Green & Healthy Schools
Becoming a Green & Healthy School
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- Requirements Chart
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- Green Schools Poster
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Current Green & Healthy Schools
Indoor Air Quality Resources
Most people know that outdoor air pollution can damage their health, but many do not know that indoor air pollution can also have harmful effects. Good indoor air quality reduces triggers for allergies and asthma, helps to maintain concentration, and contributes to a favorable learning environment. This section will help your team identify practices that impact indoor air quality and start you thinking about how you can modify these practices to improve it.
Action and Implementation
School qualifying to be a Green & Healthy School must meet the following requirements:
- indoor air quality is included in the curriculum and a communication plan is in place to inform staff, students, and parents of IAQ issues,
- major problems identified in the indoor air quality section of the Green & Healthy Schools Assessment have been addressed or an approved plan for addressing them has been developed,
- and the staff performs regularly scheduled inspections to identify and address IAQ problems.
The resources below can provide you with ideas on how to meet these requirements.
Reaching Higher
If you choose to go further after your school becomes a Green & Healthy School, the following resources can also be used to help you meet the Reaching Higher requirements.
Teaching
Students should know why indoor air quality is an important issue and the associated health and environmental affects. The following Web sites contain indoor air quality-related lessons and curriculum connections.
- Teachers Guide to IAQ [PDF exit DNR]
- EPA IAQ Tools for Schools Resources and Curriculum (High School and K-3) [exit DNR]
- Hydroville IAQ Curriculum (Middle/High School) [exit DNR]
- Children’s Health Environmental Coalition – Mold Basics [exit DNR]
IAQ Solutions/Plan
Indoor air quality concerns identified in the indoor air quality section of the Green & Healthy Schools Assessment or the Tools for Schools checklist should be addressed to help improve your school’s indoor air. Develop an implementation plan, include the problem, solution, how and when the solution will be implemented, and who will be involved with each solution. If some of the problems identified are large-scale and expensive, schools should at least have an approved implementation plan. The following resource might be helpful in determining solutions to IAQ problems, however depending on the severity of the IAQ problems you may have to consult a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) or air quality professional. The IAQ Coordinator’s Guide can also help your school select the appropriate professional to combat your IAQ problems.
- IAQ Coordinator’s Guide [exit DNR]
- Mold Remediation in Schools [exit DNR]
- Air Duct Cleaning [exit DNR]
- Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools (IAQ TfS) Action Kit [exit DNR]
Indoor Air Quality Walkthrough
A quick IAQ walkthrough to identify obvious IAQ concerns in your school should be completed on a regular basis using the Walkthrough Checklist provided in the EPA Tools for Schools Kit. This will help you detect and resolve IAQ problems early and hopefully save your school some money before more costly and hazardous problems develop. Develop a regular schedule to complete the IAQ Walkthrough Checklist (ie, once every other month, once a quarter, etc.) and make sure to inform all parties involved with the walkthrough of their responsibilities and the timeline. Once the walkthrough is completed, review the checklist and schedule necessary repairs.
Tools for School Checklists
In addition to the Green & Healthy Schools Assessment section on IAQ, schools can conduct a much more complete audit using the EPA Tools for Schools checklists provided below. All checklists should be completed to get an accurate picture of your schools indoor air quality and what can be done to improve your indoor air quality. The IAQ Coordinators Guide provides background information and guidance on how to complete the checklists.
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