United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new guidelines to help school districts protect Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) while increasing energy efficiency during school renovations.
"This guide offers common-sense solutions to improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality in schools across the country," said Janet McCabe, deputy administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation, EPA. "By using these guidelines, school districts can reduce their energy bills and help ensure students have a healthy and safe learning environment."
EPA estimates that both energy management and IAQ protection are important considerations for managing school facilities during energy upgrades and modifications, and schools can protect the health of occupants by addressing both objectives holistically. These renovation and construction activities can create dust, introduce new contaminants and contaminate roads, creating or aggravating moisture problems, and leading to inadequate ventilation in occupied spaces.
The practices described in the new schools support in orientation to healthy energy-efficient buildings that play an important role in local communities. Nearly 55 million primary and secondary students occupy these schools, as well as 7 million teachers, professors or staff. In addition, many communities use school buildings after regular school hours such as post-maintenance facilities, recreation centers, meeting places, and emergency shelters during natural disasters.
Today, half of the schools in the U.S. have adopted indoor air quality management plans, many of which are based on EPA indoor air quality tools for schools. However, there are still 25 million children in nearly 60,000 schools who are not yet protected by indoor air quality management programs.
The guide can be downloaded by clicking here.
