Fungus damage repairs at Finnish schools bring results; hospitals next in line

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Fungus damage repairs at Finnish schools bring results; hospitals

next in line

Helsingin Sanomat - Helsinki,Uusimaa,Finland*

http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20030909IE6

Finnish local authorities and the state have spent more than one

billion euros in the past three years to repair damage to schools

caused by dampness and mildew growth in the structures of the

buildings.

This year a record EUR 750 million will be spent on repairs to

schools. Ten percent of the sum will come from state aid. Much of

the state funding is directed specifically at the fungus problem.

After this year the most expensive school repairs should be

over. However, many Finnish health care facilities face similar

problems caused by dampness, and are in need of extensive repairs.

Experts believe that the need for repairs at hospitals is as great

now as it was for schools a few years ago.

Professor Kari Reijula, the head of the Uusimaa Regional

Occupational Health Institute, is preparing a report to the Ministry

of Social Affairs and Health on damage caused by dampness in

hospitals. The report is scheduled for completion in April.

" The network of central hospitals was built in the 1950s and

1960s. In buildings this old the need for extensive repairs would

have been clearly at hand, but the repairs have been delayed -

largely for financial reasons. There have been annual cuts in state

subsidies and the hospital districts do not seem to have enough

money for their own internal activities - to say nothing of external

repairs. "

Reijula adds that hospital repairs do not seem to interest the

experts. The issue has not been advanced in the same way that it has

been for schools, and hospitals are difficult to repair. On the

other hand, he notes that there is a greater willingness than before

to discuss issues of indoor air quality, and that people with

symptoms are no longer dismissed as hypochondriacs.

Indoor air quality problems are not restricted to old buildings.

Mistakes made in the construction of new buildings can also cause

problems. For instance, particles of rockwool insulation sometimes

blow into indoor air from ventilation ducts if the insulation

material is not properly covered.