2017 News

How Moisture & Water Can Make People Sick

How Moisture & Water Can Make People Sick
09.18.2017

According to OSHA, moisture that finds its way into buildings is a primary cause of people getting sick from mold exposure. Additionally, nitrates and other pollutants that can get into water supplies have been linked to numerous health risks, including cancer.

“Building codes set the bar in terms of minimum construction standards, but ‘smart buildings’ are a different way of thinking. Buildings are smart when they are holistically designed and operated in a way that keeps employees healthy and performing at their peak. Smart buildings help businesses be successful,” says Daryld Karloff, Baker Group Executive Vice President of Building Services. “A building’s perimeter envelope, mechanical infrastructure and building automation systems (BAS) are all important parts of this equation.”

Moisture – Excess moisture in a building promotes mold growth on surfaces, insulation materials, inside HVAC systems and many other areas that can go unnoticed – and that makes buildings and people sick. Fungi spores and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air can result in:

  • Higher absenteeism due to respiratory illnesses
  • Lower productivity due to health and comfort problems
  • Increased insurance risk, repair and replacement costs associated with corroded structural elements, wiring and damaged materials
  • Loss of use of building spaces after damage and during repairs

“Because mold spores naturally exist in the air and pretty much everywhere on the planet, all facilities are at risk for mold growth. Our goal is to keep a building’s relative humidity below 60 percent, which is the magic level below which mold cannot grow,” says Dale Drent, P.E., who leads Baker Group’s Service Business Unit.

Condensation is a major factor in mold growth, says Jarod Stockel, P.E., Baker Group’s Automation Business Unit Leader. “As soon as hot, humid air enters a building and hits a cold surface, it condenses and moisture collects in unwanted places.” This moisture becomes fertile ground for mold growth.

 For new construction and existing building retrofits, Baker Group designs HVAC automation systems that automatically pull the proper amount of humidity out of the air. “Sizing HVAC equipment correctly requires a high degree of engineering expertise,” Stockel says. “We also incorporate BAS to monitor humidity levels, make automatic adjustments and immediately alert owners if humidity levels ever become too high.”

 Preventing mold growth in existing facilities requires keeping mechanical systems operating properly and maintaining proper air temperatures, particularly during the cooling season. Drent says, “When outdoor temperatures rise, we need to make sure air temperatures are not too cold, which causes condensation. When our Service technicians perform cooling start-ups and check-ups in the spring and summer, they check to be sure areas where condensation can occur are controlled.”

Another technique for managing humidity and condensation is to pressurize the building with air that has been dehumidified through the HVAC system. “This is called positive pressurization, meaning we use conditioned air from the HVAC system to pressurize the building. Both our automation and controls service technicians get involved in keeping outdoor moisture and humidity out of the interior conditioned space,” Stockel says. “This is a huge way to improve comfort and reduce moisture in buildings.”

Water Quality – If a community’s water supply infrastructure is good, the water quality in commercial buildings should be good. However, says Karloff, “Over time, circulating water can erode a building’s pipes from the inside out, and that metallic erosion goes right into the water. For the sake of occupants’ health, there comes a point in older buildings where the best thing is to gut the building’s plumbing system and start over. As a plumbing and piping contractor, we do this fairly often.”

As an example, Karloff points to a long-standing hotel in downtown Des Moines, where Baker Group replaced the risers that supply water from the underground to the top of the building.

In addition to drinking water, Stockel says water quality is important to the health of hydronic heating and cooling systems, which transfer heat/cooling throughout a building by circulating non-potable, heated/cooled water.

“We frequently perform water analyses to inform the design of hydronic heating and cooling systems. Based on those findings, we often incorporate filtration, UV lights, water softeners, reverse osmosis systems, etc., right into the system, and then we use BAS to monitor and control their operations,” he says.

Stockel adds that third-party vendors provide chemical treatment for closed-loop hydronic heating and cooling systems, which continually recirculate treated water. “However, we can use BAS to monitor those systems’ chemical control so the owner has a history of the water quality,” he says.

You may also want to read “Why Smart Buildings Should Be About More Than Technology” and subsequent articles on increasing productivity through the use of Ventilation & Lighting and Air Quality & Thermal Health.

About Baker Group

Founded in 1963 and with more than 600 employees across Iowa, Baker Group is the Midwest’s premier full-service specialty contractor providing mechanical, sheet metal, electrical, building automation, process automation, security systems, fire alarm systems, parking/revenue controls and 24/7/365 service.

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