6 ms·

My friend studied Interior Architectural Design, one of his professors there started one lecture a year by getting the CO2 sensors, placing them around the lect

My friend studied Interior Architectural Design, one of his professors there started one lecture a year by getting the CO2 sensors, placing them around the lecture hall, showing the readings at the start of the lecture, closing the doors and then after the hour long lecture showing the readings. During the lecture he mentioned the figures for CO2 concentration that led to symptoms, e.g. dizziness, sleepiness etc. The reading at the end of the lecture showed that it was over the recommended limit, and well beyond the threshold that causes people to get sleepy and lose concentration. (I believe it was less than 400ppm at the start and thousands ppm afterwards?) A simple demonstration using an older building crammed full of students in a closed space, but it was apparently quite impactful in showing the students how there are a lot of features of interior design architecture that aren't really addressed and are only coming to the fore recently.

nloladze 8y ago
>there are a lot of features of interior design architecture that aren't really addressed Nearly every standard rectangular building should be in actuality built with the energy efficient building design in mind, but we don't... out of simple mental oversight and in the increased cost in construction. https://kammaliyaa.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/figure-11.jpg https://kammaliyaa.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/figure-11.jpg Literally, we could save 20% to 30% in energy costs with every building with possibly only 10% to 15% increase in cost of construction, but we simply don't because we have no congregate valuation of resource consumption, only individual guilt.
vagab0nd 8y ago
This might be a really stupid question but, wouldn't you _want_ sleepiness when you, I don't know, try to sleep?
- justinator 8y ago
  Followup rhetorical question: Do you like waking up sleepy and dizzy?
- nine_k 8y ago
  But not in the morning.
- JauntyHatAngle 8y ago
  I think the answer to your question is, yes, however you want to be sleepy due to a need for sleep rather than impaired function. CO2 is damaging to your body, I am not an expert in these matters however I know that much. Becoming tired due to CO2 is in effect a minor form of gassing yourself, and during sleep high CO2 is bad for you and I would assume does not give you high quality sleep - same as alcohol makes can make you drowsy while also interrupting your sleep. "Natural" sleepiness has none of these downsides.
  - krageon 8y ago
    Do you have some followup sources for these fairly strong claims?
    - fao_ 8y ago
      https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=sleep+CO2&btnG= https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=sl... Most of the claims are trivially verified true with a proper understanding of hypoxia and the effects on the brain. Of course you want to be sleepy, but you don't want that sleepiness to be due to hypoxia because hypoxia is known to damage the brain.
      - krageon 8y ago
        Hypoxia is about oxygen levels, not CO2 levels. Those are definitely related, but not at all the same. The link you gave makes me think I actually have to dig through quite a few studies to find something supporting what you said (it's not on the first page, for anyone wondering), which is why I asked for direct sources.
        fao_ 8y ago
        > to find something supporting what you said read the username, I am not OP, and did not make the claim. A simple search of "hypoxia from excess CO2" brought up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercapnia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercapnia, which also support the claims. Please, for the love of god, learn to google properly: http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
valtism 8y ago
Maybe this is why I would feel sleepy during lectures. I always thought it was because I was mismanaging my sleep or the teacher was boring (it was probably a combination of the three).
- dcbadacd 8y ago
  This might also be the reason individual and small-group learning is more effective - there's less CO2.
  - jjeaff 8y ago
    Wouldn't that be a wacky turn of events, for all those studies showing that smaller class sizes produced better outcomes, to end up being mostly attributed to lower co2 levels in smaller groups.
shagie 8y ago
This now makes me wonder if there is another dimension to the “people who get in early or stay late are more productive than those who work traditional hours.” I’ve attributed this to “fewer people, fewer distractions.” However, with a CO2 component... hmm. Well, there is another project idea. Arduino with a CO2 sensor and plotting a running total. Or not displaying and instead have a “I feel productive” dial that would allow for correlation to the recorded data.
wcoenen 8y ago
> I believe it was less than 400ppm at the start Then this must have been before 2016. Atmospheric CO2 concentration has always been higher than 400 ppm since that year.

nloladze 8y ago

>there are a lot of features of interior design architecture that aren't really addressed Nearly every standard rectangular building should be in actuality built with the energy efficient building design in mind, but we don't... out of simple mental oversight and in the increased cost in construction. https://kammaliyaa.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/figure-11.jpg https://kammaliyaa.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/figure-11.jpg Literally, we could save 20% to 30% in energy costs with every building with possibly only 10% to 15% increase in cost of construction, but we simply don't because we have no congregate valuation of resource consumption, only individual guilt.

vagab0nd 8y ago

This might be a really stupid question but, wouldn't you _want_ sleepiness when you, I don't know, try to sleep?

justinator 8y ago
Followup rhetorical question: Do you like waking up sleepy and dizzy?
nine_k 8y ago
But not in the morning.
JauntyHatAngle 8y ago
I think the answer to your question is, yes, however you want to be sleepy due to a need for sleep rather than impaired function. CO2 is damaging to your body, I am not an expert in these matters however I know that much. Becoming tired due to CO2 is in effect a minor form of gassing yourself, and during sleep high CO2 is bad for you and I would assume does not give you high quality sleep - same as alcohol makes can make you drowsy while also interrupting your sleep. "Natural" sleepiness has none of these downsides.
- krageon 8y ago
  Do you have some followup sources for these fairly strong claims?
  - fao_ 8y ago
    https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=sleep+CO2&btnG= https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=sl... Most of the claims are trivially verified true with a proper understanding of hypoxia and the effects on the brain. Of course you want to be sleepy, but you don't want that sleepiness to be due to hypoxia because hypoxia is known to damage the brain.
    - krageon 8y ago
      Hypoxia is about oxygen levels, not CO2 levels. Those are definitely related, but not at all the same. The link you gave makes me think I actually have to dig through quite a few studies to find something supporting what you said (it's not on the first page, for anyone wondering), which is why I asked for direct sources.
      - fao_ 8y ago
        > to find something supporting what you said read the username, I am not OP, and did not make the claim. A simple search of "hypoxia from excess CO2" brought up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercapnia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercapnia, which also support the claims. Please, for the love of god, learn to google properly: http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

valtism 8y ago

Maybe this is why I would feel sleepy during lectures. I always thought it was because I was mismanaging my sleep or the teacher was boring (it was probably a combination of the three).

dcbadacd 8y ago
This might also be the reason individual and small-group learning is more effective - there's less CO2.
- jjeaff 8y ago
  Wouldn't that be a wacky turn of events, for all those studies showing that smaller class sizes produced better outcomes, to end up being mostly attributed to lower co2 levels in smaller groups.

shagie 8y ago

This now makes me wonder if there is another dimension to the “people who get in early or stay late are more productive than those who work traditional hours.” I’ve attributed this to “fewer people, fewer distractions.” However, with a CO2 component... hmm. Well, there is another project idea. Arduino with a CO2 sensor and plotting a running total. Or not displaying and instead have a “I feel productive” dial that would allow for correlation to the recorded data.

wcoenen 8y ago

> I believe it was less than 400ppm at the start Then this must have been before 2016. Atmospheric CO2 concentration has always been higher than 400 ppm since that year.