“We are not only

cleaning to make the

building look clean...

we are trying to

provide a healthier

environment for

working and

learning.”

Bill Faulkner

Anacortes School District

Indoor Air Qualityin Northwest Schools

An electronic newsletter for school Indoor AirQuality (IAQ) exclusively for Northwest schools

Spring Quarter 2004

School Indoor AirQuality Newsletter forNorthwest Schools

A quarterly electronic newsletterexclusively for NW schools.

Please circulate this subscriptionopportunity throughout theNorthwest to those who may beinterested.

There are two ways to subscribe:

1) To view the newsletter, clickhere:http://www.energy.wsu.edu/buildings/IAQ.htm

The newsletter contains a link forsubscription information.

2) Or, send a blank email messageto: subscribe-iaq@listserv.energy.wsu.edu

You will receive a confirmationmessage. When you reply to thatmessage you will be subscribed andwill receive all future postings. Youcan easily unsubscribe at any time.

This broadcast email list not onlyprovides automatic delivery of thequarterly School IAQ Newsletter, butincludes announcements aboutnews of interest, training events,grant opportunities, and otherinformation useful to schooldistricts, agencies, and stakeholdersinvolved in school IAQ andoperations and maintenance.

The newsletter is an opportunity forall interested parties tocommunicate, and add to thecollective wisdom.

Continued on page 2

School NursesMake a Difference

Health issues drive school indoor airquality concerns, and health impacts fromindoor air pollutants need to be addressedby health professionals. That’s why theSedro-Woolley School District has selectedits school nurses as indoor air coordinatorsfor each of their schools.

At Sedro-Woolley schools in WesternWashington, administrators and facility staffrecognize that they do not possess thenecessary medical training that allows them tomake decisions regarding health issues of thebuilding occupants. That’s why this award winningschool district (see page 5) is working hand-in-hand with school nurses to ensure the safety,

health and productivity of students and staff.

The motto of school nurses is “Healthychildren learn better; school nurses make ithappen.”

Major functions of school nurses include:

1. Leading the school team in promoting learning readiness and personal assets

a. Counseling staff, students and parents regarding primary health care, emergency

care, and referrals;

b. Providing health care as the districts only credentialed, licensed, and qualified health professionals, to students, staff and parents;

c. Educating about health, nutrition, special healthcare needs of children, health care access, being ahealth care consumer, self health care, domesticviolence, and safe school environments;

d. Partnering with staff, students, parents, medicalcommunity, health agencies and hospitals;

INDOOR AIR QUALITY IN NORTHWEST SCHOOLS

2

Continued from page 1

School Nurses

Upcoming Events:

EPA’s Annual IAQ Tools forSchools Symposium set forDecember 2-4, 2004, inWashington, D.C.

This is an excellent annualevent that provides greatpresentations and a uniqueopportunity to network withschool folks from across thenation.

A brochure is now available atwww.epa.gov/iaq/schools

Table of Contents

Green Cleaning PilotProject Update ............................. 3

Notes from the Field ..................... 4

Investigating Carpetin Schools .................................... 6

Idaho Schools Participatein IAQ Assessments ...................... 7

Bend-La Pine School District CreatesCustomized IAQ Program ............. 7

On the Oregon Trail –New Beginnings ........................... 8

Watch for Asthma Information ..... 9

© 2004 Washington State UniversityExtension Energy Program. This publicationcontains material written and produced forpublic distribution. You may reprint thiswritten materials, provided you do not use itto endorse a commercial product. Pleasereference by title and credit WashingtonState University Extension Energy Program.

WSUCEEP04_011

June 2004

e. Problem solving for complex medical ethical issues, safe medica-tion administration for students with attention deficit disorder,attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, asthma, and fullinclusion for medically fragile students;

f. Assessing school and community health care needed for students,parents and staff.

2. Advocating for child health

a. Ensuring standard of care through medical case management,seeing that each child is in optimum health in order to learn;

b. Being a consistent liaison between home and school, hospitaland school, school and medical community.

3. Establishing and maintaining a health office on school campuses

a. Evaluating and monitoring student and staff health, healthprograms, legal mandates;

b.Using nursing process and assessment skills to make nursingdiagnoses based on clinical judgment.

4. Doing school health research to better serve the children in the schools

a. Documenting services provided as to effectiveness, efficacyand equality;

b. Exploring ethical issues around school health services.

The seven school nurses are excited to be key members of the school IAQ team.

Spring Quarter 2004

3

The Anacortes School District in Washington State ispreparing to take the next step in the process ofimplementing green cleaning practices in theirschools. To date, two schools have been participatingin the pilot project (see articles in this and pastnewsletters by Bill Faulkner and Von Storme). Schooldistrict administrators like what they have seen inthese schools and are ready to expand the greencleaning program district-wide.

Toward that end, Facilities Director Jerry Lynch invitedall custodians to a 90-minute interactive presentationby Rich Prill of Washington State University ExtensionEnergy Program. Rich built the presentation aroundan outline of topics Jerry provided. It was a niceoutline and I will include it here. I must comment thatthe outline provided shows us that Jerry is oneadministrator that “gets it,” as Steve Ashkin, greencleaning guru of The Ashkin Group would say. Jerryobviously has a good grasp of the whys and hows ofgreen cleaning. Here are his topics for discussion:

• Green cleaning beliefs/philosophy

• Benefits to kids and staff

• Connection with a “healthy school”

• Potential impact on student achievement

• Changing role of the custodian

• Enlisting support from others (parents, kids,teachers, etc.)

• Challenges to making the change

• Day to day differences in how one cleans

• Products/chemicals for green cleaning

• Traditional cost vs. green cleaning costs

Jerry opened the meeting with a tactfully statedchallenge for the custodians. For the transition togreen cleaning to work, each custodian needs tounderstand why the switch is important on a personaland global scale, to believe in it personally andbecome more and more a steward of the health ofthe facility and its occupants, and to be anambassador of the program, promoting it at everyopportunity to students, staff and parents.

Rich started with a short reviewof indoor air qualityfundamentals and thenfacilitated the discussion ofeach topic above. It was anexcellent opportunity foreveryone to share opinions andideas, including the reality that things are different ineach school. I believe we accomplished a lot in 90minutes, the presentation was well-received by staff and,if nothing else, the custodial staff has a good idea whichdirection the district is trending toward, and thatdirection will be shaped by input from everyone.

This phase of the green cleaning implementation processfollows initial training set in motion during 2003,working closely with Steve Ashkin. Step one consisted oftraining by Ashkin for administrators. Step two wastraining by Ashkin for custodial supervisors. Step threeinitiated pilot green cleaning programs only in thoseschools and districts that expressed the most interest andhad the best chance of success. Now, step four meanstaking lessons learned in pilot schools and sharing themwith other district schools as they evolve the programnext year.

Congratulations to Anacortes School District for its hardwork doing the right thing for students and staff. If theyare successful, it will be because each individual involvedcares enough to go the extra mile in their jobs. If thisdistrict is successful, the green cleaning program willspread to other districts. Future success will be due totheir current efforts. I hope they all get the jobsatisfaction payback they deserve.

Green Cleaning Pilot Project UpdateBy Dave Blake, Northwest Air Pollution Authority

INDOOR AIR QUALITY IN NORTHWEST SCHOOLS

4

Notes from the Field

Anacortes High SchoolGreen Cleaning Project:A Project of Discovery or“What Was I Thinking?”By Bill Faulkner, Anacortes School District

During a recent visit, indoor air quality experts Rich Prilland Dave Blake asked me to put some thoughts downon paper regarding our participation in the IAQNorthwest Air Pollution Authority Green Cleaning PilotProject. As I tried to organize my thoughts, a few majorthemes came to mind.

Probably the largest challenge or discovery is that notall schools are alike. Mt. Erie Elementary here inAnacortes is also participating in the project, so wewere directed to use the same chemicals. The producthas been extremely successful at Mt. Erie Elementary.

However, we met with limited success using it here atthe high school. First, this served to point out severalmajor differences between the two schools. Other thanthe obvious age difference between the students, thereare hidden factors that make a tremendous difference.At the high school level we have many more outsideinfluences, such as the availability of snacks and softdrinks, after hours building use, athletics programs andfacility types.

The net effect of these factors is that the chemical weused for approximately 90 days, which claimed to bea “one size fits all” solution, wasn’t effective incertain areas, particularly against the high sugarcontent of the soft drinks. We are now on our secondproduct trial, which appears to be a better solutionfor our requirements.

In conjunction with new “green” chemicals, we havebegun to use Micro Fiber cloths. This technology isobviously the direction the industry is headed and withgood reason, the cloths are extremely effective atcapturing dust and dirt with no treatment and henceno residue left behind. And they can be washed and re-used many times. Micro Fiber products are nowavailable for virtually every application, from wet mopsto dust mops and window washing. They also cleanbetter than the conventional rags and lambs wool toolsused before.

The whole point is to shift the paradigm and theperception of our customers – the staff, students and

public: We are not only cleaning to make the buildinglook clean, but in fact, we are trying to provide ahealthier environment for working and learning.

As I told Rich, Dave and my staff, green, healthiercleaning chemicals and processes are the direction ourprofession is headed. We can either be in on theground floor or be dragged kicking and screaming intoit. I prefer to be one of the pioneers, and I am pleasedthat Washington State schools are on the cutting edge.

I’m convinced these efforts are well worth the changesrequired. I feel as though I have a vested interest inthis program since my 8-year-old son is a student atMt. Erie Elementary.

Study Examines ConnectionsBetween Asthma and ObesityA recent study by researchers at the University ofSouthern California challenges the idea that childrenwith asthma are less likely to exercise, contributing totheir high incidence of obesity.

Among the 3,800 children participating in thelongitudinal study, new-onset asthma was diagnosedabout 1.5 times more often in children who wereoverweight or obese. The risk was slightly higher foroverweight boys. The study concluded that obesechildren were more likely to develop asthma. The studyresults indicate that controlling obesity may be aneffective strategy for controlling asthma.

For more information see Obesity and Asthma Risk inSchool Age Children, by Jerry Phelps, EnvironmentalHealth Perspectives Online, March 2004, at http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2004/112-3/chil (scroll toheadline).

Spring Quarter 2004

55

Integrated Pest Managementin SchoolsThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has postedinformation about Integrated Pest Management inSchools on-line at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/ipm/index.htm . The site includes background on theproblem, success stories, and resources for furtherreading.

Buildings of the Future – TodayBuilding a new school? Don’t just tweak old designelements: Consider some truly advanced designs.

Check out H.L. Turner Group’s Advantage Classroom forideas on what to specify. The Turner Group hasdesigned and built schools that meld energy efficiency,comfort, indoor air quality, and resource efficiency. Visitthe Advantage Classroom on-line at http://www.advantageclassroom.com/.

Sedro-Woolley Wins Tools forSchools Excellence Award in 2000Mike Riddle, director of facilities for the Sedro-Woolley School District, worked with school nursesto create customized IAQ programs tailored to eachschool and has found this strong team approach tobe very effective and efficient.

Riddle says, “ I couldn’t be happier with the waythings are working.”

Remember:Once a mind has been

expanded by newinformation it neverreturns to its original

dimensions. Mike Riddle

INDOOR AIR QUALITY IN NORTHWEST SCHOOLS

6

During the last few months the Washington StateUniversity Extension Energy Program staff has beenexperimenting with methods to find a metric toevaluate school carpets in terms of particle emissionsand particle load. The goal is to find an easy andinexpensive method to evaluate carpet in terms ofindoor air quality, so that schools can make moreinformed decisions about cleaning equipment, labor,techniques, and cleaning schedules.

After numerous discussions with researchers across theUnited States, we decided to use an existing protocol toshare our data with others. The protocol involves thefollowing basic steps:

1. Define a square meter of “typical” carpet in a“typical” classroom or other space.

2. We use the same Hoover® Windtunnel vacuumfor all tests.

3. Weigh a clean vacuum filter bag with a scaleaccurate to 1/10th of a gram.

4. Vacuum the square meter for 3 minutes.

5. Weigh the bag.

6. Vacuum the area again for 3 minutes.

7. Weigh the bag.

8. Repeat the 3 minute test and reweigh the bag.

9. Measure 2.5 micron particle emissions fromthree locations within the square meter afterslapping the carpet five times with the palm ofan open hand.

10. Measure 2.5 micron particle emissions fromthree locations immediately outside the squaremeter resulting from slapping the carpet fivetimes with the palm of an open hand.

Additional measurements recorded:

• Measure particles (2.5 microns) emitted fromvacuum exhaust during the test;

• Measurement of the suction of the vacuum (inPascals) at the start and end of the test (pressuregauge connected to tube located beneathvacuum near beater-bar).

Summary of Test Results in 19 SchoolsAn average of 11.6 grams of particle matter wasremoved from the square meter of carpets in the firstthree minute tests. The results ranged from a low of2.8 to a high of 25.2 grams.

Aggressive “Spank Test”

After the three minute tests, the amount of 2.5 micronparticle matter released from “spanking” the carpetswas reduced by an average of four times, with sometests yielding a 10-fold decrease in released particles.

We “spanked” the carpet inside the square meter afterthe three minute tests and compared the particlecounts to the same spank test outside the square. Weused a Dust Trak particle meter. The spank wasperformed using an open hand and five slaps in thevicinity of the particle meter.

• Vacuumed area = 132 (Micrograms/M3) average

• Un-vacuumed area = 562 (Micrograms/M3) average

We also observed that the amount of particle matterremoved from the carpet (by weight) diminished alonga classic decay curve for most of the test sites. In otherwords, the weight of the particles removed during thefirst three minutes was twice as high as the forthe second three minutes; the third threeminute test yielded half as much as thesecond test – essentially we founddiminishing returns by weight for ourvacuuming investment.

We did not do theaggressive “hand slap”particle emission testbetween the three minutevacuuming regimes as wedidn’t want to disturb the

Investigating Carpet in Schools

Spring Quarter 2004

7

particles within our three-meter area prior toconducting the three minute weight tests. It is thusunclear whether the particle emissions (spank test)might mirror the 50 percent reduction per test.

We noted carpet type, age, cleaning history,equipment used, square foot assigned per custodian,distance to exterior, presence of walk-off mats,carpeted hallway, etc.

Considerations:

Clearly, many schools have carpet that contains andreleases large amounts of particle matter. Perhaps weshould reduce this indoor air burden. Deciding on thebest approach is the challenge:

• We would like a measurement that tells us whenwe should do deep cleaning or bite the bulletand replace the carpet.

• How many extractions does it take to revive adirty carpet? How do we know?

• Should we consider trying to cut back on dailyvacuuming and reallocate our money and laborto perform more frequent extractions to get thedeep dirt out? Does this reduce exposure toparticles more effectively? How do we config-ure our schools to allow more frequent carpetextraction during regular school operations.One suggestion is to carpet only a half to a thirdof each classroom to allow chairs and desks tobe left in the room during extraction, or relo-cate students for the day.

Please provide your thoughts and suggestions aboutthis – or other “metrics” – you think should beconsidered. We will provide updates as we share dataand findings with other practitioners and researchers.

Contact Rich Prill at 509-477-6701, or sent e-mail toprillr@energy.wsu.edu

Idaho SchoolsParticipatein IAQAssessments

Kara Stevens is the indoor environment programmanager for the Bureau of Community andEnvironmental Health at the Idaho Department ofHealth and Welfare. She continues to expand theTools for Schools program across the state.

This school year she coordinated and participatedin indoor air quality walk-throughs in 27 schools.The school districts participating this year includedFreemont (four schools); Lake Pend Oreille (11Sandpoint schools), West Bonner (five schools),and St. Maries (four schools).

For more information, contact Kara atstevensk@idhw.state.id.us

Bend-La Pine School District

Creates CustomizedIAQ ProgramOregon’s Bend-La Pine School District hasinstituted assessments of indoor air quality, andincorporated training and prevention into itscustomized IAQ program. The aim is to minimizethe everyday issues that arise and prevent smallproblems from turning into nagging andexpensive episodes, says Chuck Volz, schooldistrict facilities director. “We strive forexcellence in our school buildings and want tokeep them that way.”

INDOOR AIR QUALITY IN NORTHWEST SCHOOLS

8

On the Oregon Trail –New BeginningsFrom the journals of Lindarose Allaway of Portland, Oregon

In the Oregon Territory, schools are starting toincorporate the U.S. Environmental ProtectionProgram’s Tools for Schools Programs into their dailyoperations as part of their mission to create healthy andsafe learning environments. Dedicated leaders arerounding up resources and staff to make Tools forSchools an Oregon standard. Like pioneers of our past,these leaders are seeking collaboration with local schoolindoor air quality experts, the “wagonmasters,” whohave traveled the trail and can share experiences andknowledge to make this journey successful here inthe West.

A major challenge in Oregon is the varietyof physical environments ranging fromthe moderate wet coastal zone, largeagricultural valleys, mountainousenvironments as well as stretches of highdesert that lend themselves to avariety of agricultural endeavors.Like the pioneers, finding resourcesand assembling the essentials toolsto deal with these manychallenges, produces TFS programs unique to eachschool environment and integrated into regular schooloperations.

Some early pioneers in the Oregon story include schooldistricts in the metropolitan area of Portland, theWillamette Valley in Salem, and the Central Oregonarea, east of the Cascade Mountains. To date they havetaken similar paths but are making their TFS workspecific to the needs of their school districts.

A trail report about these activities is provided to inspireand share information with others traveling into newterritories. All of the schools in Oregon experiencemajor obstacles in school funding due to recentstatewide changes in school funding and this continuesto be a major concern for the state legislature andOregon citizens.

West of the Cascade Mountains is the state’s largestmetropolitan area, the city of Portland. The PortlandPublic School District serves a population of 53,000students in about 100 school buildings. This schooldistrict is challenged by its size, aging buildings andreduced resources. PPS District custodial services were

eliminated several years agoand all custodial work is nowcontracted. The districtDepartment of Health andSafety undertook a TFSimplementation, assisted byfunding from EPA Region X.Under the leadership of Patrick Wolfe, site basedinterventions are provided by district health and safetystaff. Portland has gone one step farther to make thisprogram available in all schools in a proactive manner.Information is provided on the school district web site,incorporated into a school safety committee “toolbox.”These tools include mechanisms for quarterly IAQschool walk-through reports and a “TFS 101”curriculum to be used in monthly school safetycommittees to train committee members in basic IAQ

issues. Additional onsite training isoffered to school safety committees attheir request.

Portland pioneers have learned thatjust circling the wagons to fend offissues does not work and that bytaking a leadership role, utilizing TFSresources, they are back on the trail tomaking their widespread and varied

school communities stronger and better able tomanage IAQ concerns.

Central Oregon began their TFS journey in a somewhatdifferent manner. The La Pine schools in the Bend-LaPine School District became partners this school year ina Centers for Disease Control funded Asthma FriendlySchools project. Working with the Oregon Healthy Kids,Healthy Schools program, the La Pine schools haveworked all school year to identify asthmatic children,community resources and school practices in acoordinated school health approach. Inge Aldersebaes,manager of the Oregon Healthy Kids, Healthy Schoolsprograms, notes that this provides a vehicle to bringTFS into La Pine and establish a relationship so that anongoing process can be developed to effectively reduceasthma triggers and allergens in the school setting.Accomplishments in La Pine include on-site trainingsand school walk-throughs. The TFS coordinator in LaPine is Morris “Woody” Woodruff, the elementaryschool custodian and a member of the school asthmateam. A plan has been developed with the districtfacilities manager and work is in process to correctknown problems. Because the La Pine schools are partof the Bend-La Pine School District, Chuck Volz, facilities

Spring Quarter 2004

9

Watch for AsthmaInformationThe Idaho Asthma Prevention and ControlProgram continues to make improvements inschools. Program staff works hand-in-hand withKara Steven of the Idaho Department of Healthand Welfare to increase the number of schoolsserved by the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency’s Tools for Schools Program.

Some important program materials will be arriving at all Idahoschools the first week of August:

1. A new CD-ROM based game to teach fourth to eighthgraders about asthma called Quest for the Code will beincluded in the packet.

2. The School Asthma Management Model for Idaho (SAMMI)is an administration manual to help school staff manageasthma in the school environment. It includes informationabout classrooms, emergency management, and materialsfor teacher and administration staff. SAMMI is in support ofthe new asthma inhaler law. Students will be allowed toself-medicate.

For more information contact health education specialist JeanWoodward at woodwarj@idhw.state.id.us.

manager for this school district,participated in the TFS trainingsand requested some walk-throughsin Bend schools this spring.

Chuck reports that as a result ofthese activities, he has learnedabout other sources of asthmaallergens such as dust found in softfurniture and carpets and low costoptions to make good air quality astandard in all school facilities. Hestates it is especially helpful to learnmore about pollutants, theircontamination of air and how airflow can be changed, or in thewords of IAQ specialist Rich Prill:“Good Air In and Bad Air Out.”

Chuck has already undertaken someimportant changes in sites visitedby the TFS team this spring andplans to offer the Region X TFStraining for all of his staff and inviteother Central Oregon schools tothis event, scheduled for October 8,teacher in-service day. In addition,Chuck wants to see a TFS programprovided at the April 2005statewide annual training meetingof the Oregon School FacilityManagers. Chuck is planning onaddressing the sustainability of theTFS program by working withschool and district safetycommittees to make IAQ anongoing process, similar to thePortland Public Schools model.

That’s what new on the OregonTrail for the Spring of 2004. Plan tohear more about these journeys andthe pioneer spirit at work in Oregonschool districts in upcomingeditions of this newsletter.