Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Indiana School Buses to Get UV Air Purification, Filtration Systems

  • By Matt Jones
  • 06/04/21

This week, the Indiana State School Bus Committee approved the installation of ultraviolet light air purification systems on school buses statewide. The decision became final after the success of a trial program run in partnership with indoor air quality solutions provider Lumin-Air.

“This approval is very exciting for Indiana school districts and puts Indiana on par with other states who have already approved these technologies to help provide clean air in their school buses,” said Andrew Desmarais, Lumin-Air’s Chief Operating Officer. “Most importantly, Indiana schools can now implement a solution to help reduce the risk of transmission and better protect students, bus drivers and other school bus occupants against airborne respiratory pathogens like SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza.”

The system features enclosed MERV-13 filtration and UV lights, a more effective method of air cleansing than opening windows—especially in a densely populated environment like a bus. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued warnings about the dangers of inhaling exhaust and other outdoor pollutants like allergens.

The decision also comes ahead of the June 25 deadline for Indiana schools to submit proposals as to how they will portion out their Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding.

“If a school system spent a little over 1 percent of their ESSER funding on air quality in their school buses, they could have systems installed, including 12 years of replacement filters and UV bulbs, addressing the neediest portion of their facilities,” said Dan Fillenwarth, President of Lumin-Air. “This would be a huge step toward improving the health of students, teachers and bus drivers, and helping to protect schools from shutting down in the future.”

Lumin-Air has previously installed similar solutions in California, Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania in both school and public buses.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • Tennessee Middle School Completes Health, Life Safety Renovations

    The Giles County Board of Education in Pulaski, Tenn., recently announced that a series of renovation projects has been completed at Bridgeforth Middle School, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects & Engineers and Brindley Construction to modernize building systems at one of the district’s oldest schools.

  • Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator

    From Concrete Warehouse to Innovation Hub: Accelerating Sustainability at Stanford

    The transformation of a once windowless, concrete publishing warehouse into a sun-drenched center for global innovation began with a single, fundamental challenge: how to turn an industrial storage shell into a space built for human connection.

  • Cal Poly Humboldt Starts Construction on Healthcare Education Hub

    California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, Calif., recently announced that work has begun on a renovation project that will turn the Stewart Building into a new Healthcare Education Hub, according to a news release. The university is partnering with Sundt Construction Inc. for construction services.