EPA has developed a new, free software tool called Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool (HealthySEAT) to help school districts evaluate and manage their school facilities for key environmental, safety and health issues. DES has developed specific customized information for New Hampshire, which should be used in conjunction with the EPA software tool. This tool allows district-level staff to conduct voluntary self-assessments of their school and other facilities, and to track and manage information on environmental conditions school-by-school.
To obtain and use the HealthySEAT program in conjunction with the New Hampshire specific information, please contact the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) program at (603) 271-3911 or IAQ@des.nh.gov and follow these steps.
NOTE: If you are not familiar with downloading and installing software on your computer, you should contact your computer support staff for assistance. Likewise, please contact your support staff if you have any problems or questions during the process.
Step 1 – Print out the User's Manual
Before downloading and installing the EPA HealthySEAT Assessment Tool, print out the User's Manual. You will need to use the User's Manual for the download/installation process and for all subsequent work with this software tool. We suggest you print double-sided to save paper since the manual is 98 pages.
Obtain and print User's Manual 
Step 2 – Download the EPA HealthySEAT Installation Package
Before downloading the HealthySEAT software, carefully read Sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4 of the User's Manual. Saving the file to your desktop is recommended, although the file can be downloaded to any location on your computer. Download file will appear as "HealthySEAT2.exe".
Download EPA HealthySEAT Assessment Tool
Step 3 – Install the HealthySEAT application
After downloading, the next step is to install the HealthySEAT application on your computer. Read the instructions beginning on p. 9 Section 2.3 of the User's Manual, and proceed by following Steps 1 through 10 on p. 10 to 14 of the manual. Be sure to select "Typical" at Step 6. When you have completed Step 10, the HealthySEAT icon will appear on your desktop.
Step 4 – Download the New Hampshire-Based Information
Because we no longer include the New Hampshire database for download on our website, please contact the IAQ program at (603) 271-3911 or IAQ@des.nh.gov to obtain a copy of the database.
Once you have received the database from the IAQ program, you will now need to download and save the New Hampshire specific information to use with the HealthySEAT Assessment Tool. This is a large database file named BE_HSEAT.mdb (11MB). Be sure to SAVE this on your computer in a location that you can easily find, preferably on your desktop, and use the exact same name BE_HSEAT.mdb.
Step 5 – Getting Started and Connecting the New Hampshire Specific Information to HealthySEAT
To start the program, double click on the HealthySEAT icon on your desktop and follow the instructions in Section 2.4 of the User's Manual to login (p. 14 to p.16). Once you are in the HealthySEAT program, the New Hampshire specific information database needs to be uploaded by following these instructions (also described in Section 4.3.1 or p. 47 and 48 of the User's Manual):
- Go into the "Customize for District" screen.
- Click the button "Re-Establish Database Connection."
- Browse for the New Hampshire-based information BE_HSEAT.mdb on your desktop or wherever you saved it and open it.
- Click the "Re-Establish Database Connection" button, then Save and Return to Customize for District.
You are now ready to begin using the Assessment Tool by adding your district-specific information (Section 5 of the User's Manual).
DES is available to provide assistance and training to school district facility managers on using the HealthySEAT Assessment Tool. For more information, please contact the Indoor Air Quality Program, IAQ@des.nh.gov, (603) 271-3911.
Adobe Acrobat Reader format. Download a free reader from Adobe.