LibGuides: Sustainable School Buildings: Pollution prevention opportunities

P2 Opportunities

What is pollution prevention (P2)?

Pollution prevention (P2) is any practice that reduces, eliminates, or prevents pollution at its source. P2, also known as "source reduction," is the ounce-of-prevention approach to waste management. Reducing the amount of pollution produced means less waste to control, treat, or dispose of. Less pollution means fewer hazards posed to public health and the environment.

There are many opportunities for pollution prevention when designing sustainable schools. Pollution prevention opportunities can be found at any stage of the school design process, including HVAC, purchasing, landscaping, operations, and transportation, integrated pest management, chemical management (green chemistry and art education), and energy efficiency.

There are many long-term benefits to pollution prevention practices. These include saving money, as well as improving the health and environment of students, staff, and the community.

Planning for P2 and sustainable design

Community and school members of the planning team should:

Commit to sustainability design elements.
Define product life-cycle analysis and product stewardship opportunities.
Brainstorm to identify each area of the existing or future school that might have opportunities for long-term savings and pollution prevention.
Develop a vision of the school in 30 years.
Research economic, social, and environmental concerns.
Assign areas of concern to research using life-cycle analysis strategies. This will help raise the group's awareness of sustainability. Share the results of the research.
Interview potential design firms, focusing on their knowledge of sustainable design principles.

It is important to identify community resources, including expertise, funding, information, and labor. Depending upon where you live, these can come from a variety of sources, including local, state, and federal government agencies. Large industries discovered the value of sustainable design and may have staff (and also parents of students in your schools) to help guide the process.

Universities, non-governmental organizations, and not-for-profit groups may also be beneficial. Pollution prevention teams within state government or at universities will prove extremely valuable. More resources are available on the Key Contacts page.

P2 options

The following table illustrates some examples of potential pollution prevention opportunities.

Area of school	Stewardship issue	Possible actions
Construction materials	High transportation costs for non-local materials and excessive construction waste	Material efficiency can save money as well as reduce the environmental footprint and energy costs. Consider buying local materials and using structural features salvaged before demolition of the existing school. This reduces wasteful transportation costs and eliminates waste created in construction.
Kitchen	Use of non-recyclable materials for food service	Eliminate styrofoam food trays. Replace disposable trays and service with reusable products. Investigate high-efficiency dishwashers that use low-flow restrictions and integrate energy-efficient designs.
Locker rooms	Molds, viruses, bacteria, airborne allergens	Improve air circulation and clean surfaces with soap and water. Install energy efficient electric hand dryers.
Parking lot	Pollutant runoff from parking lots to local watershed	Encourage riding bicycles or public transportation rather than driving to and from school. Provide bike parking and public transportation discounts. Offer incentives as well as access to lockers and showers for bike riders. Capture pollutants from parking lots using permeable pavers, rain gardens, and bioswales.
Energy use	Inefficient HVAC, appliances, lighting, and windows	Purchase energy efficient appliances and lighting. Install occupancy sensors. Use daylighting when possible. Retrocommission HVAC in existing buildings.
Chemical management	Health and safety of students and staff	Clean out and safely dispose of old laboratory chemicals and potentially hazardous art supplies. Use greener cleaning supplies and implement green cleaning techniques. Use integrated pest management practices.

Essential Links

BetterBricks > Case studies
Searchable database of green building case studies.
CampusERC
The mission of CampusERC is to provide individuals and educational institutions with the knowledge and tools to maintain environmental regulatory compliance, improve management, and operate sustainably. A project of the National Association of College and University Business Officers.
Daylighting
Provides information on daylighting for reducing electricity use and increasing energy efficiency.
Energy Resources for State, Local, and Tribal Governments
EPA’s State and Local Energy and Environment Program offers free tools, data and technical expertise about energy strategies, including energy efficiency, renewable energy and other emerging technologies, to help state, local and tribal governments achieve their environmental, energy and economic objectives.
EnergySense Resilience Center
EnergySense is an applied research center at the University of Illinois System. Their mission is to empower organizations with practical solutions for climate, energy, and sustainability.
Go Green with Your Cleaning Routine: Starting a Green Cleaning School Program
A healthy school environment is key to supporting the well-being and academic performance of all students. Keeping schools clean and safe is essential to maintaining such an environment, especially as schools return to in-person learning. However, many conventional cleaning products contain potentially harmful chemicals that can negatively affect indoor air quality and lead to health problems for students and adults, including asthma and other respiratory illnesses, headaches, nausea, and skin irritation. Greening your cleaning routine can be a simple and cost-effective solution to keeping your school clean and healthy.
GreenPrint™: A Framework for Becoming a Healthy, Equitable, and Sustainable School
The GreenPrint™ is a framework for whole school transformation that promotes best practices in leadership, curriculum and instruction, culture and climate, and facilities and operations. GreenPrint™ serves as a road map as you plan your school or district’s journey to become healthy learning environment. This tool will help you diagnose strengths and challenges, plan strategically, analyze progress as you implement change, and adjust course in response to emerging issues or priorities.
A Handbook for Planning and Conducting Charrettes for High-Performance Projects
How-to-guide on organizing and running a design charrette. Helps define what it is, when it should occur, who should participate, role of the owner, and desired outcomes.
National Best Practices Manual For Building High Performance Schools
Part of the suite of products developed to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in schools. It was developed specifically for architects and engineers who are responsible for designing or retrofitting schools, and for the project managers who work with the design teams.
U.S. EPA Healthy School Environments
The health of a school's environment can affect the attendance, concentration, performance and health of both students and educators. This website presents information on key topics about establishing and enhancing healthy school environments.
U.S. EPA Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools
Promote a healthy learning environment at your school to reduce absenteeism, improve test scores and enhance student and staff productivity.
U.S. EPA Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Action Kit
IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit shows schools how to carry out a practical plan to improve indoor air problems at little- or no-cost using straightforward activities and in-house staff.
U.S. EPA Integrated Pest Management Tools: Resources to Support IPM Implementation
U.S. EPA information on IPM in schools.
U.S. EPA Introduction to Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an environmentally friendly, common sense approach to controlling pests. The IPM principles and benefits described here apply to any type of structure and landscaping.