IAQ and low-energy buildings: Finding the right balance

Vancouver ASHRAE conference to explore indoor air quality and low-energy buildings

Poor IAQ deserves more attention,
industry professionals say.

Finding the balance between environmental health and energy efficiency in the pursuit of low-energy buildings is examined in a paper at the upcoming ASHRAE IAQ (indoor air quality) 2013 conference,setting the tone for discussion for the entire event.

“Neglecting indoor air quality while pursuing other goals can result in building environments that negatively impact the health, comfort and productivity of occupants and therefore defeat the overall goal of building design, including reduced costs,” said Kevin Teichman, a senior science advisor at the U.S. Environment Protection Agency.

“While building design is key to achieving a high-performing building, it is critically important to follow these good intentions through construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance. Only in this way will high-performing buildings actually perform as designed.”

Teichman’s paper is among 80 papers and extended abstracts being presented at IAQ 2013, Environmental Health in Low-Energy Buildings, which takes place Oct. 15-18 in Vancouver, B.C. This conference is the 17th in the ASHRAE IAQ conference series and is co-organized by the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate.

His paper, “Indoor Air Quality in High-Performing Building Case Studies: A Wealth of Intent, A Dearth of Data,” examines the role of indoor air quality in high-performing buildings, focusing on case studies in ASHRAE’s High Performing Buildings magazine. The paper was co-authored by Andrew Persily and conference co-chair Steve Emmerich, mechanical engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

A panel discussion on the topic also is planned.

“While progress has been made in achieving sustainable, high-performance buildings, it is noteworthy that many discussions of green, high-performing and certainly net-zero energy buildings tend to focus on energy consumption,” Teichman said. “Energy is critically important, but is only one aspect of performance and should not be pursued to the neglect of the others.”

The conference seeks to describe the current state-of-understanding of the relationship of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in high-performance buildings.

The conference features papers and presentations in nine tracks, which include:

— Environmental Health in Low-Energy Buildings
— Moisture and Health
— Sources and Chemistry
— Indoor Environmental Quality Factor Interactions
— Residential Buildings
— Commercial and Institutional Buildings
— Air Cleaning and Filtration
— Microorganisms and Infection
— Tools (models, measurements and more)

ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is a building technology society with more than 50,000 members worldwide. The society and its members focus on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability.

Source: Daily Commercial News

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US chemical safety data almost always wrong: Study

Chemical accidents can lead to
chemical exposure  and adverse
health effects.

Chemical exposure can be serious, but currently there is no way to keep track of accidents and spills, a study shows.

Even the best national data on chemical accidents is wrong nine times out of 10.

A Dallas Morning News analysis of more than 750,000 federal records found pervasive inaccuracies and holes in data on chemical accidents, such as the one in West that killed 15 people and injured more than 300.

In fact, no one at any level of government knows how often serious chemical accidents occur each year in the United States. And there is no plan in place for federal agencies to gather more accurate information.

As a result, the kind of data sharing ordered by President Barack Obama in response to West is unlikely to improve the government’s ability to answer even the most basic questions about chemical safety.

After the West explosion in April, The News asked a simple question: How often do serious or potentially serious industrial chemical accidents occur in Texas and nationwide? After scouring the four federal databases with the most comprehensive information available on chemical safety, The News concluded that there was no way to know.

For a recent four-year period, the paper managed to confirm at least 24 industrial chemical accidents in Texas that resulted in deaths, injuries or evacuations. But the poor data quality guarantees that number does not account for all accidents. Nor was it possible to make a meaningful comparison with other states that would lend important context to the safety picture in Texas.

Large data systems have inherent problems with accuracy — an issue that experts caution will only worsen in an era when huge amounts of electronic data are being collected. Even so, government investigators and researchers have been warning for at least 25 years about the problems with chemical accident data. The News found report after report that said chemical accident data were insufficient to spot even basic accident patterns and suggest solutions.

What’s needed, experts say, is an overhaul of the data-collection process or the expansion of an existing pilot program that has labored under years of inadequate funding.

One agency focused on chemical accidents

Only one agency collects nationally comprehensive information specifically on chemical accidents. The U.S. Coast Guard’s National Response Center receives reports of chemical spills and other accidents from companies, emergency responders and the general public.

But the NRC data is no more than a call log, like a 911 hotline for environmental emergencies, and first reports often turn out to be wrong. Following up those initial reports to update the data and record what actually happened is not part of the center’s mission.

Government reports citing serious problems with chemical safety data go back to at least the 1980s. That’s when an accidental release of methyl isocyanate from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killed more than 5,000 people.

The 1984 disaster spurred the Environmental Protection Agency to attempt to create a chemical accident database. The effort began in 1985. But researchers quickly found that many serious chemical accidents never came to the attention of any federal agency. By 1989, funding for the project had ended.

The chemical industry had started self-reporting on incidents, but many chemical companies strongly oppose publicly releasing their accident data.

This article has been edited for length. Source: The Dallas Morning News

A chemical spill is a serious threat to people's health and well-being. Electrocorp works with environmental agencies, consultants and industry professionals to help bring cleaner air to industrial, commercial and residential spaces. Contact Electrocorp for more information.

Captain sues marine company for exposure to toxic fumes

Chemical exposure ruined health and future, seaman alleges

Health and safety lawsuits can be
expensive for employers.

Comal County resident Paul Whetstone seeks more than $1 million in damages from a marine company he claims exposed him to toxic chemicals.

He was ordered to repair his ship after the Ashton T ran aground on the Galveston north jetty in March 2012. Whetstone was first captain of the vessel.

Whetstone claims that he had to work “in a closed environment with little or no ventilation and ingested fumes and vapors from paint, polyurethane, welding gasses and other toxic and harmful substances in the air.”

Whetstone filed a Jones Act lawsuit against T&T Offshore Inc. and T&T Marine Inc. in Galveston County District Court.

In his suit, Whetstone claims he now wears a pacemaker following the incident last year in which “his heart and entire central nervous system shut down and he died.” Whetstone was revived and stabilized shortly afterwards, but rendered unable to work again, the suit says.

Seaman now requires pacemaker because of ship’s toxic fumes, court papers say

He also claims that he was made to eat and sleep “in this environment” and not allowed to leave the Ashton T.

Whetstone claims he requested adequate protection from “such harmful and deadly fumes, vapors and metals in the air” to no avail.

He was released from duty on April 28, 2012, and Whetstone states he was taken to San Antonio’s Baptist Hospital where surgeons installed the pacemaker.

According to the suit, the pacemaker “has permanently prevented the plaintiff from performing any form of work activity in the maritime and aviation fields because he is no longer qualified to maintain his ship captain and aviation license(s).”

A jury trial is requested.

Source: Southeast Texas Record

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Parents check classroom air quality on mobile device

Poor indoor air quality in schools can
become a problem for students and staff.

Many schools are being renovated over the summer, causing parents to worry about potential toxic fumes to affect their children.

Some schools are moving to appease worried parents and provide information about the work being done, the materials used and the indoor air quality in the classroom.

According to a report by ChinaNews, a middle school in Yangpu district has posted QR codes in its recently renovated classrooms so parents can check the quality of the school's renovations with a simple scan of their mobile phones. This was announced by the Shanghai Environmental Protection Industry Association.

The school put up the square bar codes as part of a pilot program that aims to assure parents that their children won't be breathing toxic fumes from the renovations.

Parents worry that the two-month summer vacation isn't long enough for the noxious fumes from some construction materials, which can contain carcinogens such as methylbenzene, to dissipate.

In 2011, 73 students at the newly built Wunan Kindergarten in Shanghai missed the first day of classes because their parents were worried about the "pungent fumes" in the building stemming from construction over the summer.

The QR codes, which can be scanned with most mobile devices, offer parents a simple way to check the air quality and other details about the renovations, said Li Wei, the vice secretary-general of the Shanghai Environmental Protection Industry Association.

The scan results for the school's 72-square-meter conference hall showed that the air quality in the room has been tested on three different days since August 19. The tests were all clear. The scan results also showed that the composite wood floors and coatings on the walls, desks and chairs all met standards.

In the past, schools have not released the complete results of such safety inspections to parents. The QR code scans, however, give parents access to the full inspection results for seven classrooms, Li said.

The pilot program is expected to eventually be implemented citywide, and could be expanded to places like hospitals, shopping malls and movie theaters.

Edited for length. Source: Chinanews

Air cleaners for schools

Back-to-school time often leads to a surge of asthma attacks, allergy symptoms or other health effects caused by poor indoor air quality in classrooms.

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