White House Releases COVID Back to School Materials 

As we start another school year, the Biden administration highlighted key supports and guidance for protecting students, teachers, and school communities from the risks of COVID-19 spread. This includes making an abundance of federal indoor air quality resources available to schools. Effective ventilation and air filtration are important parts of COVID-19 prevention. The American Rescue Plan and other federal dollars may be used to make indoor air quality improvements, and the administration will continue to provide supports to schools to help in making these improvements.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Air in Buildings Challenge and its Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools provide specific steps schools can take to improve indoor air quality and reduce the risk of airborne spread of viruses and other contaminants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published guidance on Ventilation in Schools and Childcare Programs, including an Interactive School Ventilation Tool that shows how particle levels change as you adjust ventilation settings. The Department of Energy (DOE) has launched the Efficient and Healthy Schools campaign to support investments and improvements for healthy school facilities, including through recognition, training, technical assistance, and consultations on indoor air quality with individual schools and districts.

The administration will continue to highlight school districts excelling in efforts to improve indoor air quality. This includes the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools recognition award which allows schools to earn federal accolades for their sustainability work that exhibits indoor air quality, resource efficiency and conservation, and environmental learning. 

Second Round of the Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign and Efficiency Enhancement Technical Assistance

DOE's Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign aims to improve energy performance, reduce carbon emissions, and promote a healthy learning environment in schools. Your school or district can use technical assistance provided by Lawrence Berkley National Lab to identify and prioritize building retrofit measures and approaches to achieve greater energy savings, emissions reductions, and improved indoor air quality. DOE will recognize the top schools or districts for activities in the following categories: 1) energy efficiency plus health and 2) emissions reduction and resilience. If you would like to join the campaign or have questions, please contact EHSC@lbl.gov. 

In addition to the campaign, if your school is looking to replace a chiller, boiler, rooftop unit, or building controls, DOE recommends consulting the newly released School Efficiency Enhancement Guides to multiply the energy savings of your building technology. The guides include information on performance requirements for energy efficiency, energy savings, and implementation costs to support school facilities staff involved with the planning, design, and specification of infrastructure upgrades.  

Apply to Your State for ED-GRS in 2022-23

U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools is a recognition award for school sustainability that encompasses building, grounds, operations, health, wellness, and learning.  For over a decade, it has been the anchor for the Department’s work related to environmental sustainability learning, efficiency, health, and infrastructure. Nomination normally flows from state education agencies or school building authorities, often bolstered by partner state agency and nonprofit partners, in their efforts to select nominees to the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Early learning centers, schools, districts, and postsecondary institutions of all types are eligible for nomination by their state.

For those schools that have not previously received the ED-GRS award, now is a great time to begin preparing for the 2022-2023 application cycle by using the resources on the Green Strides School Sustainability Resource Hub and by contacting your state education authority. Interested colleges and universities may contact their state higher education authorities, while schools and districts may contact state educational agencies. State education authorities can find award implementation guidance on the Department's website and may email U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools for more information.  

EPA Announces $11 Million for Technical Assistance Centers to Support Underserved Communities

EPA recently announced the availability of $11 million in initial grant funding to establish Environmental Justice Thriving Community Technical Assistance Centers across the nation. The centers will provide technical assistance, training, and capacity-building support to communities with environmental justice concerns and their partners. The support provided will focus on building community-centered collaborations through meaningful engagement, guidance on accessing other forms of support and technical assistance across the federal government, and assistance with writing grant proposals. This opportunity is available to public and private universities and colleges; public and private nonprofit institutions/organizations; and collaborating Tribal governments. First-round applications are due on Oct. 4. 

CDC Unveils Environmental Justice Index Tool

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' CDC and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry recently released the Environmental Justice Index (EJI). The EJI is the first national, place-based tool designed to measure the cumulative impacts of environmental burden through the lens of human health and health equity. The EJI delivers a single environmental justice score for each community so that public health officials can identify and map areas most at risk for the health impacts of environmental burden. Individuals, organizations, governments, scientists, and researchers can use the EJI to 1) identify areas that may require special attention to improve health and health equity; 2) educate and inform the public about their community; 3) analyze the unique, local factors driving cumulative impacts on health to inform policy and decision-making; and 4) establish meaningful goals and measure progress toward environmental justice and health equity.

NOAA Great Lakes B-WET Grant

NOAA Great Lakes Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program funds locally relevant, authentic experiential learning for K-12 students and educators through Meaningful Watershed Experiences. The Great Lakes B-WET region supports experience-based learning opportunities for youth to promote Great Lakes stewardship in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Wisconsin. Applications are due Sept. 20.

Register for the NEEF Climate Superstars Challenge

The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) Climate Superstars Challenge registration has begun. Register and join the challenge starting on Oct. 1. Climate Superstars is an online environmental challenge that gets kids excited about the environment and how they can take an active role in caring for its future. During the challenge, middle school classrooms and after-school programs in grades 6-8 complete short tasks geared toward environmental literacy and energy efficiency. Classes that complete at least seven tasks in the month of October will be entered into a drawing to win one of six $5,000 e-vouchers for Samsung products.

New Reducing Lead in Drinking Water Resources

The EPA recently published new educational materials to assist schools, child care and early childhood facilities to test and take action to reduce lead in drinking water. They include information on lead sample collection, case studies, plan implementation guidance, and funding opportunities.

Connect to the Green Strides Webinar Series This Fall

The Green Strides Webinar Series has promoted over 2,800 sessions that provide free tools to reduce schools’ environmental impact and costs, improve health and wellness, and teach effective environmental education. Consult the webinar calendar, and submit suggestions for listing additional free, publicly available webinars related to school, district, and postsecondary sustainability to ed.green.ribbon.schools@ed.gov. (Note: All times listed are ET.)

National Public Lands Day is Sept. 24

The National Environmental Education Foundation’s National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation’s largest single-day volunteer event for public lands. Established in 1994 and held annually on the fourth Saturday in September, this celebration brings out thousands of volunteers to help restore and improve public lands around the country. NPLD is also a fee-free day, one of only five days a year when entrance fees are waived at national parks and other public lands. Find resources for registering an NPLD event, tips for hosting an in-person or virtual event, a map for locating NPLD events near you, and so much more. 

EDSpaces Education Conference is Nov. 2-4 in Portland, Oregon

Innovation transforms learning environments, and it’s on full display at EDspaces. Both an incubator of progressive ideas and a knowledge-sharing playground, it unites the forward-thinking architects, designers, administrators, and facilities managers who are eagerly reimagining traditional school settings with the manufacturers, distributors, and service providers offering thoughtful products and solutions that holistically motivate students at all levels of their educational journey. The EDspaces Education Conference features a curated, multi-track educational and professional development series of 50+ education sessions conducted in classrooms designed by visionary architecture and design firms that competed to share their innovative ideas for the future of learning. Attendees choose among multiple learning options such as hands-on, deep-dive and quick-fire learning, and snack-size sessions in specialty spaces throughout the exhibit hall. EDfacilities Tours offer expeditionary learning of state-of-the-art, standout educational facilities, led by their design and facilities teams.

Mark Your Calendar for the Green Schools Conference

The Green Schools Conference will be held Feb. 27 to March 1, 2023 at the Sheraton New Orleans. This is the only event to bring together all the players involved in making green schools a reality: people who lead, operate, build and teach in schools. Designed to educate, connect and inspire, attendees of the three-day in person conference will explore interdisciplinary content during general sessions, while also having dedicated time with peers to work through specific challenges, share best practices, and generate momentum to further green school actions across the country. The 2023 program will address topics from environmental impact, health and wellbeing, sustainability literacy, equity and whole school sustainability. Whether you are a teacher, school or district staff, educational leader, parent, student, building industry professional or nonprofit partner, the Green Schools Conference is the place to learn new ideas, and connect with other passionate green school champions.