The importance of indoor air quality (IAQ) in K-12 education facilities gained quite a bit of steam because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as teachers, faculty, students and their parents shared concerns over the quality of air circulating through classrooms.
While the federal government has made millions of dollars available for schools to address HVAC concerns through the Inflation Reduction Act and other avenues, another pitch for IAQ funding took place on National Healthy Schools Day (NHSD) on April 4, when environmental and public health groups called on President Biden to include $100 million in his 2024 budget requests for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Air and Radiation/Indoor Environments Division.
NHSD supporters also requested $10 million for the EPA Office of Children’s Health Protection to increase public health research services for children’s environmental health, according to a press release.
“School building conditions have been neglected for decades,” says NHSD coalition coordinator Claire L Barnett, who hosts the NHSD event. “But schools and their communities can help by using U.S. EPA’s voluntary guidance on effective interventions. EPA has the authorizations and the proven programs to help schools address complex facility issues.”
Dave Lubach is the managing editor of the Facility Market.
