Indoor Air Quality Policy Database

Welcome to the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Policy Database.  In accordance with recent state legislation, local school boards are required to create policies that address air quality in schools and on school property.  In order to comply with state law, we thought it would be useful to compile state and local policies already in use throughout the country as well as other resources that will help you to minimize IAQ issues in your school.

Ensuring high air quality in schools is an important and worthwhile cause.  As outlined by the EPA, poor IAQ is related to both long and short-term health problems for staff and students alike.  This leads to increased absenteeism and poor school performance.  These issues are especially problematic in the asthmatic population, where IAQ issue may even be life-threatening.

While creating an IAQ policy may seem like a daunting task, one thing you may notice as you peruse the policies and resources in this database is how simple many of the steps to improving school IAQ actually are.  Most local policies focus on simple, commonsensical approaches to stopping IAQ problems before they start.  They include everything from using welcome mats to using more environmentally friendly cleaning solutions.  Preventing IAQ problems before they start may also save your school significant amounts of money, rather than spending funds addressing issues as they occur.

Because local policies are not always readily available to the wider public, this database is not an exhaustive list of policies in the country.  These are just some examples policies and resources that you may find helpful.  We are hoping to review and update this database as more resources become available.  We also hope that you will share with us any policies or resources that you find particularly helpful so that we can share them with other schools in the state and they can improve their own policies.

Finally, NH state legislation also makes the Tools for Schools (TfS) program available to all schools and school districts.  This database is not meant to serve as a potential replacement for TfS.  Instead, we hope that the policies and resources in this database will allow for more successful walkthroughs and checklists that are part of the TfS program.

School Indoor Air Quality Policy Database

Questions or concerns about any of these bills please contact:

Ed Murdough, NH Department of Education, at (603) 271-2037.