Understanding the primary causes of indoor air quality (IAQ) problems and how controllable factors--proper heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system design, allocation of adequate outdoor air, proper filtration, effective humidity control, and routine maintenance--can avert problems may help all building owners, operators, and…

Scores of millions of dollars are spent annually in the United States for new school buildings. With this large. expenditure has come a general desire that schoolhouses shall be usable, healthful, comfortable, and beautiful. Educators and architects have united in devising plans for school buildings. This bureau has published a valuable bulletin…

Outlines some of the myriad factors affecting a facility's indoor air quality (IAQ). Offers strategies for addressing complaints, establishing trust, adjusting guidelines, addressing legislative concerns, and plotting a course for improved IAQ. Describes how one state was able to implement an IAQ program for its schools. (RJM)

Discusses how attempts to establish a more comprehensive standard have undermined indoor air quality and energy efficiency revisions. Describes the Building Owners and Managers Association's major opposition to the revisions and their complaint that the revisions would require drastic changes in structures. Summarizes the debate about what to do…

Suggests group relamping in educational facilities as a more efficient method than spot replacement of failed lamps. It can reduce operating costs, improve lighting quality, and help with federal and state regulations compliance. The implementation of group relamping is discussed in terms of planning, energy savings, and environmental issues. (RE)

This is an update of the 1973 edition of a guide for energy conservation in schools. This Educational Facilities Laboratories publication is an information source for teachers, school administrators, school maintenance personnel, school designers, or anyone interested in conserving energy in schools. Topics discussed include: (1) life-cycle…

This self-evaluation instrument is used to nominate and evaluate schools for the Indoor Air Quality Management in Schools award. The evaluation contains three categories: Communications/Training; Design; and Operations/Maintenance. Each principle is detailed along with the required criteria used to meet that principle. Communications/Training…

This technical document is intended to assist school facilities maintenance personnel in the selection, design, and operation of radon reduction systems in schools. The guidance contained in this document is based largely on research conducted in 1987 and 1988 in schools located in Maryland and Virginia. Researchers from the United States…

This publication is the design development presentation for an energy-conserving elementary school building proposed for Alief, Texas. Some of the energy conservation features presented in this proposal include: (1) wind powered emergency electrical system; (2) complete insulation resulting in a building with an over-all U factor of .04; (3) air…

Information on equipment and techniques that school facility personnel may use to evaluate IAQ conditions are discussed. Focus is placed on the IAQ parameters of air flow, air temperature, relative humidity, as well as carbon dioxide and the equipment used to measure these factors. Reasons for measurement and for when the measurement of these…

The School Retrofit Design Analysis System (SRDAS) developed in this study provides a non-technical method for the school administrator to use in evaluating alternative energy saving retrofit and new construction design possibilities. By providing a high degree of flexibility, SRDAS is applicable to a wide range of school building and retrofit…

The 13 articles in this annotated bibliography cover a wide range of concerns from the finances of energy conservation to solar energy applications, to building design, to building maintenance, and to the role of the science teacher as an energy analyst and activist. (IRT)

This publication attempts to provide some basic descriptions of the various systems and components of climate control and to point out some of the factors to be considered in the selection of the mechanical equipment. The principles of heat gain and loss and ventilation as they relate to a comfortable temperature are discussed. Illustrative…

This fact sheet details important information on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in school buildings, problems associated with IAQ, and various prevention and problem-solving strategies. Most people spend 90 percent of their time indoors, therefore the Environmental Protection Agency ranks IAQ in the top four environmental risks to the public. The…

In January, 1913, Ennion U. William, M. D., commissioner of health of Virginia; Hon. Joseph D. Eggleston, retiring superintendent of public instruction; R. C. Stearns, his successor; and W. H. Heck, Ph. D., professor of education in the University of Virginia, projected an intensive survey of the white and colored schools and school children of…