Education, climate change, and pandemic relief spending are colliding as schools opened during a heat wave this past week. Schools around New Hampshire are dealing with a relative rarity in New England, even in late summer: it’s been too hot to learn, and some school districts either closed or instituted early release days this week while others used pandemic relief money to install air conditioning for the first time.
Schools have also either delayed or cancelled outdoor sports practices due to the heat.
The trend has led to a media exploration of schools’ practices when it comes to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
As one would expect, the norm for HVAC spending and enrgy consumption in most of New England is worrying about how to heat buildings efficiently on cold days. Even then, though, the challenge is actually keeping temperatures from rising too high in heated classroom, as the town of Hollis found when evaluating their HVAC system.
Many school buildings in New Hampshire and throughout New England don’t have air conditioning and others have only partial air conditioning due to the fact that there are historically just a handful of hot days during the typical school year.
But while attending school in a haze of humid weather may be a new challenge in New England, the need for HVAC updates has been an ongoing challenge around the country. The Government Accountability Office found in a 2020 study that 54 percent of school districts nationwide are estimated to need updates or replacements of building systems and features. And HVAC systems topped the list of needed repairs or replacements at 46% of districts.
The highest priorities for most school districts were improving security, expanding access to technology, and addressing health hazards. While HVAC systems was the most common expenditure for addressing health hazards, 92 percent of districts said they prioritize security expenditures first. Many media outlets have cited a 2021 Environmental Protection Agency study that predicts New Hampshire will experience 20 to 60 additional days of 90-degree heat each year. The full report can be found here.
