peer reviewed ; A study was conducted in four new energy efficient schools in Luxembourg with excellent primary energy consumption values, where the indoor thermal comfort and the air quality was assessed by technical measurements and by surveys. Two schools were equipped with mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and two were without, i.e. ventilation there was manually controlled by opening the windows. Further to the C02-concentration as indicator for the air quality all other important comfort parameters were measured, why the well-known indicators according to FANGER could be calculated, i.e. the „Predicted Mean Vote (PMV)“ and the „Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD)“. The individual perceived indoor comfort was analyzed by standardized questionnaires for a period of four weeks. One aim of the study was to compare natural ventilation by opening and closing the windows with the mechanical ventilation in all named aspects. In total there was a good agreement between the measurements and the survey. The results show that in general mechanical ventilation in schools lead to better physical measured values and to better subjective perception of the users. However those buildings suffer from a very low relative humidity, though it is rarely sensed by the occupants. Furthermore, in one of the mechanically ventilated buildings the air velocity was very high and led to draft-perception. The detected air temperature was heterogeneous and independent of the ventilation concept, leading to an individual judgement of PMV for the different buildings. Users should always have the possibility of interaction and control to adjust the indoor climate according to their individual needs and to correct smaller technical shortcomings.