When I left Brink Climate Systems and thus the ventilation world in 2006, we had just started a school ventilation project. Only two years ago, following the Corona pandemic and the various lockdowns, I delved into school ventilation issues again.

Now I am someone where the glass is usually half full, but the ongoing situation around indoor climate in education makes me somewhat gloomy.

Anno 2022, climate systems and thus air quality are still inadequate in most cases, and all the more so if you compare the quality with the new reality of Corona and energy prices. I regularly see Dutch scientists posting something, continuing to express their displeasure and frustration that the indoor climate in classrooms is still poor. But we have to realise that very little real innovation is being applied, and real sustainability and transformation are still moving agonisingly slowly. Perhaps it is even going backwards? The PO-raad and VO-raad draw attention to the problems almost daily, but it does not make sufficient progress.

Building experts, consultants, manufacturers, installers and school boards try to get it right, but the fact remains that people mostly keep doing the same trick (mixing ventilation) that I knew 16 years ago was inadequate. You can say with a probability bordering on certainty that the new installations cannot deal with the new reality adequately. But yes, it meets the current standard.

Just new standards then? No, new ventilation standards and/or simply ventilating more are not the right route to achieving a continuously safe, healthy and optimal indoor climate. Ventilating differently is a start.

There is now no clear incentive for stakeholders to do really well and/or better than the norm. Consultants are given too little budget to come up with the right innovative solutions and installers are immediately told to cut back after being awarded contracts. The result is that, at the bottom line, most climate systems are underperforming for the foreseeable future.

To get it right, we need to start continuously rewarding stakeholders who want to innovate and who go exclusively for the best indoor climate. By definition, an optimal indoor climate means less absenteeism, better learning performance and lower costs for society as a whole. It is simply low-hanging fruit. The condition is that all classrooms must be continuously monitored by independent parties who also make the results public. After all, as an education system, you don't want to dangle in the middle or at the bottom of the list.

Next, institutions should be judged on the actual indoor climate they manage to achieve. One idea is that if the average CO2 level during class hours remains below 700 ppm and the temperature also remains +/- 20 degrees, the school will receive a bonus of 350 euros per child per year. This is an amount, over the thumb, which the institution saves society. 

Conversely, in 2024, schools that still do not have their indoor climate in order will have to reckon with a budget cut of €500 per pupil per year if they are not prepared for the next pandemic.

Colleague Frank would say, "Norbert, good idea!"