New attacks on old mold

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http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2002/02/18/focus1.html

February 15, 2002

New attacks on old mold

Architects begin to create blueprints that combat the ancient green menace

BBy Barbara Marquand

Mold has been a growing issue in the real estate industry in the last five

years. Now the pesky fungus is a creeping concern for architects, too.

Whether they're designing new offices or remodeling historic buildings,

architects are having to take the risk of mold growth into account.

Architect Lynn Pomeroy, president of LPA Sacramento Inc., considers the

issue important enough that his firm has started holding internal seminars

to educate the staff about mold. Not all firms have gone to that extent, but

architects are increasingly aware of the issue.

Architecture as an industry is trying to learn more about mold growth and

what contributes to it, says Bruce Starkweather, president of Lionakis

Beaumont Design Group Inc., a Sacramento architectural company.

Mold has been around forever, but it's only been in the last few years that

it's attracted widespread attention as a health issue.

Harmful mold infestation is different from a spot or two of mold around the

bathtub. Some molds produce toxins called mycotoxins, which can be hazardous

to people's health. When these molds infest a building, people can suffer a

variety of reactions, from mild hayfever-like symptoms to asthma and

respiratory problems, according to the California Department of Health

Services.

People with compromised immune systems and existing respiratory conditions

are at a higher risk, as well as children, the elderly and pregnant women.

Mold has become a big problem for some homeowners, who have had to evacuate

their houses and pay thousands of dollars to eradicate the problem. One home

in Foresthill was burned to the ground because the cost of cleaning up the

mold and making all the repairs to prevent further mold growth were too

high.

Although the mold problem hasn't been as prevalent in office buildings, it's

a growing concern in commercial real estate, too. In 2000, the California

Job Journal wrangled with its former landlord, Pacific Gulf Properties, over

mold infestation. The journal then sued for $10 million, claiming that mold

in the offices it leased from Pacific Gulf made employees ill and led to

lost profits. A Pacific Gulf lawyer called the suit " financial opportunism. "

That suit is pending.

To thrive, mold needs three things -- food, such as wood, paper or dirt;

moisture; and a place to grow. Flooding, construction defects and poor

maintenance can all lead to mold growth.

Clearly some of the contributors to mold growth are beyond architects'

control. Webre, president of Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects in

Sacramento, says mold can develop if moisture migrates through the slab

under the building and gets inside the gypsum wallboard. This can happen if

there's not a proper barrier between the building and the soil -- a

construction, rather than design, issue, he says.

And certainly architects can't control whether a pipe springs a leak someday

and never gets properly fixed. Nevertheless, Starkweather of Lionakis

Beaumont says architects are considering mold as part of the larger issue of

indoor air quality of buildings.

Awareness of indoor air quality has heightened as buildings have been built

tighter to preserve energy. Building owners today pay more attention to

getting new buildings aired out and ready to occupy, Starkweather says. This

is important because some people are very allergic to gases released from

new materials such as carpets. Mold is one more thing to consider in the big

picture of indoor air quality.

Mold grows when moisture is trapped in a building. In the design process,

Starkweather says, architects avoid knowingly designing any dead air space

that could create a host environment for mold.

Pomeroy says his company, LPA, is paying close attention to the kinds of

building materials it specifies in its designs. It stays away from any

paper-based materials used to wrap buildings, for instance. Pomeroy says

these materials are problematic because even though they are treated to

repel water, they allow vapor to pass through, which can get trapped inside

the wall and lead to mold growth. Mold thrives on paper in a moist

environment.

His company is also doing its own research about what types of materials

work well in different climates. Foil-backed insulation, for instance, works

better when facing the outside in some climates and facing the inside in

other climates. And in some areas, it shouldn't be used at all.

Mold isn't just a problem in new buildings. Architect Ervin McMullen,

president of Carissimi Rohrer McMullen Shively, says that when designing the

remodeling of old buildings, mold infestation is among the problems that

have to be checked out before any work can take place.

Carissimi Rohrer McMullen redesigned an older building for the state of

California about 15 years ago, for example, and found mold in the heating

ducts, which required cleanup. McMullen says he thinks mold is less of a

problem in new buildings because the mechanical systems are more efficient

and the moisture-proofing on buildings is much better than it was 25 years

ago.

Meanwhile, mold will continue to be a high-profile issue. Gov. Gray

signed the Toxic Mold Protection Act last year. Under the new law, state

health officials must create a task force to develop permissible exposure

limits to mold, if such task turns out to be feasible. It's a tricky issue

because mold is everywhere, and people's reactions to exposure vary.

So far there are no government standards for how much exposure is too much,

and scientists don't all agree on how dangerous mold is. The task force is

charged with giving a progress report in July next year.