Top Ways to Diagnose Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Problems
Despite national attention on poor indoor air quality (IAQ), it’s still a problem affecting facilities and its occupants. Building owners who want to successfully combat poor indoor air quality, must ensure that their building managers and hired contractors understand IAQ and know how to address any problems that arise.
The Indoor Air Quality Building Education and Assessment Model (I-BEAM) is the EPA’s guidance tool for building professionals. It teaches you how to improve air quality and how to conduct an indoor air quality inspection. I-BEAM provides a set of forms to aid in diagnosing and solving air quality issues.
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Mold-related Violations Increase as Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Becomes Hot Topic
Mold and its effect on indoor air quality (IAQ) is making headlines.
For example, parents in Brooklyn, New York are upset that their children are getting sick because of a purported mold outbreak in one of the borough’s schools. A recent test revealed the presence of black mold in at least seven classrooms.
To make matters worse, the building is currently under construction and the windows are sealed off, which means they can’t be opened for additional ventilation. The mold outbreak is reportedly caused by water leaks and the construction is expected to fix the problem.
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Top Six Reasons Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a Hot Topic
Take a breath. Smell anything? Probably not anything unusual, but the air you’re breathing inside your home or office may not be of the quality you expect. New challenges in indoor air quality (IAQ) that stem from natural disasters, technological advances and even building materials and design are occurring in the HVAC space.
In this post, we explore six reasons indoor air quality is a hot topic.
1) Recent Natural Disasters
According to a report in Environmental Health Perspectives, riding out the storm and the recovery period are the times when IAQ is endangered. Hurricanes like Katrina and floods like the Mississippi River flood of 2011 can cause mold in flooded basements and attics. And while generators can provide power in emergencies, they can also impact IAQ if not used properly, says John Spengler, an atmospheric scientist at Harvard. He chaired the committee that wrote a report on the effects of climate change on IAQ commissioned by the EPA in 2011.
Spengler says that when people use generators without proper ventilation, they can end up in the ER or even die from the carbon monoxide exposure. He also says that “weatherizing materials and techniques may be commercialized faster than their health implications can be assessed.”
2) Recent Man-Made Disasters
Going with what Spengler said about commercialization moving faster than health research, IAQ can be harmed by unstudied materials such as Chinese drywall. We found problems with HVAC coil corrosion when builders were importing dry wall from China, post-Hurricane Katrina. This corrosion compromised air quality and caused everything from the smell of rotten eggs to ruined air conditioning units. Read our blog post on the Chinese drywall disaster and watch the video below to see how particles and chemicals can affect the air we breathe indoors.
3) 90% of Our Time is Spent Indoors
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans spend almost all of their time indoors. And the agency reports that a “growing body of scientific evidence indicates that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities.”
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Duct Cleaners = Occupant Health and Money Saved
Allow us, dear readers, to borrow a little from William Shakespeare. “To clean or not to clean, (your ducts) that is the question.” Okay, Bill didn’t include the “your ducts” thing, but otherwise, the conundrum is the same – is it really important to clean your air ducts? We here at Just Venting are very attached to duct cleaners so…
The answer is a resounding YES!
The reasons are many and diverse, but they ultimately fall into two general areas: health reasons and financial reasons.
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Duct Cleaners Reduce Likelihood Of A Sick Building
Authorities are divided about the causes of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). While the EPA, NIOSH, OSHA and other organizations all recognize the existence of SBS, they disagree about the causes of the syndrome. Some suggest volatile organic compounds from carpets and paint are the culprit while others contend it is the presence of mold in a building. Still others think it is a combination of factors. But one thing everyone agrees upon is that regular use of duct cleaners is an important preventative measure.
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Chinese Drywall and SBS: The Saga Continues
It has unofficially become the Story That Just Won’t Go Away. Back in July we talked about the possible problems being caused in the American south and southeast by imported Chinese drywall (see “HVAC Industry on Alert for Defective Chinese Drywall,” July 23). We gave an update a month later (“By the Numbers: The Chinese Drywall Situation,” Aug. 19). The short version is that imported drywall may contain sulphur and other chemicals that are leaching out in the humid southern and southeastern climates. It’s damaging HVAC systems, plumbing systems, and other building systems while also driving people out of their homes and businesses and causing symptoms similar to sick building syndrome (SBS). Since HVAC and SBS are two of our chief in-house topics, we’ve been keeping an eye on the situation. And there are developments to report.
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Sick Building Syndrome: Advice for Mitigating Influenza in Commercial Buildings
Recently your trusty Just Venting blogger received in the mail a magazine (also available on the Web as a text-only pdf), sent out to all residents of his state, that called to mind this blog’s occasional focus on sick building syndrome. It consisted of advice about preparing for and responding to a pandemic flu outbreak and the widespread dissemination of such a publication underscored a point that, given current circumstances, we simply can’t overemphasize: Preparing for flu in your commercial, industrial, or institutional building is mandatory. Sick building syndrome has ramped up to a new playing field.
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Sick Building Syndrome on Steroids: ASHRAE Releases Position Paper on HVAC and Infectious Disease
Sick building syndrome is a concern of every person who spends most of his or her days located indoors in a building with an active HVAC system — that is, the majority of us. But sometimes circumstances take us beyond the normal concerns involved in sick building syndrome — mold, chemicals, allergic reactions, general malaise, etc. — and we find we’ve entered the zone of all-out infectious disease concerns. That’s where we find ourselves right now, with the rapidly spreading H1N1 pandemic.
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Reader Survey: How Do You Do More With Less?
In this time of economic challenges, those of you who are responsible for running our nation’s buildings face some terrific challenges. You are constantly being asked to do more work with less money and fewer people. Many owners look at the cost of building management as an overhead item, something that cuts into their margins during a time when a hobbled economy is already squeezing profits.
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HVLS Fans Save Money, Improve Comfort
If you’ve ever looked overhead in a factory, warehouse or other large open space, you’ve probably seen those enormous fans spinning slowly overhead. Known as High Velocity Low Speed (HVLS) fans, they can save you substantial amounts of money, help make building occupants more comfortable and even help you achieve LEED certification.
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