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Speaking as someone who: 1) lives in a Sun Belt state (Texas) 2) went to grade school in an un-airconditioned building Yes, it could be done, and should be con

Speaking as someone who: 1) lives in a Sun Belt state (Texas) 2) went to grade school in an un-airconditioned building Yes, it could be done, and should be considered. However, school years used to start at Labor Day, for this reason, and there were a lot of serious metal-bladed fans to make it bearable. Even outside, you would need shade (perhaps canopies?) and fans. It was also a lower population density than modern urban schools. All that body heat makes a difference. However, definitely worth considering, and in many non-urban areas I believe it could work.

Frost1x 6y ago
>Even outside, you would need shade (perhaps canopies?) and fans. I imagine fans may be problematic due to the way COVID19 primarily spreads. You might be able to design your way out of it with clever fan and student placement but without that, you might create highways for the virus to spread from one student to the next.
- AstralStorm 6y ago
  Well, a ceiling fan producing laminar flow is very likely to limit the spread. Side fans and windows, unlikely. The have been a few good studies of airflow dynamics. Ultimately the best cheapest defense building wise would be airflow over 12 CFM in a top to bottom way. This is essentially an air curtain strength. That's rather expensive and takes a lot of big fans or very strong HVAC system with many air outlets. Being outside only works as long as you can spread people out heavily enough. It's better than unventilated buildings, but the benefit is overshadowed by density or distance. (See: Florida beach policy and cases after the delay.)
  - rossdavidh 6y ago
    Having worked in semiconductor fabs with laminar flow, I can say that it dries your eyes out if you're not wearing goggles.
- megameter 6y ago
  The spread can be bisected into two parts: 1. Droplets directly exhaled. This is the stuff that you mask for. 2. Particles suspended in air. This is why staying indoors is particularly dangerous; it tends to hang around and build up without being vented. The virus dies quickly outside of droplets and in direct sunlight: this is why being outside is low risk given masks and distancing. Either it's coughed on you, or it dies within minutes. An indoors area that circulates its air quickly is almost as good, provided UV is part of the process. Fans are mostly a good idea in this respect and one could imagine an indoors "UV gate" through which air is pushed to disinfect it. I would not be surprised if the idea already exists.
HumblyTossed 6y ago
A lot of our schools (Florida) used to have huge windows that could be opened, breezeways to funnel the air, etc. Now schools are built like prisons. I get that it might be safer for the kids in some respect, but good grief. And, yes, schools here also used to start later due to the heat.
neverartful 6y ago
I too went to grade school in un-airconditioned building. IIRC, I think we started school 4-5 days before Labor Day. We did not have any fans in the classrooms, but we did have a large number of windows on one side of the room that would be left open when it was hot. Our water fountains dispensed tap water too (not refrigerated or filtered). I may take some heat for saying this, but I also think that people were generally tougher back then as compared to now. What I mean by that is that people had less comforts and were consequently more accustomed to being uncomfortable. It was normal. In my experience, my body adapts and gets conditioned to the climate over time. After some period of time in a particular climate, your body gets used to it (the new normal). I agree that it's worth considering. I think that there would be a lot of complaining and discomfort at first, but it would be quickly resolved.
- WWLink 6y ago
  When I was growing up, my town's schools went through a phase where they were all remodeled/rebuilt. The necessity drove the school district into bankruptcy lol. Being a coastal town in California, the weather is pleasant for all but a few weeks to a month of the year. For that time period, the weather is hot and miserable. All the windows open and the fans on won't help much, but it's the same at home. Hardly anyone has AC at home here, so whatever. When the schools were remodeled, all of the classrooms gained air conditioning. In the older schools with the huge windows and the outdoor corridors, the AC units were mounted above the corridors. The windows on that side were sealed off. The windows on the other side were replaced with fat tinted windows that barely opened compared to the old ones. The remodeled campuses are a lot gloomier than the old ones because they're loud and the air in the classrooms is stale. They're also dimmer because of the tinted windows.

Frost1x 6y ago

>Even outside, you would need shade (perhaps canopies?) and fans. I imagine fans may be problematic due to the way COVID19 primarily spreads. You might be able to design your way out of it with clever fan and student placement but without that, you might create highways for the virus to spread from one student to the next.

AstralStorm 6y ago
Well, a ceiling fan producing laminar flow is very likely to limit the spread. Side fans and windows, unlikely. The have been a few good studies of airflow dynamics. Ultimately the best cheapest defense building wise would be airflow over 12 CFM in a top to bottom way. This is essentially an air curtain strength. That's rather expensive and takes a lot of big fans or very strong HVAC system with many air outlets. Being outside only works as long as you can spread people out heavily enough. It's better than unventilated buildings, but the benefit is overshadowed by density or distance. (See: Florida beach policy and cases after the delay.)
- rossdavidh 6y ago
  Having worked in semiconductor fabs with laminar flow, I can say that it dries your eyes out if you're not wearing goggles.
megameter 6y ago
The spread can be bisected into two parts: 1. Droplets directly exhaled. This is the stuff that you mask for. 2. Particles suspended in air. This is why staying indoors is particularly dangerous; it tends to hang around and build up without being vented. The virus dies quickly outside of droplets and in direct sunlight: this is why being outside is low risk given masks and distancing. Either it's coughed on you, or it dies within minutes. An indoors area that circulates its air quickly is almost as good, provided UV is part of the process. Fans are mostly a good idea in this respect and one could imagine an indoors "UV gate" through which air is pushed to disinfect it. I would not be surprised if the idea already exists.

HumblyTossed 6y ago

A lot of our schools (Florida) used to have huge windows that could be opened, breezeways to funnel the air, etc. Now schools are built like prisons. I get that it might be safer for the kids in some respect, but good grief. And, yes, schools here also used to start later due to the heat.

neverartful 6y ago

I too went to grade school in un-airconditioned building. IIRC, I think we started school 4-5 days before Labor Day. We did not have any fans in the classrooms, but we did have a large number of windows on one side of the room that would be left open when it was hot. Our water fountains dispensed tap water too (not refrigerated or filtered). I may take some heat for saying this, but I also think that people were generally tougher back then as compared to now. What I mean by that is that people had less comforts and were consequently more accustomed to being uncomfortable. It was normal. In my experience, my body adapts and gets conditioned to the climate over time. After some period of time in a particular climate, your body gets used to it (the new normal). I agree that it's worth considering. I think that there would be a lot of complaining and discomfort at first, but it would be quickly resolved.

WWLink 6y ago
When I was growing up, my town's schools went through a phase where they were all remodeled/rebuilt. The necessity drove the school district into bankruptcy lol. Being a coastal town in California, the weather is pleasant for all but a few weeks to a month of the year. For that time period, the weather is hot and miserable. All the windows open and the fans on won't help much, but it's the same at home. Hardly anyone has AC at home here, so whatever. When the schools were remodeled, all of the classrooms gained air conditioning. In the older schools with the huge windows and the outdoor corridors, the AC units were mounted above the corridors. The windows on that side were sealed off. The windows on the other side were replaced with fat tinted windows that barely opened compared to the old ones. The remodeled campuses are a lot gloomier than the old ones because they're loud and the air in the classrooms is stale. They're also dimmer because of the tinted windows.