Massachusetts Environmental Health Association

Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool

The Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool is a free software tool to help school systems more effectively manage all of their environmental issues. HealthySEAT is designed to be customized by school systems to conduct and manage self-assessments of their school facilities for a wide range of environmental, health, and safety issues.

Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool

The Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool is a free software tool to help school systems more effectively manage all of their environmental issues. HealthySEAT is designed to be customized by school systems to conduct and manage self-assessments of their school facilities for a wide range of environmental, health, and safety issues.

In the next few years, school districts will spend tens of billions of dollars constructing new school facilities, and enlarging and renovating existing schools. The information available here is presented as a tool to help school districts and facility planners design the next generation of learning environments so that the school facility will help — rather than hinder — schools in achieving their core mission of educating children.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is a critically important aspect of creating and maintaining school facilities. IAQ Design Tools for Schools provides both detailed guidance as well as links to other information resources to help design new schools as well as repair, renovate and maintain existing facilities. Though its primary focus is on indoor air quality, it is also intended to encourage school districts to embrace the concept of designing High Performance Schools, an integrated, "whole building" approach to addressing a myriad of important — and sometimes competing — priorities, such as energy efficiency, indoor air quality, day-lighting, materials efficiency, and safety, and doing so in the context of tight budgets and limited staff. Click here to learn more (external link to... http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schooldesign).