Waterloo District School Board Plant Operations
	The Plant Operations department at Waterloo Region District School Board in Ontario have implemented a number of activities, in addition to Waterloo''s "ECO classrooms", to promote better indoor air quality. The following are some of the Waterloo Board Plant Operations department activities in indoor air quality: 1. Bases building practices, in part, on indoor air quality concerns, complaints and sensitivities. 2. Strives to exceed standards set by law and by the manufacturer. 3. Practices good maintenance of portables and school buildings. 4. Builds new schools at high standards for indoor air quality (i.e. hard surface flooring, low-emission paints and construction materials, windows that open, centralized air management systems with filtration). 5. Provides ongoing education, awareness and training on indoor air quality for occupants and building operators. 6. Actively searches for and tries alternative products that are considered less of a problem for environmentally sensitive children. 7. Uses unscented commercial cleaners and hydrogen peroxide based cleaning products when possible. 8. Uses a chemical dispensing system for accurate measuring of cleaning solutions. 9. Restricts the use of some chemicals and activities to times that will result in the least exposure to students. 10. Supplies extra rinse after using chemicals to eliminate residues (in some cases). 11. Will soon use non-treated mops. 12. Continues to work with better filtered vacuums. 13. Tests and experiments with water-based products. 14. Provides good ventilation and air filtration (with HEPA filters and activated charcoal compounds) during renovation. 15. Monitors VOC (volatile organic compounds) levels during painting. 16. Requires roofing contractors to use equipment with an after burner that will decrease odours and VOCs. 17. Monitors construction and renovation sites to ensure that codes of practices are followed. 18. Puts pressure on suppliers to develop products that don''t adversely affect children with environmental sensitivities. 19. Conducts regular in-house testing of CO2 to determine ventilation rates. 20. Takes into account indoor air quality in energy efficiency initiatives. 21. Considers new innovations seriously and always looks for new designs and ways to improve their facilities. 22. Upgrades lighting (board wide) from fluorescent to better quality and energy efficient choices.
	Record #27, revised 1/3/2001

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