Air Date: 10-9-2015| Episode: 386
Last week was the IAQ Training Institute, IAQ Radio and the The Restoration and Specialty Cleaners Association (TRSCA) got together to sponsor the Healthy Building Summit 2015…
Full Description:
Last week was the IAQ Training Institute, IAQ Radio and the The Restoration and Specialty Cleaners Association (TRSCA) got together to sponsor the Healthy Building Summit 2015. “The Summit” is a week long event that includes courses on mold, indoor environmental quality, water damage restoration plus this years main event the IEQ, Mold and Disaster Restoration Conference. The conference featured speakers such as Dr. Jeff Siegel, Dr. Joe Spurgeon, Kevin Kennedy, Carl Grimes, Dr. Patricia Cafaro, Eric Shapiro, Luke Gard, Richard Rue, Nate Adams, Dr. Eva King, Dr. Ralph Moon, Cliff Zlotnik, Pete Consigli, Ed Ranieri, Jim Pemberton, Marc Selvitelli and Dave Drinnard who arranged for a hands on demo of the Echo blaster. We also continued our tradition of doing research projects. This years projects were on how containments affect IEQ parameters and measurement of allergen load before and after specific response actions. This week on IAQ Radio Radio Joe, Pete Consigli, Ed Ranieri and Nate Adams will discuss what was learned and what practitioners, researchers and building owners need to know to keep buildings healthy and sustainable. Some of the information will surprise you. The Summit was a great success this year and the “Practice to Research” theme was a big hit. LEARN MORE this week on IAQ Radio!
Z-Man’s Blog:
What We Learned at the Healthy Building Summit 2015
Our guests for this week’s episode were: Home Performance Guy-Nate Adams and Restorer and Reality TV Star-Ed Ranieri.
RadioJoe began be thanking all of the presenters: Drs.: Jeff Siegel, Patricia Cafaro, Eva King, Ralph Moon & Joe Spurgeon.
Kevin Kennedy, Luke Gard, Eric Shapiro, Carl Grimes, Richard Rue, Nate Adams, John Lapotaire, Cliff Zlotnik, Pete Consigli, Ed Ranieri, Jim Pemberton, Marc Selvitelli and Dave Drinnard (Sunbelt Rentals) who arranged for a hands on demo of the Echo blaster.
RadioJoe’s Highlights:
Dr. Jeff Siegel’s Top 8 Issues
- Bad indoor air quality is really expensive
- Green is not really green (the perceived value of sustainability has led to a lot of greenwashing).
- We are caring about the wrong contaminants. Contaminates we should be concerned about: <PM2.5, formaldehyde, acrolein, radon, ETS (including E-cigarettes) & ozone.
- Adding anything to indoor air is a bad idea
- We should all be doing a lot more air cleaning
- Bad HVAC systems are one of our biggest problems. (Poorly designed, poorly installed and poorly maintained.)
- We should not fear microorganisms (but we should be wary of what we are doing to them indoors)
- We should care about moisture and moisture problems
More insights from Dr. Siegel:
- “Sustainable buildings are those buildings that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (Adopted from 1987 Brundtland Report)
- We do things to make buildings healthier because we think that they are good. Two examples: Low VOC Paints and plants. Jeff recommends ordinary latex paint and waiting before occupancy. Pollutant loss rates are virtually identical with and without plants. Removal by plants can’t compete with other methods.
- Indoor sources are often continuous or episodic, not one-time occurrences.
Other stuff:
- Excited that a group has committed to develop a protocol to validate mold sampling.
- Learned from Ed Ranieri the importance of asking in order to get what you want and to make things happen.
- Learned from Dr. Pat Cafaro about improving communication by better describing what you want.
- Continued IAQTI’s tradition of doing ongoing research projects in conjunction with our events. This year’s projects were on how containments affect IEQ parameters and measurement of allergen load before and after specific response actions.
- Note from Radio Joe –One of the most important accomplishments of the event was bringing together IAQ, disaster restoration and building science practitioners to discuss common issues. A great example occurred on day one when an IAQ practitioner mentioned recommending steam cleaning of carpet. The restoration crew commented there is really no such thing as steam cleaning carpets. The correct term would be hot water extraction. This lead to a great discussion of how these different groups can learn from each other which of course was a goal of the conference.
Ed Ranieri’s Highlights:
- Complimented Radio Joe on the logistics management of integrating coursework with formal presentations.
- Bringing people together to learn and share.
- Praised Dr. Jeff Siegel’s comment on the importance of communication and talking to people.
- Camaraderie among industries: health, IAQ, restoration, performance building.
- We can accomplish remarkable things together.
- Learned from Carl Grimes about the disturbing omissions and inaccuracies found on MSDS and SDS sheets.
- Learned from Eva King that mold is messy and is always changing. This is particularly true about the allergic responses brought on by mold. This topic is very complex.
Nate Adams’s Highlights:
- We are committed to measuring things and learning what works and what doesn’t.
- From Eva King, cat allergens are sticky proteins that cling to us and are easily spread and dispersed.
More from Eva King:
- The CDC’s NHANES study showed that about 1/3 of homes did not have levels of allergens from dust mite or pets above “morbidity levels”.
- [12:51:42 PM] The “morbidity level” means that below that level, most allergic individuals will not have an allergic reaction below that exposure level.
- Nateism It’s better to filter the air indoors than it is to introduce more dirty air from outdoors. It was eye opening to see how many people live within 150 meters of a major highway.
- Learned as much out of the classroom as in the classroom.
- Opportunity to network and build relationships.
Z-Man’s Highlights:
- Ralph Moon’s insights on the use of science to improve trust between restoration contractors and insurance companies.
- From Eva King, nut allergens are also found in nut butters and nut oils.
- Ed Ranieri impressed the group with his high energy presentation.
- Jim Pemberton did a nice job of explaining textiles and textile cleaning and remediation procedures.
- Thanks to Sunbelt Rentals for facilitating the hands-on demonstration of the Graco EcoBlaster.
- Thanks to Pete Consigli for his assistance and support for the event.
Today’s Music:
Magic Summit Rap YouTube
Z-Man signing off
Trivia question: What is the origin of the term, “above board?”
Answer: Any activity that went on above the boards of planking that made up the deck of a ship would be open for everyone to see and be fair and honest dealing.
Answered by John Lapotaire
