| Now six years later, we looked at what was happening in the industry and we accepted that systematic building failures were occurring," he continued. Failure in moisture control, particularly from outside, swamps any control that we might attempt through applications of HVAC systems.
"In the past, construction was a craft, master builders, carpenters, and apprentices built in a way that drew on the past experience of buildings that survived many years, if not centuries. Construction, traditional North American frame construction as we have called it, was essentially slow to change, and when it did, that change was incremental. It took a relatively long time to build things right and to have them end up being problem free. Buildings might have used a lot of energy to heat and this helped them survive.
"But we live in a different age. Material science and ingenuity and market forces are responsible for the production of new procedures and products of all kinds. Industry seems to be more than willing to do things in different ways using different materials to reduce the cost of construction and perhaps do it better.
"The skills available to achieve a well constructed yet functional building have also changed. There seems to be no tradition except that learned on the job. So, we embark on new paths, new dangers with new systems. In this symposium, we will review some of the things that we now know affect our indoor environment and health. We will explore some of the systemic failures and the reasons why they occurred. We will attempt to explore what impediments there are to getting the job done right. Then we will see what practices can be used to better control unwanted moisture levels in all aspects of construction."
In the first session on "healthy occupants and healthy homes," Dr. Eckardt Johanning, Medical Director of the Eastern New York Occupational and Environmental Health Center, said federal studies have reported that 30 percent of buildings have indoor air problems, and most are related to poor housekeeping and various incidents of moisture entering the building envelope. He noted that 12 million Americans have asthma and the medical and indirect cost to the country is $6.5 billion annually. To date, more than 450 substances in the workplace are known to contribute to asthma. But at or near the top of the list is moisture and mold, Johanning said. |