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From: Subject: New Page 1 Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 15:56:03 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C64391.F7F1DDA0" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2670 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C64391.F7F1DDA0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.towncrieronline.ca/main/main.php?rootcatid=&direction=printstory&storyid=5211&rootsubcatid= New Page 1

Riverdalers=20 produce film on effects of poor air quality =
(Posted = Date: Thursday,=20 February 23, 2006)

By Lorianna De Giorgio=20

People wanting to improve = indoor air=20 quality could take a lesson from a school in Riverdale. =

Some=20 area residents just released a documentary entitled=20 <I>Children Breathe Easy,</I> which profiles = their=20 initiatives to improve the deteriorating air quality at = Blake Street=20 Public School.

Several groups including the Canadian = Union=20 of Public Employees Local 4400, the South Riverdale = Community Health=20 Centre and TDSB trustee Rick Telfer sponsored the short = film, which=20 premiered Feb.9 at the University of Toronto=92s Innis Town = Hall.=20

"We thought that the film would be helpful to other = school=20 communities who have indoor air quality problems. People may = feel=20 bad (at school or work) but they don=92t associate it with = poor air=20 quality," said Maria Miller, the coordinator of the Toronto = Indoor=20 Air Quality Workgroup, which organized the initiative. =

For=20 decades, the children and staff at the elementary school =97 = which is=20 actually two schools: Blake Street PS and EAST, the East = Alternative=20 School of Toronto =97 complained of poor air quality.=20

Students, parents and teachers argued that it = affected their=20 breathing and led to further health problems including = headaches,=20 nosebleeds and sinus congestion.

The problems had = gone=20 unresolved until the Toronto Indoor Air Quality Workgroup = took=20 action in 2002 to address the community=92s concerns. =

"People=20 could just tell that the air was bad," said Miller, whose = group=20 conducted surveys and did air quality tests to identify the = causes.=20 "We know there had been complaints very early on =97 just = after the=20 school was built =97 but nothing had ever been done." =

The=20 group found the main cause of the poor air quality was due = to poor=20 air circulation. When Blake school was built it was = classified as a=20 special education facility, which meant the windows didn=92t = open and=20 instead relied on air conditioning to circulate air.=20

"They=92re schools that were built as part of an = experimental=20 project to build schools that were as energy efficient as = possible,=20 but also make them as cheaply as possible," said Miller, = adding most=20 of the schools were built in the 1970s and are common in = east=20 Toronto and North York.

The workgroup found that = Blake=20 wasn=92t getting nearly enough fresh air, the heating and = ventilation=20 systems were faulty, the ventilation filters were clogged = and the=20 more than 30-year-old carpet had never been changed. =

"In=20 fact, probably for cost-saving measures, the amount of fresh = air=20 that was being brought in was cut back because it was more = expensive=20 to bring in cold air and heat it, than to keep the air = inside of the=20 school," said Miller.

After working with local = groups and=20 lobbying the TDSB, changes were made in 2003 to improve = Blake=92s air=20 quality. They increased the amount of fresh air coming into = the=20 school, working windows were installed and the dusty carpet = was=20 replaced with vinyl tiles.

"In your home, would you = have a=20 carpet down that you had for 30 years and every year there = was=20 probably 70 or 80 kids that spent eight hours a day, five = days a=20 week on," said councillor Paula Fletcher, who attended the = film=92s=20 premiere.

"The most telling part was after the = carpets were=20 out, was the difference that the kids and the teachers at = the school=20 felt in the following school year. They were very thankful," = added=20 the Toronto-Danforth councillor, who was the school trustee = for the=20 area at the time and became involved after a parent = contacted her to=20 complain about their child=92s asthma problems.

The = workgroup=20 has been invited to show <I>Children Breathe = Easy</I> at=20 the Mayworks Festival.

"(With the film) we want to = make=20 people think about air quality in terms of how it=92s = affecting their=20 kids and themselves," said Miller.

"(The film) = really=20 reminded me of how hard we all worked and what all the = elements of=20 success are. Without the partnerships of the school = administration,=20 the parents, the workgroup, the superintendents, it = wouldn=92t have=20 happened," Fletcher added.

For a copy of the = documentary,=20 contact Miller at indoorenvironment@yahoo.com.=20 =

This article also found in:
Beac= h=20 - Riverdale - East York

Posted Date: Thursday, February 23, 2006
Story Location: = http://www.towncrieronline.ca/main/main.php?direction=3Dviewstory&am= p;storyid=3D5211=20

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