Today, the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), creators of the LEED green building rating system, and Inspired Air Fund, a program of Renaissance Philanthropy dedicated to making healthy air standard in every classroom, announced the Classroom Clean Air Alliance.

Children spend roughly 1,000 hours per year in school buildings, and there is a strong relationship between indoor air quality and health and academic outcomes. Air cleaners serve two important purposes. First, in schools that need major HVAC upgrades—an estimated 36,000 schools nationwide—portable units offer an affordable way to improve classroom air quality without waiting years for HVAC upgrades. And second, even where ventilation works well, in-room filtration adds clean air capacity that central mechanical systems can’t easily deliver, helping reduce exposure to pollutants and respiratory infections.

The new alliance translates school experience and feedback into useful market guidance and calls on manufacturers to develop a new generation of classroom air cleaners for schools that are effective, affordable, quiet, durable and practical to maintain.

Since deploying in-room air cleaners during the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing wildfires, school districts have found that day-to-day use is hard to sustain when devices are too loud, too bulky, too expensive to maintain, and too easy to switch off or neglect. The alliance is urging manufacturers to make their use simpler for schools and districts.

“Schools have learned a tremendous amount from deploying in-room air cleaners at unprecedented scale during and after the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Anisa Heming, director, Center for Green Schools. “Now, we have an opportunity to turn those lessons into a clear picture of what schools actually need—and invite manufacturers to work toward products that are effective at delivering clean air in classrooms day after day.”

Input from schools and indoor air quality experts

To capture the needs and experiences of schools and the experts who serve them, the alliance convened listening sessions with 26 participants that included district facilities and operations leaders and educators who collectively serve more than 1.2 million students, along with indoor air quality researchers, practitioners and others involved in deploying and maintaining classroom air cleaners.

“Schools have learned firsthand what it takes for air cleaners to work in real classrooms—not just in a lab,” said David Carel, director, Inspired Air Fund. “The Classroom Clean Air Alliance turns those lessons into a clear signal to the market. By giving schools a stronger collective voice and inviting manufacturers into the conversation, we can accelerate products that deliver effective clean air while being affordable, easy to maintain and simple enough to keep running every day.”

“Air cleaners have been a great addition to our classrooms, giving staff, students and families peace of mind and helping raise awareness of the importance of indoor air quality. At the same time, smaller footprints, quieter operation, longer-lasting filters and clearer controls would help ensure they are used more consistently in more classrooms,” said Regina Baca, business Office project manager, Adams County School District 14, Colorado.

The input of focus group participants helped shape a new Classroom Air Purifier Target Product Profile (TPP) for in-room mechanical filtration devices, addressing clean-air delivery, noise, filtration, maintenance, energy efficiency, durability, safety, cost, placement and device management. Among the group’s recommendations for in-room air filter units:

• Devices should have at least one setting that delivers sufficiently clean air without disrupting teaching and learning.
• Devices should operate by default, with the ability to centrally raise output under certain conditions while enabling teachers or staff to make adjustments manually as needed.
• Filter changes should take minimal time, and status indicators should report the actual condition of the filter rather than a timer counting down.
• Long-term, in-room air cleaning technology should be installed off the ground and on the walls or ceilings away from students to prevent unplugging.

The development of the TPP combines school-based experience with published research, existing standards and guidance. It is an aspirational, yet achievable target; it is not intended to be a certification or a description of what every product must achieve today.

Classroom Clean Air Call-to-Action

The Alliance has provided resources for schools and districts to learn more about the importance of indoor air quality, including the Clean Air for Classrooms White Paper and Executive Summary, the Classroom Air Purifier Target Product Profile and the TPP Backgrounder. It invites schools and districts to join the Classroom Clean Air Call-to-Action, to express support for advancing better classroom air-cleaning solutions.

Learn More About the Classroom Clean Air Alliance

Schools, nonprofits and other organizations are invited to visit the Classroom Clean Air Alliance page to:

• Learn about the research and recommendations behind the Alliance.
• Download and read the Clean Air for Classrooms resources, including the Clean Air for Classrooms White Paper and Executive Summary, the Classroom Air Purifier Target Product Profile and the TPP Backgrounder.
• Sign on to the Clean Air Call-to-Action and join the Classroom Clean Air Alliance.

About the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council

The Center for Green Schools is a global leader in advancing green schools, providing school districts and education leaders with resources and training to create sustainable, healthy, resilient and equitable learning environments. We support and train those implementing sustainability within school systems to be the most effective change agents they can be, through professional development, peer networks, research, and advocacy. Learn more at centerforgreenschools.org.

About Inspired Air Fund

Inspired Air Fund is a philanthropic fund and program of Renaissance Philanthropy working to build a world where children breathe clean, healthy indoor air. The Fund works with policy, industry, research and education leaders to make healthy indoor air available everywhere, starting with schools. Its work focuses on advancing practical solutions, technologies and policies that can improve education outcomes, reduce disease and build greater resilience to airborne pandemics.