Poor Indoor Air Quality Can Lead to Sick Buildings, but There Are Cures for What

[Guest guest]

All Stuffed Up

Poor Indoor Air Quality Can Lead to Sick Buildings, but There Are

Cures for What Ails

Business West - Springfield,MA*

http://www.businesswest.com/details.asp?id=1649

Mold, bacteria, skin cells, dirt … these are the things we're

breathing in varying levels every day. The picture may appear grim,

but the prognosis may not be as bad as we think — and further,

remedies to make indoor air quality a little better are available,

starting as simply as a run down the hall with a dust mop.

It's called stachybotrys, and by some accounts, it's the stuff of

horror movies.

Dubbed `toxic,' `black,' or `killer' mold, stachybotrys has been the

subject of frightening news reports concerning deathly ill children,

businessmen with major memory loss, and families fleeing their homes

with nothing but the clothes on their backs after discovering the

greenish-black substance in their walls or floors.

Bruce Tease, senior environmental scientist with Environmental

Compliance Services (ECS) in Agawam, said he's heard those accounts

and doesn't doubt their validity. However, he does caution that

these are extreme cases involving substances detrimental to indoor

air quality, or IAQ, and one reason why the term `sick buildings'

has become part of the lexicon, prompting employers, building

owners, and property managers across the country to perk up their

ears in hopes of finding a solution.

" The media has created an hysteria around black mold without

providing a lot of education, " said Tease. " It's a very uncommon

occurrence to have an IAQ problem affect everyone in the building.

Usually, it's a couple of people, and everyone automatically thinks

it will lead back to mold.

" But even finding black mold doesn't mean you have a toxic mold

problem, " he added. " Plus, people are allergic to a lot of different

things. "

Still, Tease said there is one positive side effect to mold panic —

it's bringing IAQ to the forefront of more people's minds. That, in

turn, gives environmental professionals an opportunity to break down

the lingo and the myths, and to offer some solutions for healthier

work and living environments.

The Towering Infirmary

First, said Tease, `sick building' is a term that often strikes an

unnecessary level of fear in the hearts of many people. But it is a

very real phenomenon.

" Sick-building syndrome refers to a situation in which the majority

of people in a building are exhibiting the same kind of response,

regardless of a genetic predisposition such as an existing allergy, "

he explained, noting that this generally translates to more than 20%

of a building's occupants experiencing the same or similar problems.

That can be a hard statistic to pin down, because the EPA does not

mandate any specific regulations or safety levels for IAQ. But it

does offer a series of guidelines geared toward specific groups such

as builders, public officials, school administrators, facilities

managers, and others that are helping to shed a little light on what

can be construed as sick-building syndrome, and what can't.

These include plans such as I-BEAM (Indoor Air Quality Building

Education and Assessment Model), a guidance tool designed for use by

building professionals and others interested in IAQ in commercial

buildings; and BASE, the Building Assessment, Survey, and Evaluation

study, which collected data from 100 randomly selected office

buildings in the U.S. to create a set of basic statistics regarding

HVAC features, pollutant concentrations, and occupant symptoms. The

database is aimed at researchers, scientists, building

professionals, public-health officials and policy makers, while the

Building Air Quality Action Plan (BAQ) was drafted to meet the needs

of building owners and managers looking for an easy-to-understand

path for taking their building from current conditions and practices

to the successful IAQ management practices. The BAQ Action Plan

follows eight steps, and includes a 100-item checklist to get

started.

Arruda, a certified indoor environmental consultant with

the environmental consultancy firm O'Reilly, Talbot, and Okun

Associates in Springfield, said she tends to focus more on these

types of basic guidelines when first entering a property, rather

than on the possibility of a pervasive case of sick-building

syndrome.

" In fact, I'll go so far as to avoid the terminology altogether, "

she said. " It sounds so scary, and people tend to look at it in the

wrong way — as a lot of people having symptoms equating to the

building making them sick, when really, often it's a case of many

people with varied symptoms without an associated cause. "

Among the types of irritants that make a property suspect of sick-

building syndrome are organic substances such as mold, bacteria, or

pests, non-living particulates such as dust and dirt, and chemicals

either used or produced in the workplace that can affect overall air

quality. Sometimes, said Arruda, this means that a group of people

exhibiting allergic symptoms are experiencing very different

reactions to different things, and this doesn't constitute a sick

building by strict definition.

" A lot of times, we're called in to assess IAQ in varied sites, from

commercial to industrial to residential. We see a whole host of

symptoms, and sometimes we can find out what a cause may be. But

more often, we find building constraints, either structurally or in

terms of the type of occupancy, that we need to help the occupants

work around to create healthier, more comfortable environments. "

Pyramid Scheme

Indeed, there are a number of indoor-air-quality issues to address

at varying levels in buildings of all shapes and sizes, and Tease

offered a specific reason for this within certain properties — a new

syndrome of sorts that he calls `Egyptian Tomb.'

" Buildings prior to 1950 or 1960 rarely have problems unless there's

a water leak, " he said. " Buildings constructed after the 1970s are

where we see the problems. Older buildings aren't getting sicker,

but newer buildings sacrificed clean air in their design. "

Tease explained that homes and buildings, including multi-office

suites and high rises, built over the past three decades have

followed a trend of `tight construction' that can make the structure

more durable in broad terms. However, this type of construction also

limits the exchange of inside air with outdoor air.

" There's no way outside air can come in and dilute the dust, dirt in

the carpets, fungi, chemicals, you name it — and all of this starts

to build up, " he said. " The exchange of indoor air with outdoor air

is the key. If the ratio is right, particulates won't build up and

condense, and moisture can be controlled. "

Both Tease and Arruda agreed that often, these problems can be

remedied through solutions that are simpler than many might first

think.

" A key thing in alleviating symptoms is ventilation, so that leads

us directly to the HVAC system, " said Arruda. " It's important for

owners and managers to have an ongoing, thorough HVAC maintenance

schedule, making sure that there are no obstructions, everything is

clean and flowing properly, and the system is balanced throughout

the building. "

Tease added that there are even more proactive moves offices can

take as a whole before HVAC concerns are addressed.

" Housekeeping, ventilation, and fixing leaks are the three things to

address, and the solutions are pretty simple, " he said. " We tell

people to make sure they schedule routine cleaning events in office

areas, perhaps using a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter

vacuum to remove fine particulates. Those can run $500 to $1,000,

but they're great for people who have hypersensitivities to dust or

mold spores, for instance. They can also be rented to help decide

whether or not that step is even necessary. "

Even more straightforward than a HEPA vacuum, though, is good old-

fashioned dusting — a tactic Tease said he and other environmental

specialists will suggest early on when working with a client.

" g is not a common practice in our society, " he said. " But

it's common sense for keeping an area free of fine particles. Air

purifiers can also help. "

To Have and to Mold

As IAQ becomes a more-prevalent concern, however, a bigger arsenal

of proactive measures is being devised to allow for more accurate

readings within a given building and help property owners and

managers take action.

One such solution is IT-based, said Tease. Computer-driven tactics

such as the `Eclipse' program, now in development at ECS, can

monitor various locations within a property and automatically

generate reports based on predetermined acceptable levels.

It's being introduced to property managers now, especially those who

manage multiple properties, as another option that can track IAQ and

thus help identify or avoid problems.

" IAQ is very hard to track otherwise, " said Tease. " There could

always be more than one needle in the haystack making people sick,

and currently, it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. "

Having plans in place to monitor IAQ, be they technology-based or

otherwise, is also becoming a more noticeable aspect in new

construction and renovation projects within many types of

properties. Arruda said this speaks further to greater understanding

of the importance of clean air in the home and workplace.

" Now, " she said, " in terms of new construction, we're seeing better

understanding leading to people making more proactive moves, and

putting more thought into not just making the building look great,

but also making sure occupants are going to be comfortable and able

to perform their tasks.

" It's just the smart thing to do, " she continued. " We can only

imagine the costs to evaluate IAQ and upgrades to remedy problems;

once they all add up, those numbers can be huge. "

As for stachybotrys, Arruda agreed that the public may have a skewed

view of this toxin, though she admits that it, too, is easy to find

in large numbers.

" When it comes to mold, I can walk into any building and find it, "

she said. " There are situations where there is clear evidence of

damage, but a lot of times, I don't think that's the problem. "

The real issue, she said, is education – and the more individuals

have, the easier they can breathe.

" Any IAQ program put in place should include an educational

component, " Arruda said. " This helps people regain the perspective

that breathable buildings are better. "

Jaclyn son can be reached at stevenson@...