Page 12 - New England Condominium September 2020

12 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM -SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM Greater Boston’s Full Service Condominium & Property Management Firm 617-202-3815 admin@yifmanagement.com www.yifmanagement.com | • Competitive Customized Rates! 100% Transparency! • • No Unnecessary Fees! Guaranteed Communication! • er to mid-rise buildings fall into two cat- egories: You have mechanical ventilation, or you have ventilation by typical court- yards. Even way back when these prop- erties were built, there was a \[building\] code… that said, if you have open win- dows, they account for some amount of ventilation. Over the decades these codes have gotten more and more complicated. In newer buildings, we have mechani- cal ventilation— which, by the way, gives us more op- tions dealing with contaminants like the COVID vi- rus.” When it comes to air and ven- tilation systems in multifamily buildings, among the most common complaints is the traveling, linger- ing smells of ciga- rette smoke and cooking odors. “If you smell cigarette or marijuana smoke, or cooking odors,” says Payne, “that tells you that your building isn’t breathing properly. Which means theoretically that you may have a greater concern about COVID-19 as well, because air isn’t being properly exchanged or exhausted.” To achieve proper air exchange, Payne explains, your building should be slightly positively pressurized, meaning there should be more fresh air coming in than leaving. “If you look at apartment build- ings that have mechanical ventilation, their systems are taking fresh air from the roof to the basement, and pressur- izing the building, typically pushing air under the apartment doors. That means you shouldn’t use a towel or other de- vice to reduce that draft—you need that under-door airflow. That air is then ex- hausted through roof fans, or some other type of equipment through the kitchens and bathrooms. If you’re smelling some- one else’s cooking smells, that means that there’s a problem with the pressurization balance of the building.” This problem can be managed, Payne continues. “The first strategy for dealing with smoke and cooking smells is mak- ing sure that your building pressurization is correct—that you have proper posi- tive pressure from the corridors into the apartment. After you solve that problem, technologies such as charcoal filters and other products that are known to absorb odors can be put to use.” At the end of the day, however, when dealing with air quality and ventilation problems, the first and probably most ef- ficient method is to eliminate the source of the problem in the first place. That’s easier said than done, of course. If you have a problem like mold, that’s easy— find the leak that’s letting moisture accu- mulate, and get rid of it. Then clean up the mold, dry out and disinfect the prob- lem area, and you should be good to go. That strategy doesn’t work on smok- ers, however—or on viruses. You also can’t remove people who have contracted CO- VID. “Source con- trol really only applies to cer- tain conditions,” Payne explains. So for the mo- ment, in the midst of the COVID crisis, the answer may not be limited to simply im- proving ventila- tion. Buildings must develop aggressive policies to keep their property’s ventilation systems in top mechanical shape, while making special consideration for keeping the community safe from COVID-19 as well. n AJ Sidransky is a staff writer/reporter for New England Condominium, and is a pub- lished novelist. SECURING... continued from page 11 “One of the hazards of UV is that it’s also detrimental to humans. It causes skin cancer, and can cause blindness, and it also causes plastic substances to deteriorate. However, it’s been tested and documented that if properly applied for a specific period of time, it will destroy the \[corona\]virus.” —Peter Catapano Saving Cash Certain industry sectors are offer- ing association clients significant savings at this time—particularly those projects with a high labor component, like roofing, painting, and asphalt work, to name just a few. If the cash is available, now might be a great time to check in and negotiate with your service providers. You may be very encouraged to stimulate the economy, keep their crews working, and enjoy a 5% or even 10% discount on some of your as- sociation’s larger projects. Just be careful when updating your reserve plan, as dis- counts available in 2020 will likely not be repeatable in future years. Final Thoughts No matter what your association’s cur- rent situation, the fact remains that robust, well-managed reserves are a crucial com- ponent to its long term financial solvency TAPPING RESERVES... continued from page 6