What your kids are breathing

John R. Hall

This is one of many photos I am using in an upcoming series on poor IAQ in schools. This is a pic of a unit ventilator which serves a school cafeteria. The maintenance staff "didn't know" how long it had been since someone cleaned it.

Our kids are getting sick every day from being in school. There are many reasons, from simple lack of service and maintenance to outdated and undersized equipment to politics and budgets. You name it -- every excuse has been invented.

I could post a lot more pics and talk endlessly on this subject. In fact I have talked endlessly in seminars and written about it in The News. I am researching now for a four-part series to be published this summer. If any Wallies have thoughts on the subject I'd welcome your input, either by e-mail or post here.

This subject is personal to me as well as a concern that everyone in the mechanical trades should be PISSED OFF about. One of my children has mild asthma and I know the school IAQ is not helping the condition -- possibly making it worse. Time to wake up educators, politicians and even our own trade to the problems that exist.

hr

Pretty ugly

good that somebody finally discovered it. Maybe now it will get fixed! One by one the schools in our area are being carefully checked. some with the same findings as yours.

Then again I'm not sure the air outside the school is much healthier?! Power plant and industry emissions along with vehicle exhaust makes for some unhealthy air for human beings

I see the Paris city council voted to have the mayor ban SUV there. Emmisions and safety reasons. Interesting.

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040610093609990001&_mpc=news.10.3

hot rod

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Paul Pollets

Shoreline school near Seattle

An indoor air quality problem forced the closing of an elementary school near Seattle several years ago. Over 200 Lifebreath TFP filters were installed, and the problem disappeared. The story is a case study from Lifebreath. Call Scott Harrison, the NW rep from NuTech (Lifebreath)
(604) 538-5512

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S Ebels

I've been trying to find an article

I came across an article maybe 6-8 months ago that detailed a research project dealing with athsma in kids. I thought I had filed it but I can't lay my hands on it right now. The article was about the sharp upswing in the incidence of asthma over the last 12-15 years. This study found that the occurence of athsma was much higher, like almost 40%, in kids that lived in homes constructed from the middle 80's to present. Children of the same age group, living in older homes suffered from this illness at a much lower rate. The study also took into account a number of other factors like income, number in the house, rural, city or urban. The determining factor was the age of the home.

What does that tell you???

Weezbo

Many public buildings i cannot abide the forced air....

Theaters, cash redgister areas in some dept and grocery stores, it is oppressive to me. during flu season i can elect not to go into their environment,school children are locked into theirs,they have little choise in the matter...perhaps some parents with children with ailments bugging their newspapers would be a good idea.

John R. Hall

Steve

Try www.healthyschools.org. Probably the best source for any school IAQ topics.

S Ebels

John

GO PISTONS!!!!!!!!!

There, got that out of the way.

The article I came across was in a medical magazine I had picked up somewhere and I can't for the life ome remember the name of it.

Sorry, it had some great statistics in it. Just what you are looking for.

Kevin_in_Denver

Asthma & Mold

Just a theory... as homes got tighter, the wall details used just weren't planned and/or executed well. Poly vapor barriers didn't do the job, vapor migrates out to the Tyvek and condenses and mold grows. Not enough infiltration to keep it dry, no temperature gradient to drive it out. A Denver builder is suing its insurance company over mold coverage, and lobbying to put a cap on mold claims.

The should be spending that money tearing walls apart, and figuring out exactly how to fix it. Apparently they had a lot of trouble with those raised wooden basement floors also.

Constantin

Outdoor vs. Indoor Air Quality

...the mayor of Paris is a bit of a crackpot. The Parisians seem to like him, non-Parisians hate him. For example, vast sections of the roads near the Seine are closed on the weekends so Rollerbladers and the like can enjoy a smooth tarmac. It's as if you shut down the Westside highway in NYC for the same purpose.

Coming back to air quality though, IIRC, the EPA discovered that, on average, indoor air quality in the USA is 5x worse than external air quality. In other words, there is a real need for controlling/requiring the exchange of indoor/outdoor air, particularly if someone in your household is suffering from a lung-based condition. As a result, our home will have HRV's... build it right... the first time.

Lastly, I strongly encourage anyone interested in proper building construction to check out the Building Science Corporation web site. They have a vast amount of interesting, well-researched online documentation, as well as builder manuals for different climates, etc. I bought their cold-climate book and am living by it.

DaveGateway

You know you're from Michigan if...

Since you two posted back to back I figured I'd sneak this one in on this thread. Jeff Foxworthy and his take on "The Great Lake State".

From the southern tip of the lake and GO PISTONS!!!

John R. Hall

No ventilation since LBJ

This really makes you wonder:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1086792464115810.xml