Indoor air quality a growing responsibility for managers

Real Estate Weekly, August 12, 1998 by Paul Coburn

Hillary Clinton and "Children with Asthma," Paul Simon's "Children's Health Fund," and the Environmental Protection Agency's "Healthy Buildings" program are representative of the people and organizations focusing publicity on the air we breath indoors.

Controlling the quality of this air is called "Indoor Environmental Maintenance." It is a new, and due to the sudden proliferation of litigation, extremely important responsibility for real estate managers.

There are four primary areas that can affect the air quality within the building: the compactor chute; hallway, kitchen and bathroom exhaust air ducts; hallway carpeting; and Sanitation Department recycling holding areas.

The most important, and subject of most law suits, are the hallway, kitchen and bathroom air shafts and vents. Building codes require the installation of exhaust air duets (shafts or risers), veins (registers), and rooftop fans in kitchens, bathrooms or hallways if the room does not have an operable window. The natural motion of air passing through the air duct causes a lint-like build-up on the interior walls. This debris, when moist, is a perfect medium for the culturing of mold.

There are two types of toxic mold (Stachybotrys Chartarum and Aspergillus Versicolor) that are most often found in the vents and are responsible for respiratory illnesses. Construction related chemicals (i.e. benzene, ammonia, acetone, alcohols and phenols) can permeate the dust build-up and release over long periods of time. At the very least, periodic inspections are essential to defend a legal action, whereas cleaning them protects the health of the residents.

Gaining access to every apartment to open the vents and enter the ducting has been a formidable drawback. But now it is no longer necessary to access every apartment to clean the exhaust air systems. With new equipment, these passageways can now be cleaned from the roof down. The process is quick, inexpensive and unobtrusive.

The air inside of a compactor chute has been proven to contain E. coli bacteria, salmonella, insecticides and fecal coliform. Although most trash is bagged when thrown out, the bags break open against the sides of the chute, leaving behind streaks of grease and other food sources for not only bacteria and germs, but pests and vermin as well. Cockroaches and mice, until recently, were unreachable in the trash chute, feeding and breeding without interruption. Cockroach droppings may be airborne and rush out of the hopper doors at speeds clocked up to 40 mph. Thoroughly cleaning the inside of the compactor chute eliminates the source of the pollutants and the foul odors, leaving the chute coated with an enzyme that not only smells clean and natural, but protects against future buildups. Cleaning the compactor chute is an annual maintenance procedure in all well-maintained residential buildings.

Four years ago, the technology and equipment that cleans compactor chutes and air ducts in residential apartment buildings wasn't available. Only hospitals and skyscrapers with tremendous HVAC systems were capable of cleaning the interior of linen chutes and air shafts. The cost to clean a medium or small building was extremely prohibitive. According to Craig Berlin, president of Chute Master Environmental, "Today a whole new industry has developed in New York specifically targeted at cleaning the indoor environment in medium to small-sized residential buildings." Led by Chute Master, who developed and patented the equipment, the cost of cleaning has been reduced to an inconsequential percentage of the overall yearly budget. Like boiler-burner service and water tower cleaning, indoor environmental maintenance is a yearly budget line item.

The Environmental Protection Agency reports that indoor air is three to five times more polluted than outdoor air, and that 50 percent of all illnesses are caused by or aggravated by indoor air pollution. Simple and inexpensive cleaning procedures protect the indoor air from pollution, and management companies from litigation. But it is the managers responsibility to become familiar with, and implement these procedures.

Chute Master Environmental offers free inspections and seminars for prevention of indoor air related litigation. Call at 1-800-234-4656.