Natural ventilation as a healthy habit during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of the frequency of window opening in Spanish homes

Abstract

Since SARS-CoV-2 spread worldwide in early 2020, many countries established lockdowns for protection. With a main transmission by aerosols, ventilation was promoted. This article analyses natural ventilation of Spanish housing during the spring 2020. An online questionnaire was launched, obtaining for this study 1502 responses. The comparative window opening before and during confinement, and households, dwellings and home activity variables, were analysed. The binary logistic regression model before pandemic indicated that ventilating properly related to: a worse perceived IAQ (OR = 1.56); thermal adaptation measures, especially those that prefer to open/close windows (OR = 1.45); not having heating system (OR = 1.15); and using power to heat water (OR = 1.60). For the confinement period, the model highlighted: being an employee (OR = 1.88); using heavy clothing in the home (OR = 2.36); and again, open/close windows for adaptation (OR = 2.24). According to specific tasks in quarantine, frequent ventilation was boosted by: an increasing use of oven (OR = 14.81); and alteration of work-habits (OR = 2.70), sport-habits (OR = 1.79), and outdoor-activities (OR = 1.60). Thus, an adequate natural ventilation pattern during the quarantine was linked to low environmental comfort in general, by virtue of indoor air quality. This is corroborated by less acoustic-thermal insulation, worse indicators of heating use, and the adaptive response to opening/closing windows when external temperature changed.