A research project at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur is examining how hostel room design and indoor environmental conditions affect students’ sleep and their alertness in classrooms.
The study, led by Professor Anubha Goel from the Department of Civil Engineering, investigates how factors such as ventilation, temperature, humidity and air quality inside hostel rooms influence how well students sleep at night. Researchers say poor sleep may be one reason some students feel tired or sleepy during lectures.
The findings suggest that the physical environment of student housing could play a significant role in sleep quality and overall well being.
The idea for the study emerged from an earlier research project on classroom ventilation at IIT Kanpur.
About four years ago, a research scholar working with Professor Goel was studying indoor air quality in classrooms. During that project, students were asked to report how alert or sleepy they felt at the start of a lecture and after an hour.
While some students reported becoming sleepy in poorly ventilated classrooms, researchers noticed that several students said they were already tired at the beginning of the lecture.
This observation raised an important question. If students were already fatigued before classes began, could the problem be related to sleep conditions in hostel rooms rather than classroom air quality alone?
That question led the research team to investigate the sleeping environments in campus hostels.
To explore the issue, the researchers conducted a survey among 518 students living in hostels at IIT Kanpur. The study focused on naturally ventilated hostel rooms, which are common in many Indian campuses.
The team used the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, a globally recognized tool used by researchers to assess sleep quality. The survey also included questions about environmental conditions inside hostel rooms.
Students were asked about:
ventilation inside their rooms
temperature and humidity levels
whether windows remained open at night
perceived indoor air quality
sleep patterns and daytime tiredness
The results revealed that around 70 percent of the students reported poor sleep quality.
Many students also reported problems such as difficulty falling asleep, waking up during the night and feeling tired during the day.
The research found that indoor environmental conditions appear to play an important role in sleep quality.
Rooms with better ventilation and open windows were associated with improved sleep quality scores. In contrast, high temperatures, humidity and poor airflow were linked to poorer sleep satisfaction.
Heat was identified as a particularly important factor, especially during warmer periods when indoor temperatures rise inside hostel rooms.
While some students used cooling devices such as air coolers, these sometimes introduced additional noise or airflow issues that could also affect sleep comfort.
The findings from the pilot study were published in November 2025 in the international scientific journal Building and Environment.
The research paper titled Exploring the Environmental Determinants of Sleep Quality: A Questionnaire Based Pilot Study in Indian University Dormitories analyzed sleep patterns and environmental conditions among students living in campus housing.
The paper was authored by:
Asmita Adya, senior PhD student at IIT Kanpur and lead author
Professor Anubha Goel, IIT Kanpur
Professor Pawel Wargocki, Technical University of Denmark, an expert in indoor environmental quality
According to Professor Goel, the broader goal of the research is to generate scientific evidence that can help improve the design of hostels and residential buildings.
Better understanding how indoor environmental conditions affect sleep may help architects and planners design living spaces that support healthier sleep patterns.
Researchers believe such insights could eventually inform future hostel design guidelines, ensuring that student housing supports both comfort and academic performance.
The researchers hope their work will contribute to creating healthier living environments for students, helping them rest better and stay more alert during classes.
References:
1. Addya, Asmita, Anubha Goel, and Pawel Wargocki. 2025. “Exploring the Environmental Determinants of Sleep Quality: A Questionnaire-Based Pilot Study in Indian University Dormitories.” Building and Environment. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132325010820
(Rh/ARC)
