Page 8 - New England Condominium November 2019

8 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM -NOVEMBER 2019 NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM CONT... in one particular room or area, or mani- fest themselves throughout the building. This stands in contrast to ‘building-re- lated illness,’ which, according to the EPA, is a diagnosable illness that can be iden- tified and attributed directly to airborne building contaminants. “Sick building syndrome is absolutely a real thing,” says Mark Drozdov, Senior VP and Technical Director at BSI Services and Solutions Inc., an indoor environmental consulting firm based in New York City. “Some of the causes include mold, poor ventilation and low humidity levels.” Oh, Chute Taller multifamily buildings usually have a small room on each floor contain- ing a hatch door that opens into a stain- less steel garbage chute. The chute runs from the top floor all the way to a base- ment garbage room, where a dumpster or other receptacle is placed to catch resi- dents’ bagged refuse as it tumbles out. While a building’s rules and regula- tions typically lay out what can and can- not be thrown into the chute, residents will inevitably toss in unbagged, over- sized, or especially gross garbage. This will eventually cause a blockage, which in turn can lead to a backup of putrefy- ing trash piling up behind it. Throwing unbagged garbage down the chute causes also causes organic material to splatter and stick to the sides, coating the entire length in a layer of slimy, stinky crud that can attract pests and make the whole building smell like a landfill. And of course, even when residents are super conscientious, trash bags do break occasionally – so no matter what, garbage chutes need regular attention and maintenance to keep them clean and odorless. That means management, staff, and residents must not only do their part, but be ready to bring in professionals to clean and sanitize the building’s chutes regularly in order to avoid bug and odor problems. Keeping the Flow If a building or association isn’t do- ing enough to maintain good air quality in the first place, odor issues can’t really be blamed on residents – even if they’re smoking stogies and sauteeing mush- rooms in truffle oil every night. Proper installation and upkeep of HVAC systems have a huge impact on indoor air quality, and by extension on residents’ quality of life. Ensuring proper ventilation can pre- vent the buildup of contaminants in buildings, says Casey Birmingham, senior project manager for The Falcon Group, an engineering and consulting firm based in New Jersey with offices in Connecticut and around the country. Those contami- nants can include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, humid- ity and microbial growth and the types of unpleasant odors that so often affect residents of multifamily buildings. “Ven- tilation is a central component of good air quality,” she continues. And too often that component can be forgotten, leading to stale air, allergens, odors and other prob- lems for residents. “While there are often minor com- plaints about odor transmission, the bigger issue is buildup of molds as well as water infiltration,” says Birmingham. Another common issue in buildings built from the 1960s to the present is that they typically have mechanical ventilation and it can over-exhaust. That means the building does not get the correct amount of outdoor makeup air to balance the air it vents out, creating draftiness, which manifests itself in whistling windows, doors or elevator shafts. This problem is further exacerbated by the “stack effect” experienced in tall buildings. According to Birmingham, older buildings are not typically ventilated by mechanical equipment. Before the 1968 building code was implemented, build- ings typically relied on natural venting through the opening and closing of win- dows and doors. And that can be a good thing. Gene Marckini, an associate with Boston-based environmental consulting firm Boston Environmental, agrees. “The type of air problems that can be caused by sealed homes...are wholly dependent on the construction of the home,” he says. “The older homes don’t matter much be- cause they leak like a sieve and get lots of air movement, but newer \[buildings\] are very tight, and it can be a major problem if they don’t have a supplemental air sup- ply.” Begone, Stink According to Maria Vizzi, president of Indoor Environmental Solutions (IES) in New York City, “If an air system is not working due to \[something like\] the ob- struction of airflow in the duct/riser – re- ally bad, offensive smells from cooking, bathrooms, or even the trash in the com- pactor room become trapped inside the building. If an air system is working well, then it will help transport the odors com- ing from the kitchens, bathrooms or com- mon areas outside, and exchange air will have an opportunity to replace it.” And the stench of poor ventilation goes beyond just being gross; breathing in garbage germs and airborne particles of pest waste is hazardous, and some kinds of mold have the potential to cause seri- ous health issues – everything from aller- gic reactions to skin irritation, respiratory distress, even behavioral problems. Of course, like a lot of things, stinki- ness is subjective. What causes one per- son to gag may not even register with someone else. Fortunately, the profession- als who specialize in handling problem odors have tools to help find, suppress, or eliminate them – including air-sampling equipment like respirable dust monitors and photo ionization detectors to measure airborne irritants and allergens, and field olfactometers that measure the relative strength of odors. They can also quanti- tatively determine if a smell qualifies as a nuisance, assigning a number value to the odor based on a set of standard metrics. When an odor is bad enough to be con- sidered a nuisance, it can also become a legal matter – so this is good information to have! When Vizzi’s company is engaged to investigate the cause of stale air or lin- gering odors in a building, they will first put a camera down into the ductwork to see if there is a blockage or obstruction. Sometimes they find interesting things, like construction debris left over from a resident’s renovation project, or other items that have accidentally tumbled into the system. Sometimes it’s the renovation work it- self that’s causing the problem. Vizzi says she’s seen situations in which her team’s cameras have revealed walls where there should be nothing but open airspace. “Re- spect the ducts!” Vizzi says. “There’s not always a good understanding of why the duct is there in the kitchen or bathroom. But it impacts that apartment and every- one on that line. It’s important to be con- scientious of your neighbors.” Drozdov agrees, adding that a full in- door air quality assessment is needed to see the whole picture of your building’s air quality, “including testing for humid- ity, air flow, mold, and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.” VOCs can be found in paints, varnishes, wax, fuels and household products, and can be released both when they are in use, and to a lesser degree when they are stored. According to Drozdov, air quality as- sessment is not really a do-it-yourself kind of job. “We recommend that this testing be done by professionals,” he adds, “only to prevent misinterpretations of data that could lead to wrong decisions.” Because construction projects – either on-site or just nearby – can have such a huge impact on air quality, it is impera- tive that those projects be properly moni- tored, and any caustic or otherwise ir- ritating materials and products be used correctly. For example, “Work with your construction team to make sure they’re using products with the least amount of VOCs,” says Doug Weinstein, Vice Presi- dent of Project Management Group Inc., which has offices in New York City and in Florida. “And only use water-based poly- urethane for floors. Otherwise, VOCs can get released into the air. ” The same caution should be applied to the chemicals used in cleaning and build- ing maintenance. “Make sure that all the material safety data sheets are on hand,” adds Weinstein. “They outline the uses for chemicals and show what kind of ven- tilation is necessary.” All indoor environment pros agree that regular inspections and maintenance of building equipment and systems are cru- cial. The general consensus is that ven- tilation and other air-related equipment systems – as well as outdoor air intakes – should be looked at four times a year to check that components like fans, belts and so forth are operating properly. “With air quality, a lot of it is cleanliness of equip- ment,” says Weinstein. “Make sure the filters are changed and the machines are MAINTAINING... continued from page 1 continued on page 10 “The building’s ventilation acts as the lungs of the building. If it’s not breathing properly, we have a problem.” — Maria Vizzi