School · Ventilation
Ventilation in school: what the SRI measures
Ventilation is about demand-controlled ventilation: more air when more people are present or CO2 rises, less when a room is empty. Heat recovery, free cooling with outdoor air and air-quality reporting count as well.
In short
- 1This page shows how the Smart Readiness Indicator assesses ventilation in schools.
- 2Ventilation carries the highest weight here, at 3 out of 3, because air quality in classrooms directly affects student health.
- 3The services cover demand-controlled ventilation based on CO2, heat recovery, free cooling, and reporting of air quality to users.
Weight of this domain for this building type
Which services count
| Service | Lowest level | Highest level | Advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supply air flow control at the room level V-1a · A · 5 levels | No ventilation system or manual control | Local Demand Control based on air quality sensors (CO2, VOC, ...) with local flow from/to the zone regulated by dampers | highest level |
| Air flow or pressure control at the air handler level V-1c · 5 levels | No automatic control: Continuously supplies of air flow for a maximum load of all rooms | Automatic flow or pressure control with pressure reset: Load dependent supplies of air flow for the demand of all connected rooms (for variable air volume systems with VFD) | – |
| Heat recovery control: prevention of overheating V-2c · 3 levels | Without overheating control | Modulate or bypass heat recovery based on multiple room temperature sensors or predictive control | – |
| Supply air temperature control at the air handling unit level V-2d · 4 levels | No automatic control | Variable set point with load dependant compensation. A control loop enables to control the supply air temperature. The setpoint is defined as a function of the loads in the room | – |
| Free cooling with mechanical ventilation system V-3 · 4 levels | No automatic control | H,x-directed control: The amount of outside air and recirculation air are modulated during all periods of time to minimize the amount of mechanical cooling. Calculation is performed on the basis of temperatures and humidity (enthalpy) | – |
| Reporting information regarding IAQ V-6 · A · 4 levels | None | Real time monitoring & historical information of IAQ available to occupants + warning on maintenance needs or occupant actions (e.g. window opening) | highest level |
Worked example
If everything in this domain is at level 0, the domain contributes nothing. At the highest level for all services, the indicative total score for this building type rises by about 10 percentage points (from 31 to 41 percent, with all other domains at level 1).
Why does ventilation count so heavily in schools?
The Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) is a European measurement method that shows how well a building uses smart technology. For schools, the Ventilation domain (V) receives the maximum weight of three out of three points.
This is because full classrooms build up CO2 quickly. Poor air quality affects concentration and health of students and teachers, while schools often still use older systems with time clocks.
Which smart-ready services are assessed?
For the service of controlling supply air flow rate at room level (V-1a), the assessment checks whether a school still uses time-clock controls or already has demand-controlled ventilation based on CO2 sensors in each classroom. The latter suits buildings with fixed timetables and varying occupancy per hour.
The service of controlling air flow rate or pressure at air handling unit level (V-1c) assesses whether the central ventilation adjusts to the actual demand of all connected rooms, instead of running continuously at full capacity.
Heat recovery (V-2c) and control of supply air temperature (V-2d) prevent overheating and intelligently direct the temperature of incoming air. Free cooling with a mechanical ventilation system (V-3) assesses whether outside air is used to reduce mechanical cooling, for example through night cooling.
Finally, reporting of information about air quality (V-6) checks whether teachers and facility managers gain insight into current and historical CO2 values, with possible alerts to open a window.
What does this mean for vacant periods during holidays?
Schools have long unoccupied periods, such as summer holidays. A school building with demand-controlled ventilation switches back automatically, saving energy without manual adjustment.
Buildings still running on fixed time clocks often ventilate unnecessarily during empty periods, or too little during full class hours. This difference in functionality level largely determines the score on this domain.
What this means for you
- Owner
- As a school board or building owner, it is wise to first assess at which functionality level the existing ventilation and time clock systems currently operate. With a limited budget, switching to CO2-controlled ventilation at room level often delivers the greatest benefit, both for air quality and energy costs.
- Tenant
- Teachers and students notice demand-controlled ventilation mainly through less fatigue and fresher classrooms during full school days. With older time-clock systems, air quality often lags behind, even when a class is clearly full.
- Advisor
- When assessing, pay attention to the difference between control at room level (V-1a) and at air handling unit level (V-1c), as schools with multiple classrooms on one unit often score lower without local dampers. Also check whether air quality reporting (V-6) is actually visible to users, not only to technical staff.
Next step
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