Clean Air in Buildings Challenge - Request for Information

The EPA published a Request for Information titled, “Better Indoor Air Quality Management to Reduce COVID-19 and Other Disease Transmission in Buildings: Technical Assistance Needs and Priorities to Improve Public Health.” This RFI is part of the strategy to promote the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge, a key component of President Biden’s National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan. 

The EPA sought input from a wide variety of stakeholders about actions, strategies, tools and approaches that support ventilation, filtration and air cleaning improvements, and other actions that would promote sustained improvements in indoor air quality in the nation’s building stock to help mitigate disease transmission.

Summary of Comments Received

The EPA received over 400 unique comments. Comments expressed:

• General support of the EPA’s work to improve indoor air quality.
• Encouragement to incorporate monitoring and other emerging technology into the EPA’s IAQ work.
• Need for guidance on ventilation and filtration control for schools and other types of buildings.
• Requests for clarity on IAQ metrics and action levels in all building types.
• Acknowledgment of equity and environmental justice issues related to IAQ.

Related Actions the EPA is Taking

The following are examples of actions the EPA is taking to address comments:

• Ventilation – Sustained advances and updates to the EPA’s Indoor Air Quality website and public guidance for all building types. Coordination with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ventilation standards and guidance efforts.
• Filtration – Sustained advances and updates to the EPA’s IAQ website and public guidance on filtration metrics, including MERV ratings.
• Building Systems and Maintenance - Revising web-based versions of Building Air Quality Guide: A Guide for Building Owners and Facility Managers (“BAQ”, 1991); Indoor Air Quality Building Education and Assessment Model (“I-BEAM”, 2002).  
• Contaminant Metrics – Developing voluntary guidance metrics for key indoor air contaminants. Initial metrics planned are PM2.5, CO2 (as a method for evaluating ventilation performance and disease transmission risk), CO, and formaldehyde.
• Monitoring Technology – Developing guidance for how to effectively and appropriately deploy monitoring technology to help recognize and mitigate elevated or rising levels of contaminants in indoor environments.
• Emerging Technologies – Coordinating with CDC, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and others to provide guidance on emerging technologies, e.g., UVGI and chemical disinfectant aerosols.
• School Building Systems and Maintenance – Sustained work to administer Inflation Reduction Act School Air Quality grants and technical assistance to schools.  
• Recognition Program – Sustained work to expand the EPA’s Indoor AirPlus program – a voluntary partnership and labeling program that certifies homes and recognizes new home builders and raters employing healthy IAQ construction practices and product specifications that minimize exposure to airborne pollutants and contaminants. 
• Legislative and Regulatory Efforts – The EPA will continue to promote improved IAQ practices through local code adoption, participation in consensus private sector standard processes, and policy engagement with federal partners.
• Environmental Justice – The EPA works to address equity and environmental justice in most  IAQ program areas through accessibility to information and resources, financial  assistance opportunities that can leverage significant investments in IAQ-related building improvements through the EPA’s Community Change grants, Greenhouse Gas Revolving Fund, and School Air Quality grants, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Healthy Housing programs, U.S. Department of Energy Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign, and more.