K-12 Schools Indoor Environmental Quality & Student Performance Study

Coordinating university-school district partnership to provide insights into relationship between indoor environmental quality and student performance

The Client: Environmental Protection Agency

The Challenge: In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sought to expand the limited research on how building design, construction, and operations can foster safe and healthy K-12 school environments. IBE joined forces with a robust, cross-departmental team of CSU faculty to win a $1-million, five-year EPA grant to answer the question, “Do sustainably retrofitted schools have a positive impact on human performance compared to conventional schools?”

Our Approach: Working with faculty from CSU’s Department of Sociology, Department of Environmental & Radiological Health, and Department of Environmental & Natural Resource Economics, IBE recruited Colorado’s Adams 12 School District to collaborate on the study. Focusing on indoor air quality (IAQ) and indoor environmental quality (IEQ), the cross-disciplinary, cross-sector team assessed the impacts of sustainable retrofits on student health and academic achievement, and on employee health and work satisfaction, across nine K-12 schools. IBE managed the research team; measured IEQ indicators; designed and facilitated student and staff occupancy surveys; and led a collaboration with K-12 teachers to develop project-based learning modules that addressed IAQ/IEQ.

The Outcomes: The research revealed that increased energy efficiency of school buildings can reduce resource use without reducing student test scores. A full summary of research outcomes is available on the EPA website.