Investigation of Indoor Environmental Quality of Lecture Rooms on Students’ Comfort in Selected Polytechnics, Lagos, Nigeria

Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) has an impact on the academic performance of students irrespective of the type of institution. The recent challenge with both global warming and climate change alongside the consequent depletion of the ozone layer is affecting general comfort in an enclosed environment. An increase in heat transfer through materials used for construction has called for a closer look into lecture rooms. Students spend a large proportion of their days acquiring knowledge in them. The paper aims to investigate the impact of IEQ on students’ comfort in selected polytechnics in Lagos State, Nigeria. The objectives are primarily to identify factors that contribute to comfort in the lecture rooms, the ones with high impact, and possible recommendations. A stratified random sampling method was used to select three polytechnics from the Federal, State to privately owned. Total of 151 respondents comprising 115 public and 36 private completed the structured survey questionnaires. A descriptive data analysis was used to represent the data gathered. The results showed strong associations between the environmental parameters of IEQ with thermal comfort ranking highest. The population of students and furniture types was followed respectively as significantly impacting students’ comfort in the lecture rooms. Since the study identified that the population of students contributes to the overall IEQ in the lecture room, it is recommended that bigger and more spacious rooms be provided to reduce the impact of thermal discomfort. The number of students per lecture room can also be reduced for better transfer of passive air within the space with the provision of comfortable furniture.