At XLIS our vision is to lead education through innovation and a student-centered, community-driven approach. We know that our parents, students, and staff are aware that outdoor air pollution can impact health, however, indoor air pollution can also have significant and harmful health effects. Children’s bodies and lungs are still developing, so having an effective indoor air quality (IAQ) system is necessary to ensure students, staff, and teachers have an atmosphere that keeps them safe and helps them succeed at school.
Here at XLIS, we understand the importance of having good IAQ and how developing an effective IAQ program can benefit the health and education of our students and staff. Poor IAQ can lead to a large variety of health problems and potentially affect comfort, concentration, and overall staff and student performance. With our students at the center of what we do at XLIS, we strive to create a safe environment for them to learn and grow. In this article, we’d like to share some of the processes and systems we have put into place to make the air at XLIS safe for our community.
XLIS working with PureLiving China
In 2020, XLIS partnered with and invested in a new pressurized HVAC and IAQ system from PureLiving China, a leading company in China on providing effective IAQ systems for school, sport, and office environments. The IAQ system was implemented and designed to improve the overall indoor air quality of the school, allowing clean fresh air to flow directly into the classrooms raising the positive clean air pressure inside each room, keeping bad air particles and pollutants outside. As clean air flows into each classroom and other areas of the school, the building’s clean air pressure rises creating an envelope effect within the school, where clean air stays inside the building and bad air is forced out.
Just as important as installing our new IAQ system, was installing new exterior doors to the school. To further improve the air quality inside the school and to keep the clean air inside the building, XLIS replace all exterior doors with automatic doors, removing the need for staff and students to open and close doors themselves. Air curtains were also installed at each entrance of the building to further improve the air quality levels inside the building, by creating a tighter air seal when the air quality outside isn’t particularly good. In addition to our IAQ system, all classrooms at XLIS have independent standalone air purifiers.
IAQ Monitoring
Indoor air problems can be subtle and do not always produce easily recognized impacts on health and well-being. Symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, sinus congestion, coughing, and sneezing are just a few of the symptoms which can occur from bad indoor air quality. At XLIS we have installed IAQ monitors throughout the campus to effectively monitor the air quality of our learning and public spaces used by our teachers and students. The IAQ sensors monitor VOC, CO2, PM10, and PM2.5 air pollutants, and automatically adjusts the IAQ system within the building according to the information the sensors collect, this ensures the schools’ air quality is kept at the best possible levels, whilst also saving on energy and reporting any issues which may occur.
As part of our community approach to sharing our IAQ information, we have installed tablets in key positions to allow students, staff, parents, and guests to view our IAQ data to visibly see the air quality levels throughout the school campus. This gives parents and students peace of mind that the air quality where they are learning is good and not harmful to their bodies. We also monitor the air in key spaces compared to the outside air quality as can be seen in the graph below. The blue line being the outside air and the green being our big gym at the start of June.
Supporting Our Vision and Mission With Clean Fresh Air Results
Students health and well-being is extremely important to us at XLIS, which is why we continue to explore new systems and approaches to further improve our schools’ environment. Indoor air quality plays an important part of any school, and supports students learning and development. As a school community we are committed in providing the very best environment to support student learning. Good IAQ is an important component of a healthy school environment, and supports us in achieving our schools’ vision and mission.
Author: Kriss Parker (Head of Logistics)
