power connection is sufficient, so the standalone air cleaners can be installed very easily and quickly at the end of the school day, on weekends or during vacations.

Participation in key studies

In order to bring the importance of ventilation and recirculation to an even better and wider attention, Euromate participates in various initiatives and research programs such as CLAIRE (Clean Air for Everyone, the recently completed Belgian-Dutch research 'air cleaning in the classroom', which has since been merged into CLAIRE and MIST (MItigation STrategies for Airborne Infection).