Some schools have even successfully turned to homemade $ 100 contraptions of box fans that are taped to air filters . Ultraviolet light is an energy‐efficient and powerful way to kill pathogens , and there are newer versions that are not harmful to people .
But a far‐reaching campaign to clean America ’ s indoor air has not yet happened . In California , the minimum recommended standard is six changes per hour . But in one study , 93 percent of schools fell below that standard .
It ’ s not that there has been no discussion of fresh air .
The Biden administration ’ s pandemic preparedness plan , published in September 2021 , included support of new technology to provide “ pathogen protection within the built environment ” and investments for retrofitting older buildings .
In March 2022 , the Environmental Protection Agency announced the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge , which includes a checklist for better ventilation , to encourage building administrators to take air quality seriously . And in October 2022 , the White House held a summit on indoor air quality , calling on business and school leaders to make improvements to mitigate the spread of Covid .
A life sciences team within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy — the first under any administration — is coordinating efforts to improve indoor air quality with various arms of the government .
But none of these efforts has yet coalesced into anything like a rigorous national plan .
For once , money does not appear to be the barrier . The American Rescue Plan allotted $ 350 billion to state and local governments for Covid‐related expenses , including measures to improve air quality . Schools can tap another $ 200 billion from various programs instituted during the pandemic .
Electronic air sensors on a wall at a Manhattan building , whose system displays real‐time air quality readings on screens around the office . Credit ... Hiroko Masuike / The New York Times