CHRISTINE WILLIAMSON PUTS BUILDING SCIENCE IN YOUR HANDS
Christine Williamson is a building scientist who made it through architecture school, in her own words, “by the skin of my teeth.” Learning to be an architect is famously difficult, but Christine suspected, quite correctly, that learning architecture would be very different than actually working as an architect.
ARE YOUR TENANTS BREATHING IN BAD WATER?
When the day’s stress gets to you, taking a deep breath can help you find a sense of clarity again. However, if that breath is taken near an untreated hot tub or in a building with a dirty hot water tank, you could be inviting deadly bacteria into your body.
WHERE IS TRAVIS THIS MONTH?
In February, things get low. The humidity gets low, the temperature gets low, and the number of occupants’ complaints gets low as well. This means I’m not as busy in February. After the busy year that was 2019, I’m okay with that. A low February means I get to take a vacation.
IS YOUR BUILDING SUFFERING FROM OUTDATED ‘TRENDS’?
With the new year comes a new opportunity to be hip — or at least more put together than last year. Commercial buildings don’t often have to worry about being trendy, but there are some outdated problems we see in buildings every day that could easily be addressed. Here are some outdated “trends” you can fix that will improve both the look of your building and its indoor air quality.
DIAGNOSING AN UNHEALTHY BUILDING WITH AIRBORNE PARTICLE COUNTS
Airborne particles are an often-overlooked aspect of indoor air quality (IAQ). Even among my own peers, particles are rarely a top priority. In this area, I’m an outlier.
When I do indoor air quality surveys, not only do I look at the standard environmental indicators like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, temperature, and relative humidity, but I also collect airborne particle counts at that time.