EPA honors Navato Unified School District's efforts to improve indoor air quality

SAN FRANCISCO — The Novato Unified School District has been honored with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2010 Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools National Excellence Award for its exemplary efforts to improve indoor air quality for students, teachers and staff, according to a press release.

EPA created the IAQ Tools for Schools program nearly 20 years ago in response to studies that revealed the increasing age and deterioration of the nation's school buildings, the alarming rise in asthma and allergies among schoolchildren and the knowledge that indoor air pollutants can bring about or even worsen a variety of health problems, the release stated.

"Novato Unified School District is demonstrating national leadership through its commitment to promote healthy indoor air quality in their community's schools," said Mike Flynn, director of EPA's Office of Radiation and Indoor Air.

"Their work is helping to protect the health and support the performance of students, faculty and staff. We are proud of their valuable efforts and commend them on this outstanding accomplishment," Flynn added.

The relationship between indoor air quality and student performance and productivity is clear: Research suggests that students attending schools in poor conditions score 11 percent lower on standardized tests than students who attend schools in good conditions, the release noted.

According to the release, with nearly 55 million children spending their days inside 132,000 public and private school buildings in the United States, managing indoor air quality in schools is a vital part of improving student performance and achievement.

Click here to read the complete release.