Page 8 - New England Condominium November 2019
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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


































































































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