Determining the Thermal Stress of Primary School Children in the Warm and Humid Climate of Imo State

C. C. Munonye

Abstract: Most studies on thermal comfort in schools dealt with the general comfort temperature of the occupants. There is a paucity of specific information about heat and cold stress experienced by students during the time they were in school. Considering these, a field study was carried out in some selected months during the rainy and dry seasons of 2018 to investigate if heat stress and cold stress exist in naturally ventilated classrooms of government primary schools in Imo State. Responses from 330 children, in the age group between 7 and 12 years, were subjectively and objectively collected. Results indicate that the subjects, apart from experiencing heat stress, also experienced cold stress, both occurring in14.8% of the periods the surveys were carried out. In 62.5% of this period, the subjects expressed heat stress while cold stress was experienced in 37.5%. While January experienced the coldest cold stress with a thermal sensation of - 1.50, February recorded the warmest thermal sensation (1.60). Though January was specifically identified as a delicate month for the children because of the high fluctuations in indoor temperatures experienced during this month, however, February reported the highest period of thermal stress (28.0%). From the results, it is important that children need to dress properly according to temperature to avoid catching a cold or getting exposed to thermal stress during the lesson hours. Architects need to factor in all this information when designing primary school buildings in tropical climates.

Keywords: Architect, Cold stress, Heat stress, Schools, Temperature