Environmental Law Institute, 2016.
Energy efficiency continues to be an important component of federal, state, and local efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. School facility upgrades that increase energy efficiency can help school districts advance their educational mission by reducing energy and other operating costs. Facility upgrades that protect and improve indoor air quality (IAQ) also support the core mission of schools by promoting staff and student health, productivity, and attendance. There is now broad recognition that it is possible to achieve both energy efficiency and indoor air quality goals as part of a school retrofit project. When undertaking energy efficiency and other facility upgrades, early consideration of IAQ issues can help schools avoid unintended, negative consequences and reap the twin benefits of energy savings and a healthier, more productive school environment.
State laws, regulations, and guidance can facilitate the integration of IAQ and energy efficiency goals. This report discusses three areas of potential policy development: state funding for school facility upgrades, energy savings performance contracting, and regulation of indoor pollutants during renovation. While these are not the only policy areas ripe for consideration, the examples described throughout the report reflect a variety of strategies for maximizing the health benefits of energy retrofits and other school facility upgrades.
State Funding for School Facility Upgrades
States operate a variety of programs that provide grants, loans, and other financing for school energy efficiency retrofits and other facility upgrades, and these programs are particularly important for school districts that have limited resources for capital-intensive measures. Currently there are few state funding programs that affirmatively require or encourage the integration of IAQ and energy goals, however the report highlights examples of policy strategies that have been adopted and could be expanded in the future. These include:
- Establishing energy-related IAQ improvements as allowable or priority uses of energy efficiency funding;
- Considering non-energy benefits, such as enhanced IAQ, in awarding energy-efficiency funding; and
- Establishing IAQ measures as priorities for general school renovation and repair programs.
