Get to Know Our Partners

Participants

Our list of participants is growing. The campaign currently has over 40 district participants representing approximately 3,500 schools serving over 2,800,000 students! Participants come from rural, suburban, and urban K-12 schools from all regions of the country.

For each participant, our goal is to understand their needs so that we can provide assistance and support, to help accomplish goals related to both energy efficiency and indoor air quality.

As our program continues, we want to engage with more schools who seek this free technical assistance. Please help us spread the word! If you represent a school district, you can sign up to participate using our simple form.

Supporters

We now have over 60 supporters! Supporters include state and local government, nonprofits focused on school facilities, engineers, architects, consultants, manufacturers and vendors, and other organizations. Supporters have provided valuable input and outreach to schools about our campaign.

Please respond to this email if you’re a supporter and would like to help promote efficient and healthy schools, share our factsheet with school districts, or sign up to support our campaign and become a supporter.

Recognition Program Updates

About the Program

Our campaign offers recognition opportunities for schools and school districts who are creating an energy efficient and healthy environment for students and staff. The recently released White House fact sheet mentions the school districts that were recognized in our first round of recognition. The recognition categories are: (1) HVAC Inspection and Maintenance for IAQ, (2) Efficient HVAC for IEQ, (3) Ongoing Monitoring and Analytics for HVAC Performance, and (4) Team Approach to Support Strategic Investments in Efficient and Healthy Schools. Districts were awarded either Best in Class or Notable Achievement. Read more about our honorees!

Webinar: Team Approach to Support Strategic Investments in Efficient and Healthy Schools

June 15th 10am PT/1pm ET

Registration

The U.S. Department of Energy and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are conducting a free webinar series to share energy efficiency and indoor air quality (IAQ) best practices to help school districts improve their facilities. As part of the Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign, this webinar series provides an opportunity for peer learning and technical exchange among schools and stakeholders. The campaign provides access to experts, tools, and resources for schools to get started or further improve HVAC performance and reduce energy costs while promoting healthier spaces for learning.

The webinar on June 15th will feature two awardees from the campaign’s recognition program:

Boulder Valley School District, CO
Charleston County School District, SC

Presenters will also include campaign staff and technical experts, who will share best practices for engaging the school community in strategic planning and investments for efficient and healthy schools. New Buildings Institute will share highlights from their recently released Decarbonization Roadmap Guide for School Building Decision Makers. Discussion topics will include collaborative approaches to involve the school community in setting quantitative energy goals and innovative methods to communicate building performance improvements. All previous webinar recordings and slides can be found on our previous webinars page.

News From Our Organizing Partners

U.S. EPA issued guidance in response to the “Clean Air in Buildings Challenge” to help building owners and operators improve indoor air quality and protect building health. See key actions outlined in the guidance that can help reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread.

EPA Guidance

U.S. Department of Education announced the names of the 2022 Green Ribbon Schools and District Sustainability Awardees A video message from Secretary Cardona celebrates 27 schools and five districts receiving recognitions for their innovative efforts to address the three pillars of the program: reducing environmental impact and utility costs; improving health and wellness; and ensuring effective sustainability education.

Video Message

Technical Resources

On the resources page of our website, we’ve compiled various types of resources that might be especially helpful to K-12 districts and schools. Some examples include:

U.S. Department of Energy’s website on Fi nancing Efficient and Healthy Retrofits. Districts and schools can leverage a combination of sources to fund energy-efficiency upgrades, including federal and state resources, internal financing, debt financing, leasing arrangements, and energy service performance contracts among others.

Efficient and Healthy Retrofits

Low carbon technology strategies for primary schools and secondary schools, developed by the U.S. Department of Energy. The table includes simple, immediate, and advanced options that schools can take to achieve smart, healthy, and low-carbon buildings within their existing portfolios.

On-demand webinars from the U.S. EPA focused on healthy indoor environments in schools. Current webinars include topics such as ventilation, reducing the spread of viruses, and indoor air quality health and safety.

On-demand Webinars

U.S. EPA’s ENERGY STAR Guidelines for Energy Management outlines the processes for creating an energy management program that schools can follow to continuously improve energy performance of their facilities.

Energy Management Guidelines

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To learn more, visit

healthyschools.lbl.gov