Page 22 - School Planning & Management, April 2017

FACILITIES CLEANER AIR, BETTER STUDENTS
Fresh Air. After years of struggling with inadequate space and environ- mental and health hazards, voter approve the new Wentworth Interme- diate School in Scarborough, Maine. The new 800-student school has modern building systems and geothermal heating and cooling that is projected to save up to $70,000 in annual energy costs. The systems also are designed to introduce up to 100 percent of outdoor air. Providing the fresh air improved the IAQ throughout the school.
cause short- and long-term health problems, require costly repairs and even give rise to liability problems for the school district.
In severe cases, schools have been required to close and temporarily relocate faculty, staff and students — a very costly undertaking.
As might be expected then, taking steps that improve IAQ will improve performance. A 2015 study that appeared in the “Journal of Environmental Economics and Management” reported that the performance of students in one Texas school district improved “significantly” following projects that raised the quality of indoor air.
In response to such reports about the beneficial effects of better indoor air, approximately half — 50 percent — of the more than 13,500 school districts across the U.S. have reported implementing IAQ management plans.
Eighty percent of those programs have turned to the Environ- mental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools” for guidance.
The EPA Tools for Schools program recommends 11 specific steps to improving IAQ:
1. Familiarize yourself with EPA videos about IAQ. These include
the “IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit” and “Taking Action &
Ventilation Basics” and “IAQ Walkthrough.”
2. Appoint an IAQ Coordinator to manage the IAQ program.
3. Put together an IAQ Team that includes students, teachers,
administrators and representatives from each group
within the school.
4. Research IAQ throughout the various rooms in the school.
5. Identify IAQ problems using the IAQ Tools for Schools checklists.
6. Review the problems you have identified.
7. Conduct a walk-through inspection of the school.
8. Prioritize and resolve IAQ problems, beginning with
health and safety.
9. Set IAQ policies and develop an IAQ management plan.
The EPA has published a model plan.
10. Follow up on your plan with inspections aimed at assessing the
quality of your problem solving performance. Schedule IAQ
events and set up a filing system for IAQ information.
11. As you begin to manage IAQ effectively, become a mentor for
other schools.
The EPA recommendations stem from a U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics report filed years ago — in the year 2000. That report found that one-quarter of U.S. school district buildings requires extensive repairs.
The EPA recommends that school districts implement IAQ programs in all schools district-wide. The EPA, however, does not require compliance with its recommendations, nor does it require recordkeeping related to IAQ. Then again, a number of states have enacted legislation setting IAQ standards.
SLAM DUNK
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22 SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / APRIL 2017
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