The 2005 Texas Mold Rules were written to rope in the wild, wild West of mold consultants and remediation contractors. And while that was a good thing, there are still some aspects of those rules that can cause problems for building owners and managers. This video talks about one such instance, where an empty building
No one ever claimed that understanding IAQ was easy! But when you look closely, the problems that occur, really boil down to one of three things. This week’s video provides you with a better understanding of what they are and how they occur.
It is impossible to talk about indoor air quality in a commercial building without discussing mold. Mold is one of those things that occurs in all kinds of indoor environments when there’s excess water and it has a food source. As a commercial property manager, that tells you two things. One, don’t let water leak.
Water leaks are something that naturally occur in commercial buildings. We don’t want them to happen, but they do! Just because it’s wet however, does not mean you can simply clean it up! Well, you can … and you can’t! Here’s why. There are three categories of water defined by the Institute for Inspection and
Occasionally, there is a simple fix when IAQ complaints occur. Calling on the wrong person to help you though, could just cost you money without addressing the real source. Your long-term strategy is certainly stronger than any short-term fix. This week’s video discusses one kind of “fix” that is fooling lots of building owners and
Building Air Quality does a lot of proactive IAQ surveys of commercial buildings. During the proactive surveys, we look at the maintenance and operations of a building’s mechanical systems while we collect background IAQ readings and measurements. We also walk tenant spaces. As we walk the tenant spaces, we often look for the kinds of
It can be unsettling when IAQ problems occur in a building. But few managers know that you can do a lot of the groundwork on IAQ with your own staff. Managing the process in-house has to involve the right people. Sending an engineer to talk with the tenant could derail your efforts if they say
We were called by a client several years ago to help find an unusual odor. It seems that the receptionist on the 13th floor was complaining about a “chemical-like” odor that permeated the floor two or 3 times every week. As the receptionist, the complainant had an opportunity to talk with everyone who came to
Several years ago I was investigating an IAQ complaint for the Vice President of Transportation for a large oil company. The complaint involved throat and sinus irritation when the VP sat in his office for more than 30 minutes. And this guy spent most of his day in his office, which meant he had problems
If you didn’t have tenants in the building, then there wouldn’t be IAQ problems. That’s great, but it’s also inconceivable! Rather, building owners and managers have options. Test the air today to identify problems before they develop, or wait until someone complains and deal with it them. This week’s video discusses why you’d want to