IAQ Tools for Schools
Develop Your Program
Solutions to Common Issues
IAQ Design Tools for 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.
- Incorporating high performance building features into the design process.
- Commissioning school building systems to ensure that they are operating according to design.
- Controlling pollutants and their sources.
- Selecting and designing heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
- Controlling moisture to prevent mold and damage to building materials and systems.
- Remediating mold.
- Specifying and maintaining portable classrooms.
- Renovating existing schools.
- Providing links to resources on a wide range of high performance construction issues, such as acoustics, day lighting, life-cycle costing, commissioning and more.
IAQ Design Tools for Schools draws from EPA's expertise as well as other resources that have emerged from state and private sector initiatives. It complements the IAQ Tools for Schools guidance and other EPA technical tools, including:
- Building Air Quality: A Guide for Building Owners and Facility Managers Developed by the EPA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, this tool provides practical suggestions on preventing, identifying and resolving IAQ problems in public and commercial buildings.
- Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool (HealthySEAT) HealthySEAT is a fully customizable and easy to use software program designed to help school districts evaluate and manage ALL of their environmental, safety and health issues.
- IAQ Building Education and Assessment Model (I-BEAM) I-BEAM is a guidance tool designed for use by building professionals and others interested in indoor air quality in commercial buildings that contains text, animation/visual and interactive/calculation components that can be used to perform a number of diverse air quality tasks.
- School Advanced Ventilation Engineering Software (SAVES) SAVES is a tool to help school designers assess the potential financial payback and indoor humidity control benefits of Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV) systems for school applications.