The American Lung Association, Center for Green Schools, Go Green Initiative, New York State School Environmental Health Program, and the University of Utah partner with K-12 schools to improve indoor air quality and energy efficiency. This multi-year Creating Healthy and Efficient Schools Environments: Indoor Air Quality and Energy Management initiative will help schools and districts develop and adopt Energy Efficient Indoor Air Quality Management Plans. The suite of coordinated programs provides school boards, district administration, and school administration with resources, training, and technical assistance to assess their school environment and make effective plans. Learn more about each program below.
- The American Lung Association’s Clean Air School Challenge (CASC) is a program designed to empower K-12 schools across the country to address indoor air quality (IAQ). CASC fosters awareness and provides education about indoor air pollution risks, guides schools in assessing IAQ and supports them as they develop Energy Efficient IAQ Management Plans. CASC builds capacity for schools to implement and sustain those Plans. All schools participating in CASC receive training, resources, technical assistance, peer mentorship and recognition. Participating schools can also apply for up to $9,500 in mini-grant funding (up to $95,000 per district) to support their efforts. For more information, visit Lung.org/CASC or email CASC@Lung.org.
- The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council offers free local education and peer-to-peer connections to K-12 school districts nationwide on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) management that also prioritizes energy efficiency. Offerings include local in-person workshops, virtual trainings, fellowships, funding opportunities, peer-to-peer connections, and resources like their K-12 School Energy Efficient Indoor Air Quality Management Toolkit. Programming is designed for district-level staff in facilities, operations, environmental health, finance, sustainability, IAQ, and energy management. Learn more here. District staff interested in connecting with the Center for Green Schools, visit here.
- The Go Green Initiative (GGI) offers intensive, in-person technical support and up to $45,000 in grants to school districts chosen to be part of our annual Cohort. GGI chooses one (1) school district per EPA Region each year through an application process. The application closes Feb. 27, 2026. Learn more here. For more information, please contact Andrew Kamali at andrewkamali@gogreeninitiative.org.
- The New York State (NYS) School Environmental Health Program (SEHP) is a robust statewide program that offers free resources, including education, training, and technical assistance, to support NYS schools in becoming healthy and environmentally friendly places in which to learn and work. Examples of opportunities offered by the program include monthly webinars, in-service day trainings, school walk-throughs, regional half-day seminars, an annual conference, and indoor air quality monitoring. The program has 9 focus areas: indoor air quality (IAQ), climate action, integrated pest management (IPM), mold/moisture, chemical/environmental hazards, cleaning/maintenance, construction/renovation, transportation, and water quality. Concentrating on these 9 focus areas, SEHP strives to help schools across NYS manage and improve environmental health conditions in school buildings. This, in turn, can lead to better student attendance, improved student and staff health, improved environmental conditions in school buildings, stronger academic performance and test scores, and cost savings for schools. New York State schools can contact the program at School.Environmental.Health@health.ny.gov to learn more.
- The University of Utah’s Clean Air Schools for U program aims to improve indoor air quality and energy efficiency in schools across urban, rural, and Tribal communities in UT, NV, and WY. This multi-disciplinary project combines energy efficiency assessments, air pollution monitoring, computational simulations and sensitivity analyses with community engagement to develop actionable, school-specific indoor air quality management plans. The program also provides engagement activities including workshops, webinars, phone apps, factsheets, and community advisory boards. Schools interested in participating or learning more can visit here.
