The importance of proper ventilation in schools

The company applies its products in educational buildings, residential construction, utilities, marine and offshore, horticulture and defense. Especially in the field of school ventilation, the company has made a big splash. 'It remains important to properly ventilate classrooms, even after corona.'

"Six years ago we specialized in school ventilation," says Ned Air director Wouter Wijma. That it is important to ventilate properly within schools has now been proven many times by scientific research, but Wijma has also seen it in practice over the years. "We have worked within schools where teachers were constantly complaining of headaches. After our ventilation systems were installed, they no longer suffered from them. Now, during the corona pandemic, it is important to ventilate, but also after."

Ned Air offers both centralized and decentralized solutions. The ventilation system is in sight, concealed behind a suspended ceiling or placed on the roof. "Since this year we have been supplying flat air handling units. These are 70 cm high or lower and therefore barely visible from the street side. When you install PV panels on top of them, you don't see the units at all. Yet they are still easy to maintain through the side panels. So you see that more and more solutions are being added," Wijma said.

More than just air

Both large and small schools can turn to Ned Air for both new construction and renovation. Last year, for example, the company provided air conditioning for a total of seventy greenhouses at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), but the company can also help elementary school where only a few classrooms need fresh air. Wijma: "Over the last five years, we have supplied just under 1,000 decentralized units within the education sector. We have provided at least10,000 classrooms with good ventilation in recent years."

What that ventilation should consist of depends, among other things, on the building, the number of students and the Schedule of Requirements. The program looks at whether it must comply with Frisse Scholen class A, B or C. "Four factors are important for a good indoor climate in a classroom: light, sound, ventilation and temperature. We contribute to these last three factors with our products," explains Wijma. "We make sure that our ventilation makes as little noise as possible. We also have a new decentralized classroom unit, the EduComfort 1000, which can both heat and cool. With this installation, the school meets Fresh Schools Class B, which is currently the most common."

The importance of maintenance

After the right system is delivered and installed, it is important to monitor everything properly. Ned Air employees keep track of any malfunctions or filters that need to be replaced. They then report this to the school. Unfortunately, it still often happens that the maintenance of installations within schools leaves much to be desired, Wijma observes. "When the maintenance is not in good order, the ventilation works less well. However, poor maintenance is not necessary. We even have fans that automatically indicate when they become unbalanced. Maintenance is then easy to schedule. And maintenance also contributes to a good indoor climate."