By Indoor Air Quality Solutions | July 19, 2016 at 02:23 PM EDT | No Comments
Air Sampling for Mold Spores is NOT a Mold Inspection and NOT an Air Quality Sample
Mold has become an issue for homeowners and home buyers across the country. Mold inspections have become a part of most real estate transactions. However, here in Florida, a mold inspection has become a bit cliché even passé. Today it’s all about Air Quality. Why call it a mold sample if you can charge more and call it an Air Quality Sample? I’ve given my 2 cents about the value of mold sampling and the total lack of value in simply sampling for mold and calling it a mold inspection so I won’t beat a dead horse, well not much.
If anyone is purchasing a home and they want to know if there is a mold issue they will typically ask their home inspector to collect a few air samples for airborne mold spores. This is the add-on feature that benefits the home inspector and adds no valuable information to the home buyer. But hey, the home buyer doesn’t know that, right? Worse yet, the home inspector doesn’t even know that. The home inspector isn’t aware of the standard of practice for mold inspection, the ASTM D-7338. The home inspector simply excludes as much liability as possible in his or her inspection disclaimer and collects a few air samples for airborne mold spores and calls them air quality samples, C'est La Vie, That’s life, thanks for the extra cash and on to the next job.
The home buyer who then becomes the homeowner may soon realize that there’s an issue with water intrusion that the home inspector missed and the mold samples for airborne mold spores didn’t discover. How could that be? The home inspector inspected for mold, right? The home was sampled for mold, right? There were air quality samples collected that said there was no problem, Right?
No, not true. The home was never inspected for mold, and actually only a very, very, small amount of the air was sampled for mold. The actual air quality was never established, and if the one component that was sampled (mold) is undisturbed, the mold won’t be in the air. The air sampling for mold spores is extremely unreliable and will not provide any valuable information. (pardon my beating the dead horse a bit).
The home inspector or mold inspector that collected the samples for airborne mold spores provided the homeowner with no valuable information about the home they just purchased. So now that the new homeowner has discovered a water or mold problem they have to hire a new mold assessor to take a second look at the home. If we are contacted, we always take the opportunity to ask the new homeowners to provide us with their mold inspection report to review.
We have a great collection of mold inspection reports from home and mold inspectors all across the state. Insurance companies and homeowners have been asking us for a second opinion for years and our collection of worthless reports is substantial and growing each week. How our industry came to this is amazing? Let’s just say it’s capitalism at the expense of personal ethics. If all you care about is making a buck and you could care less about the value of what you’re providing your client, go ahead and collect a few more air samples for mold spores and call them “Air Quality Samples”. That’s capitalism without ethics.
So exactly what happens when we get to the home and actually take a look. A disclaimer free look. A true mold inspection in accordance with the ASTM D-7338. Let’s face it, if we’re there, then there’s a problem. If there wasn’t, the homeowner wouldn’t have called us, right? So now we have a homeowner that should have had the opportunity to identify a problem with the home they wanted to purchase prior to that purchase. Critical, right? That’s what they hired the first mold inspector for. To identify any issues with the home that can support mold growth. Prior to the purchase is the time to identify any mold related issues. That’s when the issues can be used during the decision making phase of the purchase.
Regardless of the issue, everything can be negotiated if the issues are identified during the buying phase of the transaction. What the home buyer wants is information about the home. Valuable information about the home not useless airborne mold spore count information. Valuable information like, “The home you are wanting to purchase has areas of building envelope failure that are allowing water intrusion that could support mold growth in the following areas.” Then list the areas of failure. The list should be specific and define the extent of the water and mold damage, describe the failure, and don’t be concerned with the genus of mold because it doesn’t matter. What matters to the home buyer is the knowledge any issues before they make the purchase, not after.
The collection of air samples is a feel good placebo that may help facilitate a sale but is not a mold inspection. If you’re selling a mold inspection, then provide a mold inspection. The only thing worse than collecting air samples for mold spores and calling it a mold inspection is selling that simple collection of airborne mold spores as an air quality sample. With all that can be in the air, mold is but one small piece of the air quality puzzle. I can assure you that sampling the air for mold spores is not and never will be an air quality sample any more than it’s a mold inspection. This is the art of over selling and under delivering.
This brief article should be informative. It should raise questions, but it shouldn’t offend. If it does offend you then you’re probably the guy collecting the air samples for mold spores and either calling it a mold inspection or air quality sampling. If that’s the case, no apologies necessary on my end. My advice, stop it. Stop over selling and under delivering just to make a few extra bucks.
I gotta go for now, I have a dead horse to go kick in another forum…….
EPISODE 535: Oliver Threlfall - CEO Steamatic of Australia - A Unique Perspective on how the Global Restoration Big Dogs Play! Over the past 30 years Oliver Threlfall has been totally dedicated to the cleaning and restoration industry. He studied biology at Deakin University- before commencing Steamatic in Melbourne, Victoria in 1986. He then completed IICRC (The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) training in various modules and in addition took Microbial and Bioaerosol remediation training under the guidance of Dr. Tullis and Dr. Thulman of Duke University. Steamatic was formed in Australia in 1986 following requests from underwriters to establish proven claims reduction services that had been demonstrated overseas. They then transformed an established cleaning company into a specialist cleaning technologies firm. Oliver is the Steamatic of Australia CEO which makes him a very busy and connected man "down under".
Thu, 21 Feb 2019 15:21:00 -0500 EPISODE 534: Corbett Lunsford - The Home Performance Worskshop & The Worlds Highest Performance Tiny House on Wheels! Corbett Lunsford, wasn't a home performance expert- he used to play piano for ballerinas. In 2008, he learned a few things very quickly: construction is unbelievably messy, most pros are over-rushed and under-paid, and homeowners end up suffering in small ways, for their entire lives in a house. None of this has to be so- we can opt out of the whole thing with performance testing. His goal is to package building performance so it can easily be understood and used by professionals and consumers alike, for better buildings worldwide. In 2009, he started teaching pros through the Building Performance Workshop and he has hosted over 300 YouTube videos and 80 interviews for the Building Performance Podcast. He also wrote the book Home Performance Diagnostics: the Guide to Advanced Testing, and developed the APT Reports software tool.
In 2016 he and his wife Grace built the world's highest performance tiny house on wheels, the #TinyLab, and toured the US before settling down in Atlanta, Georgia. Along the way, they created the first TV series about home performance, Home Diagnosis, which airs on public TV across the U.S. Corbett, Grace, and their new baby went on a 13,000 mile, 34-city U.S. Tour from April 2016-January 2017 in the world's highest performance tiny house on wheels, the #TinyLab. Their mission was simple: to revolutionize the home market by teaching consumers and contractors alike to use scientific testing to prove the work gets done to quality standards. Each city on the Proof Is Possible Tour was sponsored by a local company that shared the passion for empowering homeowners and changing the game. Along the way certain cities shared in filming of the couple's TV show Home Diagnosis. They invited over 7,000 strangers into their home on the tour, and now live in Atlanta, Georgia.
Thu, 14 Feb 2019 15:32:00 -0500 EPISODE 533: Open Mic - Topics for this week include: Current Events, Certification, Standards, Training, Networking & Resources Today we are going to try something new and if it works we will make it a regular part of the line up. We are going to throw out some topics, invite a few friends and have a discussion about IAQ, disaster restoration and building science. We also encourage listeners to text in your questions or comments. Today we expect to hear from Jay Stake, Eric Shapiro, Carl Grimes, John Downey and Pete Consigli. The topics we will throw out for discussion will come from the list in this week’s show title. We have some of the leaders of the industry join us every week so lets take advantage of that and start a conversation.
Thu, 07 Feb 2019 15:56:00 -0500 EPISODE 533: Open Mic - Topics for this week include: Current Events, Certification, Standards, Training, Networking & Resources Today we are going to try something new and if it works we will make it a regular part of the line up. We are going to throw out some topics, invite a few friends and have a discussion about IAQ, disaster restoration and building science. We also encourage listeners to text in your questions or comments. Today we expect to hear from Jay Stake, Eric Shapiro, Carl Grimes, John Downey and Pete Consigli. The topics we will throw out for discussion will come from the list in this week’s show title. We have some of the leaders of the industry join us every week so lets take advantage of that and start a conversation.
Thu, 07 Feb 2019 15:56:00 -0500 EPISODE 532: Brett Singer, PhD Group Leader – Indoor Environment Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) – Original Air Date: 5-6-2016| Episode: 413 Today we flash back to a great Research to Practice show with Brett C. Singer, PhD. Dr. Singer is the Staff Scientist and Group Leader of Indoor Environment in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He is also a Principal Investigator in the Whole Building Systems Group in the Building Technologies and Urban Systems Division. Dr. Singer conceives and leads research projects related to air pollutant emissions and physical-chemical processes, and pollutant exposures in both outdoor and indoor environments, aiming to understand real world processes and systems that affect air pollutant exposures.
The recent focus of Dr. Singer’s work has been indoor environmental quality and risk reduction in high performance homes, with the goal of accelerating adoption of IAQ, comfort, durability and sustainability measures into new homes and retrofits of existing homes. Key focus areas of this work are low-energy systems for filtration, smart ventilation and mitigation approaches to indoor pollutant sources including cooking. Dr. Singer co-developed the Population Impact Assessment Modeling Framework (PIAMF). He holds a PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Fri, 01 Feb 2019 15:21:00 -0500 EPISODE 532: Brett Singer, PhD Group Leader – Indoor Environment Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) – Original Air Date: 5-6-2016| Episode: 413 Today we flash back to a great Research to Practice show with Brett C. Singer, PhD. Dr. Singer is the Staff Scientist and Group Leader of Indoor Environment in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He is also a Principal Investigator in the Whole Building Systems Group in the Building Technologies and Urban Systems Division. Dr. Singer conceives and leads research projects related to air pollutant emissions and physical-chemical processes, and pollutant exposures in both outdoor and indoor environments, aiming to understand real world processes and systems that affect air pollutant exposures.
The recent focus of Dr. Singer’s work has been indoor environmental quality and risk reduction in high performance homes, with the goal of accelerating adoption of IAQ, comfort, durability and sustainability measures into new homes and retrofits of existing homes. Key focus areas of this work are low-energy systems for filtration, smart ventilation and mitigation approaches to indoor pollutant sources including cooking. Dr. Singer co-developed the Population Impact Assessment Modeling Framework (PIAMF). He holds a PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Fri, 01 Feb 2019 15:21:00 -0500 EPISODE 532: Brett Singer, PhD Group Leader – Indoor Environment Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) – Original Air Date: 5-6-2016| Episode: 413 Today we flash back to a great Research to Practice show with Brett C. Singer, PhD. Dr. Singer is the Staff Scientist and Group Leader of Indoor Environment in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He is also a Principal Investigator in the Whole Building Systems Group in the Building Technologies and Urban Systems Division. Dr. Singer conceives and leads research projects related to air pollutant emissions and physical-chemical processes, and pollutant exposures in both outdoor and indoor environments, aiming to understand real world processes and systems that affect air pollutant exposures.
The recent focus of Dr. Singer’s work has been indoor environmental quality and risk reduction in high performance homes, with the goal of accelerating adoption of IAQ, comfort, durability and sustainability measures into new homes and retrofits of existing homes. Key focus areas of this work are low-energy systems for filtration, smart ventilation and mitigation approaches to indoor pollutant sources including cooking. Dr. Singer co-developed the Population Impact Assessment Modeling Framework (PIAMF). He holds a PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Fri, 01 Feb 2019 15:21:00 -0500 EPISODE 532: Brett Singer, PhD Group Leader – Indoor Environment Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) – Original Air Date: 5-6-2016| Episode: 413 Today we flash back to a great Research to Practice show with Brett C. Singer, PhD. Dr. Singer is the Staff Scientist and Group Leader of Indoor Environment in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He is also a Principal Investigator in the Whole Building Systems Group in the Building Technologies and Urban Systems Division. Dr. Singer conceives and leads research projects related to air pollutant emissions and physical-chemical processes, and pollutant exposures in both outdoor and indoor environments, aiming to understand real world processes and systems that affect air pollutant exposures.
The recent focus of Dr. Singer’s work has been indoor environmental quality and risk reduction in high performance homes, with the goal of accelerating adoption of IAQ, comfort, durability and sustainability measures into new homes and retrofits of existing homes. Key focus areas of this work are low-energy systems for filtration, smart ventilation and mitigation approaches to indoor pollutant sources including cooking. Dr. Singer co-developed the Population Impact Assessment Modeling Framework (PIAMF). He holds a PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Fri, 01 Feb 2019 15:21:00 -0500 EPISODE 532: Brett Singer, PhD Group Leader – Indoor Environment Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) – Original Air Date: 5-6-2016| Episode: 413 Today we flash back to a great Research to Practice show with Brett C. Singer, PhD. Dr. Singer is the Staff Scientist and Group Leader of Indoor Environment in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He is also a Principal Investigator in the Whole Building Systems Group in the Building Technologies and Urban Systems Division. Dr. Singer conceives and leads research projects related to air pollutant emissions and physical-chemical processes, and pollutant exposures in both outdoor and indoor environments, aiming to understand real world processes and systems that affect air pollutant exposures.
The recent focus of Dr. Singer’s work has been indoor environmental quality and risk reduction in high performance homes, with the goal of accelerating adoption of IAQ, comfort, durability and sustainability measures into new homes and retrofits of existing homes. Key focus areas of this work are low-energy systems for filtration, smart ventilation and mitigation approaches to indoor pollutant sources including cooking. Dr. Singer co-developed the Population Impact Assessment Modeling Framework (PIAMF). He holds a PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Fri, 01 Feb 2019 15:21:00 -0500 EPISODE 531: David B. Corry, M.D. – Baylor College of Medicine – Fungi in Health & Disease This week we welcome Professor of Pathology & Immunology and Medicine, David B. Corry, MD of Baylor College of Medicine, Michael E. Debakey VA Medical Center. We are looking forward to a fascinating discussion on Fungi in Health and Disease with Dr. Corry.
Dr. Corry is a pulmonologist by clinical background and still practices, mostly focusing on allergic airway diseases such as asthma and sinusitis. Most of the time, he is an immunologist and his research focus is into the mechanisms underlying inflammatory lung and other diseases including smoking-related emphysema, asthma, and sinusitis.
Among his groups contributions to science, they have shown how fungi cause allergic inflammation-largely through their release of powerful proteases. They have further demonstrated the ability of fungi to infect the mouse airway and produce a disease that is essentially identical to asthma and further demonstrated that common human disorders such as asthma and chronic sinusitis are often times, in essence chronic fungal infections. His group primarily relies on antifungal medications to treat their asthma and sinusitis patients. It has been revolutionary and they have published some of their experience, with more to come.
Dr. Corry also recently published a paper on Candida and how it goes directly from the blood stream to the brain in mice. We will also talk about non respiratory health issues and fungi including the state of evidence on Alzheimers, Chronic Fatigue and other health issues sometimes blamed on Fungi. If you are interested in Fungi and Health don’t miss this show.
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 15:12:00 -0500 EPISODE 531: David B. Corry, M.D. – Baylor College of Medicine – Fungi in Health & Disease This week we welcome Professor of Pathology & Immunology and Medicine, David B. Corry, MD of Baylor College of Medicine, Michael E. Debakey VA Medical Center. We are looking forward to a fascinating discussion on Fungi in Health and Disease with Dr. Corry.
Dr. Corry is a pulmonologist by clinical background and still practices, mostly focusing on allergic airway diseases such as asthma and sinusitis. Most of the time, he is an immunologist and his research focus is into the mechanisms underlying inflammatory lung and other diseases including smoking-related emphysema, asthma, and sinusitis.
Among his groups contributions to science, they have shown how fungi cause allergic inflammation-largely through their release of powerful proteases. They have further demonstrated the ability of fungi to infect the mouse airway and produce a disease that is essentially identical to asthma and further demonstrated that common human disorders such as asthma and chronic sinusitis are often times, in essence chronic fungal infections. His group primarily relies on antifungal medications to treat their asthma and sinusitis patients. It has been revolutionary and they have published some of their experience, with more to come.
Dr. Corry also recently published a paper on Candida and how it goes directly from the blood stream to the brain in mice. We will also talk about non respiratory health issues and fungi including the state of evidence on Alzheimers, Chronic Fatigue and other health issues sometimes blamed on Fungi. If you are interested in Fungi and Health don’t miss this show.
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 15:12:00 -0500 EPISODE 530: Shelly Miller, PhD – University of Colorado – The Weatherization, Ventilation & Respiration Puzzle This week Shelly Miller, PhD joins us to discuss some recent research and thoughts on weatherization, ventilation & respiration. We hear a lot that we need to tighten homes and ventilate them. What does that do with respect to occupant health? Today we will go over some results from work Dr. Miller has done.
Dr. Miller is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder in the Mechanical Engineering Department and faculty in the interdisciplinary undergraduate Environmental Engineering Program. At the University of Colorado Boulder Dr. Miller investigates indoor air quality, assesses exposures to air pollutants, and develops and evaluates air pollution control measures. Her research has included studying weatherization of homes and indoor air quality, understanding the role of ventilation systems in the transmission of infectious agents in buildings, engineering controls for reducing exposures to infectious diseases, studying ultraviolet germicidal coil cleaning technology, source apportionment of particulate matter and associated health effects, characterization of indoor air quality and the microbial communities in homes, and investigating urban air quality issues including industrial odor episodes. Dr. Miller has received funding for her research program from the US EPA, CDC, NIOSH, NSF, NIH, ASHRAE, HUD, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and various private foundations and industry sponsors.
Fri, 18 Jan 2019 15:09:00 -0500
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