” Mistress, we’ve gone orange! ” At Marcel-Pagnol school, in Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes), children watch for the CO detector light2 which has been in every class since the start of the school year. As soon as it is no longer green, the designated student for the week gets up and opens the door or a window. “The traffic light side is very fun, explains Kévin Basilien, 35, director of the establishment. The students have made it their own, and that reassures everyone. Finally, with a clear visual element, we are more at ease in a classroom than in a bus or in transport. ” In the canteen, a high-risk area, air purifiers have been installed in addition to the sensors. Results : ” In no case [de Covid-19] since September “, says the director, touching wood.
The Cannes town hall ordered 500 devices in July, a month before the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, said in the Sunday newspaper to want “Generalize” installation of CO sensors2, which until now were only recommended. These devices make it possible to measure the concentration of carbon dioxide in a room, and therefore the quality of the air breathed. The size of a smoke detector, these boxes work like a thermometer: from a concentration of 800 ppm (parts per million) of CO2, a red light comes on, indicating that it is time to open the windows. Outside, the concentration of carbon dioxide is of the order of 400 ppm. “There is a scientific consensus to equip the classes with them because this makes it possible to measure the need for ventilation”, had recognized Mr. Blanquer in August, while other European countries, such as Ireland, have already equipped all their schools.
“A shared subject”
In the arsenal of the city of Cannes, three tools: sensors with traffic lights, sensor-recorders that allow data to be collected over a longer period of time, and filtration terminals. “As we were among the first to order, it was easy, we received everything quickly”, explains Karin Topin-Condomitti, director general of services at the town hall. Thus, before the start of the September school year, the 230 classes of the 32 municipal schools and the ten Cannes nurseries could be equipped. All for a municipal bill of around 300,000 euros. The “classic” sensor, with its indicator lights, the most widely distributed, “Makes it possible to make air quality a shared subject, a co-decision with the pupils”, assures Karin Topin-Condomitti. And be less reluctant to open the window, especially in winter. Air purifiers, the size of a vacuum cleaner and a little noisy, are used to filter rooms that are more difficult to ventilate, such as nap rooms, or places of high risk such as the canteen.
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