Inclusive Education School and the evaporative air cooler system: case study at the State Model School in Araguaína/Tocantins

Abstract

Due to increasing climate change and global warming, shared environments require devices that help mitigate high temperatures. In school settings, this need is even more critical, and the installation of evaporative air coolers—specifically the Aolan model (AZL06-ZC13B)—has been widely implemented in public and affiliated schools throughout the state of Tocantins, Brazil.. In this context, the objective of this study was to conduct a revealing case study on indoor air quality in classrooms at the State Model School, in Araguaína, Tocantins, between August 2022 and May 2023. To this end, a list of internal and external environmental factors was prepared, including the identification of the installed air cooler models, the hydraulic system, and the measurement of water volumes consumed by them;  we also collected material and laboratory cultures to check for the presence of fungi in the surrounding air from twelve different units (in five classrooms and the kitchen). Finally, a literature review was carried out to identify potential human health risks based on the laboratory results. It was found that the installed evaporative air cooling system proved to be unsustainable from economic, environmental, and public health perspectives, due to:  the high cost of water bills, the lack of systems for reusing discarded water, and the presence of pathogenic fungal agents of the Aspergillus genus.