Air quality in UAE schools must be tested, say experts

A mandatory indoor air quality testing for UAE schools can help improve the overall health and performance of students and staff, experts said during a green school meeting roundtable on Wednesday.
At the Emirates Coalition for Green Schools Roundtable organised by Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC), educators and sustainability professionals discussed ways of improving the indoor air quality of schools across the country.
Currently, there is no mandatory indoor air quality testing for UAE schools and there is "very limited" research and data available about their eco-friendly initiatives, experts said.
Lora Shrake, director of EmiratesGBC, said: "I think there is a lot of openness with the schools and improving indoor air quality. At EmiratesGBC, we want to work with all of the stakeholders to increase the level of understanding on the importance and impact of indoor air quality and how it affects student learning. (We're) really just trying to increase the school's ability to make those positive changes."
Recently, a number of Taaleem schools implemented a 'Clean Air' study, as part of their efforts to improve air quality.
Sam Truman, a representative of Taaleem, said: "Our partnership with Dyson aimed to raise awareness of the issues and share the latest research available on indoor air quality. A school-specific extra-curricular activity pack was produced exclusively for this purpose.
"Taaleem schools routinely conduct indoor air quality tests. However, the new partnership took this to a new level. Purifiers have been installed in several of our schools to further investigate and evaluate the indoor air quality, as well as the improvements that can be made."
Dr Evangelia Topriska, assistant professor of architectural engineering at Heriot Watt University in Dubai, said that even though they don't have the numbers to show the current state of air quality in their campus, staff members have been trying to make some positive changes.
"There is awareness in the university, which is driven by the professors who know there is a problem with indoor air quality because we do some individual measurements. The facilities management is aware of the situation; we have started discussions with them ... so that we can first make some no-cost changes. It's starting now and it is a topic that's becoming more relevant. It's very important because it affects our wellbeing, long-term health and our children's health," she said.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com