For many children, shivering is currently part of school attendance. Teachers open the windows several times per lesson; in winter outside temperatures it quickly becomes uncomfortable inside. But it has to be, because no large amounts of corona viruses should accumulate in the air. Ventilation devices are intended to provide a remedy.
While these systems are already running in some schools in the Fünfseenland, some communities in the district are only preparing to purchase them, for example Gauting, Herrsching and the city of Starnberg. Elaborate preparations, grant applications and tenders take a lot of time. When fans will actually be installed there in the classroom cannot yet be foreseen. In Gauting, a scientifically supported experiment with various devices is also currently underway.
Gauting
A funding notification has recently been received in Gautingen’s town hall, reported Mayor Brigitte Kössinger at the latest meeting of the municipal council. Accordingly, the municipality will receive a good 1.6 million euros from a federal program. This would cover 80 percent of municipal expenditure. The mayor announced that the procurement of the devices could now be put out to tender.
When installing ventilation systems in their schools, the Gautingers proceed particularly carefully. In August, the municipal council’s vacation committee decided to procure decentralized ventilation systems, and the town hall administration began investigating the structural requirements immediately afterwards, said Christiane Ait, head of the building department, in the main committee. She made it clear how great the effort is: “We took a close look at classroom by classroom and subject room by subject room.” The statics of the ceilings play a role, the fire protection, also the air flow in the room, and how easy it is to reach the windows is also decisive. In Gauting it is about 83 systems in five school buildings and an investment of more than two million euros. Three primary schools in Gauting and Stockdorf as well as the grammar school and the secondary school are to be equipped. The federal and state governments take on a large part of the expenditure in funding programs. The corresponding funds have been applied for.
Starnberg
The situation in Starnberg is similar. The administration was commissioned by the city council to check the installation of permanently installed systems. The installation of mobile fans was rejected, says town hall spokeswoman Lena Choi. The examination has not yet been completed, as this is associated with a high level of planning effort with a stock of around 100 classrooms. When it comes to installing mobile ventilation devices, the city is just as skeptical as the municipality of Tutzing, which has also opted for a more sustainable solution.
Herrsching
In consultation with the “school family”, the Herrsching municipal council has decided to install ventilation devices in 13 classrooms, city hall spokeswoman Katrin Engelhardt announced. Planning is currently underway and installation is scheduled for next year. She puts the costs at around 350,000 euros, with funding of around 250,000 being expected. In the kindergarten in Herrsching, three air purifiers were installed in the non-ventilated basement rooms. The costs there were around 7,000 euros.
Gilching
In Gilching, the 635 mobile air purification devices ordered by the community and the 170 or so from daycare centers with other providers were delivered to the two primary schools, the middle school and daycare centers a few days ago. Depending on the size of the room, between two and five of the mobile devices are distributed and set up in the classrooms and day care center. They do not have to be installed, just plug the cables into the socket.
The eight-kilo devices are about the size of a copier and are supposed to filter viruses such as corona viruses out of the air through their filters. But that does not mean that there is no longer any need to ventilate, says technician Timo Klein. The used, but virus-free breathing air must, as before, be exchanged for fresh air through the window in order to ensure sufficient oxygen content in the classes and daycare centers.
The Landschulheim in Kempfenhausen has put 104 air purification devices into operation. At the beginning of the school year, the sponsoring association made it possible to equip the fifth and sixth grade classrooms and the gyms with filters.
Feldafing
The municipality of Feldafing, on the other hand, relies on CO₂ traffic lights to indicate the air quality in the classrooms. Mayor Bernhard Sontheim announced this at the latest meeting of the municipal council. After the school management rated the ventilation systems as too expensive and unconvincing, the committee rejected their use in November. A test attempt with two traffic light devices was then started. The school management was enthusiastic, said the town hall chief. The municipality has now reordered measuring devices for all eight classes.
Expensive ventilation systems should not be ventilated during operation, criticized the school management at the time. The CO₂ traffic lights, however, allow efficient ventilation, which, in the opinion of the school management, helps better against the spread of coronaviruses. The devices measure the carbon dioxide concentration. If the traffic light is green, the air quality is good. Caution is advised in the case of yellow and the permissible CO₂ concentration has been exceeded in the case of red. At this point at the latest, the classrooms must be ventilated.
The experiment
A big question in town hall administrations is always which devices to order and which technology is most likely to be used. Especially since it is a declared goal in Gauting, for example, to procure systems that still have their purpose after the pandemic by supplying school rooms with fresh air. This can also be the cool night air in summer. It is not only important that they clean the air, but also that they do it as quietly as possible. After all, they shouldn’t disrupt the class. “I get three to four calls a week from people who want to sell me their equipment,” says Gautingen’s building authority manager Christiane Ait. “Often they don’t even meet our criteria.”
The community is currently trying out what fits best in a practical test and is receiving scientifically sound first-hand data. Gauting is working on the research project with Christian Schwarzbauer, professor at the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Mechatronics at Munich University of Applied Sciences. Various devices of different types are running in several classrooms in a primary school. Including an in-house design by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, which essentially consists of several pipes that are attached to the ceiling. But the favorite in the building authority is a free-standing device. “It runs wonderfully and very quietly and brings in the necessary fresh air,” reports Ait. “And the big advantage: you don’t have to open the windows anymore.”
That’s what many students would like to see right now. It’s Christmas vacation soon. After that, however, they have to freeze again this winter or put on their anorak while they play back English vocabulary or calculate sine curves.