With indoor air quality a major concern in for schools in post-pandemic America, schools sought to improve HVAC systems to comply with recommended indoor air quality measures — but implementing the changes was a challenge, reports the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council. Buildings’ HVAC systems were not designed to implement the recommendations.
School district characteristics such as demographics, locale and size were not associated with the number of IAQ measures taken but were associated with the implementation of specific measures, such as increasing outdoor air through HVAC systems and assessing outdoor air delivery.
The Center’s report, Managing Air Quality in the Pandemic: How K-12 Schools Addressed Air Quality in the Second Year of COVID-19, details how school districts around the country have continued to manage air quality within their schools during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. It builds upon on an April 2021 report, “Preparation in the Pandemic: How Schools Implemented Air Quality Measures to Protect Occupants from COVID-19,” which was the first and only known national survey of on-the-ground implementation of indoor air quality (IAQ) improvements at schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new report highlights the urgent need to better support school districts with implementation of airborne infection control strategies to support mitigation of the immediate COVID-19 threat, as well as future pandemics, seasonal epidemics and to improve overall indoor air quality.
“Maintaining good indoor air quality is vital to support the health and wellness of students and faculty,” said Anisa Heming, director for the Center for Green Schools. “School districts recognize that proper ventilation is critical to curbing the spread of airborne diseases like COVID-19. However, more than two years into the pandemic, they still need support to find the right strategies and resources to make the necessary changes.”
The report shows that schools prioritized increasing outdoor air intake by whatever means were available to them and reflects on how the pandemic and schools’ responses to it have evolved. Importantly for national advocates, the survey responses indicate that school districts in different locales (urban versus non-urban) are seeking guidance from different types of sources.
Widespread education of school system administrators and staff is needed to ensure awareness of both the widely agreed-upon indoor air quality recommendations and the availability of federal COVID-19 relief funds for indoor air quality measures, the center continued To support schools, the White House’s updated COVID-19 strategies includes a focus on indoor air quality in schools, with the federal government investing millions to help schools improve ventilation as way to curb the spread of the virus and avoid shutdowns.
“Studies have shown a direct link between indoor air quality in schools and student performance and attendance,” said 2021-22 ASHRAE President Mick Schwedler, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, LEED AP. “This study further underscores the importance of not only providing technical guidance for improving indoor air quality, but the need for practical implementation strategies. We trust that the findings in this report will lead to more knowledge sharing, expanded partnerships and greater investments to improve indoor air quality and decarbonize our schools.”
The Center for Green Schools report was co-authored with researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and developed with technical support from ASHRAE. It was compiled from a national survey of public-school districts during October-December 2021 to assess the implementation of a range of ventilation, filtration, disinfection and air quality monitoring strategies; and was followed by focus group discussions with participants.
