Abstract
With increasing extreme heat events in the tropics, schools are finding it challenging to provide comfortable and safe learning environments for school children. Despite the dangerous impacts of extreme heat, little is known about classroom temperatures in tropical climates and how they can be reduced. This study measured temperatures in 16 school classrooms in Accra, Ghana for 389 days to highlight the conditions experienced by schoolchildren and examine how roof type influences classroom temperatures. Extremely high classroom temperatures of up to 39.8°C were recorded, which exceeded outdoor temperatures by up to 5.9°C. The findings reveal differences in temperatures and overheating hours between classroom roof types. Classrooms with concrete roofs were considerably cooler during occupied hours than those with metal or asbestos roofs (by up to 5.8°C), and on average were 1.2°C cooler than the outdoor temperature. Consequently, a child in a classroom with a concrete roof is exposed to fewer hours of uncomfortably hot temperatures. The presence of a plywood
ceiling under a metal roof also reduced indoor temperatures, but less so than a concrete roof. Roofing materials with low thermal transmittance thus protect school classrooms, and the children and staff in them, from the heat of the day. If such design principles are adhered to when constructing new schools or retrofitting existing ones,
pupils in tropical cities will have safer, healthier classroom environments that are more conducive to their learning, health, and well-being.
Keywords: Extreme heat; climate change; building characteristics; roof; schoolchildren; wellbeing
Article submitted to Building and Environment | This research was made possible by a grant to the first author from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The second author was funded by an EPSRC Vice Chancellor’s Independent Research Fellowship (grant EP/R513088/1). The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors.
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