Abstract

As a result of global climate change, the world has witnessed a noticeable rise in average temperatures along with a surge in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather conditions such as heatwaves. Indoor overheating is a growing concern, particularly for vulnerable populations such as primary school students. To investigate this issue, a field monitoring network was established in six primary school buildings in Montreal, Canada. This network provided field measurements, including indoor and outdoor temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation, at five-minute intervals. This paper presents a case study that focused on three time intervals during the summer months: two school closed periods in 2020 and 2021 (unoccupied) and one school open period in 2021 (occupied). The study used an adaptive model to analyze the indoor thermal condition between unoccupied and occupied periods, non-heatwave periods, and heatwave periods.
The study concluded that natural ventilation in buildings posed a risk for indoor overheating during heatwaves, while buildings with mechanical ventilation systems had better indoor thermal conditions. The correlation analysis showed that the building's response to outdoor weather factors in naturally ventilated buildings is consistent. Multiple linear regression analysis confirmed that outdoor temperature was the most significant factor affecting indoor thermal conditions, followed by solar radiation, wind speed, and relative humidity. Furthermore, the indoor and outdoor temperature difference shows a stronger linear correlation with the indoor temperature than the outdoor temperature in all school buildings.