Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools

The Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools (IAQ TfS) Kit shows schools how to carry out a practical plan of action to improve indoor air problems at little or no cost using straightforward activities and in-house staff. Students who are exposed to poor indoor air quality experience decreased performance, diminished concentration levels and score consistently lower on standardized tests than those students attending schools with good air quality. The Kit provides best practices, industry guidelines, sample policies, and a sample IAQ management plan. The voluntary guidance can save schools time and money so that resources can be directed toward educating children. The IAQ TfS Kit is co-sponsored by the National Parent Teacher Association, National Education Association, Association of School Business Officials, American Federation of Teachers, and the American Lung Association. EPA has also developed a unique software tool to help school districts evaluate and manage their school facilities for key environmental, safety and health issues. The new Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool (HealthySEAT) is designed to be customized and used by district-level staff to conduct completely voluntary self-assessments of their school (and other) facilities and to track and manage information on environmental conditions school by school.

The goal of the IAQ TfS program is to provide schools with easy ways to improve air quality in classrooms.

Since the creation of the Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools (IAQ TfS) program, more than 26,000 schools across the country have adopted IAQ management programs consistent with EPA's guidance. The IAQ TfS program teaches schools how to identify, resolve, and prevent IAQ problems through low and no-cost measures.