Indoor Air Quality Design Tools for Schools

In the next few years, school districts will spend tens of billions of dollars constructing new school facilities and enlarging and renovating existing schools. New schools are built every year, whether it is to keep pace with population growth, reduce overcrowding or comply with class-size reduction mandates. Thousands more schools are renovated as districts continue to upgrade deteriorating school facilities. 

The information available here is presented as a tool to help school districts and facility planners design the next generation of learning environments so that the school facility will help — rather than hinder — schools in achieving their core mission of educating children.

The Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Design Tools for Schools guidance provides strategies for key school construction and renovation issues.

On other pages:

• Preliminary Design Phases
• Controlling Pollutants and Sources
• Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) Systems
• Moisture Control
• Construction
• Commissioning
• Renovation and Repair of Existing Schools
• Operations and Maintenance
• Portable (Relocatable) Classrooms

Resources

EPA views IAQ Design Tools for Schools as a dynamic resource and strongly encourages visitors to comment on all aspects of the information presented here and share any helpful additional resources or ways to present this information.

State and Local Requirements

Many States and localities have enacted legislation and/or established regulations, standards or guidelines that will affect school design and construction issues in that community. Users of the information presented here should seek information on State legislation, local ordinances, and building codes to supplement information obtained here. In addition, all bid documents should include a requirement to comply with all applicable State and local codes and standards.

Printing IAQ Design Tools for Schools

IAQ Design Tools for Schools is only available online. To print pages, you must print each page individually.

Acknowledgements

In preparing this voluntary guidance, EPA has drawn heavily from a number of materials that have already been developed across the country addressing high performance schools. The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) Best Practices Manual (BPM) can be particularly useful.

Content reprinted/and or adapted from the CHPS Best Practices Manual is by permission of The Collaborative for High Performance Schools, Inc. The CHPS Best Practices Manual is copyrighted by CHPS, Inc. End users of the BPM content are permitted to use and or copy the content without further consent. However, the permission of CHPS, Inc. must be obtained in order to re-license, publish or develop derivative works from CHPS copyrighted materials. Many other resources have also been used in the development of IAQ Design Tools for Schools and users of this guidance are strongly encouraged to refer to referenced resources and related links to assist them in designing schools using a fully integrated whole building approach.

References

• National Center for Education Statistics. U.S. Department of Education. 2000. Condition of America's Public School Facilities: 1999. NCES 2000-032.
• US General Accounting Office. School Facilities: Condition of America's Schools. Washington, DC: General Accounting Office (GAO/HEHS-95-61); 1995.
• National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities. Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes? Mark Schneider. November 2002.