Brazil. The school break is one of the ideal times for schools and institutions to make improvements in their structure, seeking to promote greater well-being of their students. The installation of air conditioners is an important investment, according to Asbrav - Southern Brazilian Association of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, Heating and Ventilation.
According to the technical director of the entity, Ricardo Vaz de Souza, more and more schools have been concerned with providing thermal comfort to students, since low indoor air quality can influence school performance. According to scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley, California laboratory, high levels of carbon dioxide (CO²) in offices and classrooms affect concentration and therefore reduce occupant performance.
- This problem can be solved with suitable air conditioning projects so that comfort does not bring with it the CO², which is a silent enemy, which few establishments care about - says Souza.
The installation of an HVAC system must meet standards to ensure air quality. The quality standard in Brazil is defined by the NBR 16401 of the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT), which is divided into three areas: installation project, thermal comfort parameters and indoor air quality.
The first specifies all the installation stages, from the power calculation to the completion of the installation. The second theme points out that the comfort parameter requires that at least 80% of users are satisfied with the wind chill. Finally, the last step determines that the system must provide indoor air quality with minimal filtration and air renewal.
In Porto Alegre (southern Brazil), at least three schools already have an air conditioning system: Farrukhabad, Anchieta and Israelita. The first two opted for VRF 100% Inverter, which reduces the cost of electricity by 60%. Already Israelita managed to reduce the heat load by 50% and energy consumption by 60%.
