Unhealthy schools

flange

i was asked to diagnose a problem with iaq in a high school, small school district. problem was easily found. controls contractor was utilizing co sensors to control outdoor air. the original design was almost 40% outside air. so chilled water coils now are grossly oversized due to very minimal use of outside air. this caused ch w valves to be almost closed at any condition which led to poor humidity control and a very nice growth of mold. of course their answer was to deny it. they used a sensor in the plenum return of all air handlers to pick up co instead of one in each space. the good news was they were low bid.

John R. Hall

Kids getting sick

In the past week, I've seen stories from Texas about school kids who have been sick from the flu, in some cases keeping 75% of the students out of class. It makes me wonder how much our poor IAQ is to blame.

The issue of increased asthma, allergies, even poor test scores and study habits can be linked to poor school IAQ. In my opinion, this is a situation that is getting worse. It is especially magnified by cutbacks in state budgets and staffing, which shoves improvements to mechanical systems to the bottom of the pile.

This could easily be the next big issue or crisis for our industry to step up to the plate and fight. Any comments?

Mad Dog

IAQ???????

Mad Dog

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R Troughton

IAQ =

Indoor Air Quality, As facilities manager for a larger church this is a subject I have to deal with. Our auditorium has scorched air heating and I have to juggle the fresh air intake versus peoples comfort. In the summer it gets to hot if I introduce to much fresh air or the AC runs constantly and vice versa in the winter.

Add to this the fact that we have 2 services of different sizes every Sunday AM and it gets to be real fun.

I agree schools need to address air quality seriously, some of these places have not had an air quality inspection since the Korean war...

Rob

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

my uncle Mick

who was a union plumber for years, used to say decades ago that people were getting sick from the schools because they changed the heating systems from steam to f.h.a. he said it was from the dust and everyone breathing each others air. that was years before i ever heard the term "sick building syndrome". from what we now know about dust and mold i think he was way ahead of his time. bob

BillW@honeywell

Back in the \"Oil Embargo\" days (70's)...

the first thing most schools did was to disable the ventilation featured on the univents that most schools had. That recycles the room air, one sneeze and every kid can catch the cold. Poor maintenance, vandalism, misuse of cleaning chemicals, roof and plumbing leaks all lead up to schools being serious candidates for severe IAQ problems. The industry has the solutions, but the school boards just don't either have the money, or would rather spend it on something else. This is a very serious issue.

[Deleted User]

IAQ

Some of the schools I have been in are a joke. Asbestos falling off the pipes in the classrooms, paint flakes as large as paper plates falling off the ceiling and pigeons living in the fresh air ducts with 6 inches of pigeon cr*p
on the bottom of the duct. The main ventilation room looked like a pigeon coop.(The school board wanted the LEATHER fan drive belt inspected, a belt Grainger or anyone else for that matter does not carry. They wanted it replaced if it was worn). I brought the conditions to the attention of the people in charge and they said don't worry about it. They had their custodians clean the room, but, I would not enter until I saw the results of an air quality test. (I never saw one). A guy I know was fired for pointing out the asbestos problem. I see a lot of money going to salaries and the vehicles the people in charge drive, but, not to IAQ. Maybe if all the parents write letters to their kids school boards DEMANDING an air quality test of each school be taken, things will change. Money to fund correcting these conditions can come from many areas. Many states use a portion of lottery money to support schools. (Where is the money really going)? In the meantime, unless a major lawsuit is filed to correct these conditions or to bring it to the publics attention, minimal corrective action will be taken.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Flu

As I recall a person with a normal immune system only gets each variety of flu once in their life. Flu doesn't mutate as rapidly as cold viruses and, I believe, flu varieties tend to go in a repetitive cycle.

In other words, you get the flu rather frequently when you are young and less frequently as you get older. New varieties always occur, but again not with the frequency of colds.

Schools are a VERY well-known place for flu epidemics. Close contact, many who haven't contracted that variety, etc. IAQ might contribute, but many other "forces" are at work.

Cruise ships are another well-known (and not just the fairly recent events) for epidemics. Enclosed environment, "bugs" and people from all parts of the world, etc.

steve_26

Mold

Mold is a huge problem here in NE.We work in many schools and the money is not being used to adress the issue.It is so expensive to combat mold that most don't want to talk about it.I am looking at a program developed by a Co. to combat mold called Dehumidification on a Budget.
It's to costly to dehumidify during the day,fresh humid air being introduced through the Havc equip. and windows and doors open ect.The plan is to deumidify during unoccupied times and reset the mold spores so they never get a chance to grow. Just a thought....
Steve

John R. Hall

Good stuff

As usual, Wallies do not disappoint. Having two kids (and they are great) in elementary school, I worry about their health just as much as their safety. I can never remember a time when so many kids get sick from the flu and suffer from asthma as they do right now.

We want our kids to grow up and get a good education -- to make something of their lives. Yet the learning environment they spend six-eight hours each weekday in is seriously affecting their health. It's time to walk the walk and stop listening to lip service from school administrators. Time to ask them what they would do if it was THEIR children.