WHAT WE DID
THE SCIENCE
High temperatures when combined with high humidity exceed thermal safety standards and may present a risk to health and safety, particularly for children.
We wanted to know - do the classroom temperatures at our Western Sydney school exceed safe limits?
When
Between December 2018 and March 2019 researchers from Western Sydney University worked with our team to measure classroom air temperatures and document the thermal environment of our school.
Key Findings
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Peak daily air temperatures were as high as 37.7 °C, and as low as 30.4 °C with an average peak temperature of 35.1 °C.
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Peak daily indoor air temperatures in classrooms exceeded 25 °C on two thirds of the sampled summer days.
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Indoor air temperatures peaked above 30 °C on a third of summer days.
Scope of Research
16
classrooms
87
days
Recorded
every 10
minutes
Implications
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Optimal indoor air temperature for working and learning is between 22 and 24 °C.
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There is evidence that temperatures above 24 °C impair learning outcomes.
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Our classroom air temperatures exceeded the optimal learning threshold on two-thirds of summer days.
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Climate warming will only make this problem worse.