Classroom heat during the hottest term
Example desert town · North Africa (synthetic)
- Date observed
- 11 Jun 2025
- Last update
- 2 Jul 2026
- Local contact
- School management committee
Current status
Observed
Completed
Verified
Completed
Open
Completed
Solution Proposed
Completed
Testing
Current
Resolved
Not reached
Monitored
Not reached
A proposal is being tested against reality.
WHAT WOULD CHANGE THIS STATUS?
Logged classroom temperatures from both shaded and unshaded rooms across a full hot term. A consistent reduction would move this to Resolved; no difference would record the shading approach as unsuccessful.
Every record states in advance what evidence would move it. A status is a current reading of the evidence, not a verdict.
Local context
Afternoon classroom temperatures make the final teaching hours unproductive. Air conditioning is not affordable to run.
Who is affected: Six classrooms in one school (synthetic).
Evidence
Evidence summary: Synthetic indoor temperature logs; reviewed.
Evidence here does not mean absolute truth. It means: a record exists, with a source, a date and a provenance, and it has reached the review stage shown below.
Indoor and outdoor temperature logging across one hot term.
- Source
- Science teacher logging project (synthetic)
- Evidence submitted
- 9 Jan 2026
- Provenance
- Student-run logging with a documented sensor placement plan.
- Evidence reviewed
- 20 Feb 2026
What is needed
- Passive cooling design
- Materials sourcing
- Measurement support
- Small works budget
Proposed solutions
External shading plus night ventilation
- What is proposed
- Add external shading to west-facing windows and open the building for night flush ventilation.
- Why it might work
- Logs show heat gain concentrated in the afternoon on west-facing rooms.
- Experience / expertise
- Passive design architect (synthetic contributor)
- Supporting references
- Temperature logs.
- What needs testing
- Two shaded rooms versus two unshaded controls over one term.
- Risks / limitations
- Night ventilation depends on security arrangements.
Tests
Shading trial running across two rooms.
Retained knowledge — earlier approaches
Reflective roof paint alone
- What is proposed
- Paint the roof with reflective coating as a single measure.
- Why it might work
- Assumed roof gain dominated.
- Experience / expertise
- Remote contributor
- Supporting references
- General guidance.
- What needs testing
- Before/after indoor temperature.
- Risks / limitations
- May underperform where window gain dominates.
Tried · Did not fully work · Here is why
Synthetic logs showed a small reduction in morning temperature but almost none in the afternoon peak, because the dominant gain came through west-facing glazing. Kept visible: useful, but not sufficient alone.
Updates
- OBSERVATION· Local contributor
Afternoon classes reported as unworkable in hot term.
- EVIDENCE· Reviewer
Temperature logs reviewed; west-facing rooms worst.
- UPDATE· Reviewer
Reflective paint recorded as partially working, with reasons.
- UPDATE· Local contributor
Shading and night-ventilation trial started.
Outcome
No outcome recorded yet. This is the current evidence-backed state of the issue, not a final conclusion.