Healthy Schools Initiative

"Over 60% of US students are in buildings that have health and safety issues." - EPA Healthy Schools Initiative report, Dec 2009

Following the leadership of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, EcoHill is supporting efforts to create healthy schools for American children. We believe a green school is more than just an energy efficient building but also about the surrounding environment. Healthy buildings can help produce a healthier staff and student body and better performance in a student’s education. this EPA Report document helps bring awareness to some of the issues below.

• Indoor air quality
• Chemical/hazardous material exposures
• Contaminated sites
• Outdoor air
• Physical factors

The Healthy Schools Checklist below outlines the wide scope of investigations that schools can address and continue to monitor to improve the health of their buildings. EcoHill addresses the many green issues to assist your school in improving its overall health. Click here for the healthy schools checklist and call or us for assistance of questions.

Case Study

In 2008, at the urging of a concerned parent’s group EcoHill was asked to perform an energy evaluation for a large academic facility in Chicago, IL. The initial btu/sq.ft evaluations showed poor building performance. On a scale from 0-100, one of the facilities scored an 8. Our Phase I and II reports identified initial ECM (estimated conservation measures) that will save the school over $60,000 per year with only $72,000 worth of renovations. We also created an additional supplemental green scorecard identifying ways the schools could affordably implement procedural changes to lower energy costs and also to improve indoor air quality. Click here to see a sample report