Mélina Facchin (in Illfurth), edited by Solène Leroux 8:40 a.m., January 16, 2022, modified at 8:42 a.m., January 16, 2022
Few schools currently have CO2 sensors, these boxes that control the quality of the air and specify when it is necessary to ventilate the room.
However, it is a useful instrument to fight against the spread of Covid-19, demanded by many unions on strike this week.
Orders for CO2 sensors are skyrocketing from manufacturers, and more and more classrooms are buying them.
The school of Illfurth, in the Haut-Rhin, has had one since last spring already.
It is a small box that allows you to instantly measure the air quality in a room.
CO2 sensors are increasingly popular, especially in classrooms.
They indicate when the CO2 level is too high in the air and the room must therefore be ventilated.
Even if they are still few in number, more and more schools are equipping themselves with them.
That of the town of Illfurth, in the Haut-Rhin, made this choice almost a year ago.
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And in this CE1 class, the twenty students understood the interest of the CO2 sensor, the small box installed next to the blackboard… "It's to not catch Covid-19 and exchange germs", explains this 7-year-old student.
"When it rings, it means that the windows must be ventilated", specify his comrades, with their own words.
When the sensor rings, "You have to open the window!"
And at twenty in a closed classroom, the air can very quickly become saturated.
After three quarters of an hour of class, the CO2 sensor exceeded 1,500 ppm (part per million), the alert threshold.
"You have to open the window!" A student immediately writes.
The mistress Isabelle Luga, runs immediately.
Keeping an eye on the box has become a habit for her: "It's at the same time reassuring and a little distressing to see the CO2 level rise," she explains.
"The children are used to it, they know that I put it on in the morning and that it will be on the road all day."
A CO2 sensor costs around 150 euros
The municipality of Illfurth (Haut-Rhin) was one of the first in France to acquire a CO2 sensor almost a year ago.
Mayor Christian Sutter immediately understood its usefulness: "The children are still safer in the premises, assures the elected official. It can also give them good habits at home: airing every hour for five- ten minutes. So it's very positive!"
he rejoices.
In all, 64 municipalities and 150 classrooms in Sundgau, this region of southern Alsace, are already equipped with CO2 sensors, for a total budget of 15,000 euros, entirely supported by the community of municipalities.