The effectiveness of exhaust fan in removing CO and C0₂ in some selected classroom in Faculty of Applied Science, UiTM Shah Alam / Norazreen Bakry

Having good quality of indoor environment in classroom is very important because students spend more than five hours per day inside classrooms. In this project work, the concentrations and the values of some Indoor Air Quality parameters were investigated inside some selected classrooms in the Faculty of Applied Science, UiTM Shah Alam. The parameters are the contents of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), air temperature and relative air humidity. These parameters were measured using Direct Sense IAQ Monitor. The equipment was placed 1.0 m above the floor and was set up for 8 hours from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm. The data collected then was downloaded and analyzed using Microsoft excel. The measurement was carried out for one month. It was found that the contents of CO in all classrooms were very much lower than the allowed maximum value according to the international IAQ standard for health and safety reasons. However the values of CO2 were found higher than the maximum value set in the standard which is 1000 ppm especially when the rooms are fully occupied. The air conditioning system helps to maintain the temperature within the comfort range, thus providing good thermal comfort. Unfortunately the circulation of air seems to be not sufficient in removing CO2 from the interior space. From this study it was observed that using exhaust fan throughout the day along with the air conditioning system could be a good approach to reduce the air contamination due to high concentration of CO2 in classroom. By temporarily switching off the exhaust fan when the rooms are not occupied would save electricity energy. Unfortunately, by doing so, CO2 is trapped inside the room when the exhaust fan is turned off.