Few issues will strike greater fear in a school board member than opening a morning paper to see headlines that read “Mold Concerns at XYZ Elementary.” For the issue to have reached this point without school board members being informed indicates that concerns of air quality have been ignored or mismanaged by the district administration. With air quality issues on the front burner recently, school districts are re-evaluating their maintenance procedures and construction plans to be sure this issue does not become a major crisis. Nothing will provoke a parent more then the belief that their child is being “harmed” by something the district could control. The important point is to keep the issue in perspective, avoid a mass panic, and most importantly address the air quality issue openly and honestly with the community.

At the University of North Carolina, mold issues will cost the school $9 million to clean up. The problems were traced to humidity and moisture control. In Granville County, North Carolina, a parent has called the district to task for mold problems that he claims has made his daughter sick. An inspection of the student’s classroom found mold growing on desks, sinks, and bookshelves. In Boyerton, PA the superintendent informed the board in 2003 that cleanup of mold at Pine Forge Elementary may exceed $350,000. The board in Bedford County, VA is facing replacement of the current high school since the cost of mold removal was so high. A portable classroom at a district in Maryland had to be abandoned since a mysterious sickness that caused headaches, vomiting, and aggressive behavior in kindergarten students was traced to a water trench under the building that allowed heated air to build up under the floor and melt glue holding the carpet down. The students who often sat on the carpet for activities inhaled the resulting fumes.

Children especially are more susceptible to air quality concerns. Smaller air passages allow small infections to restrict breathing. Growing students require more oxygen for their high metabolism rate and thus exchange air at a greater rate then adults. This permits any pollutants to enter their system at a higher rate. Children today live and go to school in a more contained environment then ever before. Numerous studies have identified the link between health and indoor air quality. Within the last 15 years, the number of children suffering from asthma has doubled. Nearly 5 million children have asthma, or 1 out of every 13 students in schools. While indoor air quality may not be the cause of all the increase, it will worsen the symptoms. Besides asthma poor indoor air quality contributes to headaches, nausea, dizziness, and allergies. In addition school buildings have unique characteristics that make them more difficult to provide good air quality. The populations are usually much denser then other commercial buildings. Many different activities and specialized areas such as science labs and art classrooms contribute to the air quality.

As the nation's schools are being remodeled or replaced, the issue of air quality becomes more evident. While older schools had designs that needed improvement, they had one symptom that actually helped air quality—they were not airtight. These schools had numerous entry points for air to flow in and out. While this played havoc on heating bills it sometimes allowed the exchange of air to take place that filtered out pollutants and brought in fresh air. As buildings were replaced newer structures became tighter and thus the exchange of air was reduced or eliminated. New standards for air quality and the exchange of air were set to help eliminate the problem of contaminants.

In new construction or remodeling, efforts need to be made to control poor air quality and to rethink the use of some building materials. New construction requires a concentrated effort to incorporate indoor air quality goals into the bid and construction documents. The toxicity of new building materials is a matter that needs to be addressed. Contractors need to be aware of concerns about this issue and take the necessary measures to insure that proper processes are in place.

A simple yet important goal is to be sure new construction areas that are attached to occupied buildings are properly insulated from where students are present. The work area should have a sealed entrance that would prevent fumes from adhesives, welding, cutting, or soldering from filtering into the occupied space. Contractors should be required to use construction entrances to the project that bypass occupied areas.

Another issue is protection of construction materials. During construction, building materials should be kept dry and off the ground. Allowing moisture to enter building materials such as wood or fabric stimulates the growth of mold. A process should be in place by a safety foreman to address spills on the site. Any spills need to be cleaned up immediately and saturated materials removed from the site. Odors from some adhesives can linger for long periods. When new materials such as paint, carpet adhesive, caulking, and sealants are used it is generally advisable to ventilate the areas for at least 72 hours and use exhaust fans to remove contaminated air from the building. Failure to do this may cause fumes, through negative air pressure, to be drawn into the occupied area.  Also, equipment that runs on gas, kerosene, or oil should not be used during the school day. Activities that involve this type of equipment need to be completed after hours and the building properly ventilated when work is completed. Whenever possible, this type of equipment needs to be outside the building.

Contractors should have construction trailers present on site for the storage of any materials, such as paints and adhesives, that could leak fumes. Such materials should not be stored in the building. Careful selection of materials, such as carpets that are designed for school use, will also help eliminate the possibility of air contamination. Carpet that has been tested under the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Air Quality Carpet Testing Program should be used. When installing HVAC ductwork extra efforts should be made to prevent insulation from becoming wet. Also, ducts need to be sealed from construction dust during the installation phase. All these efforts require close supervision by the supervisor on site. Such attention to detail will reduce the number of complaints from the adjoining occupied structure.

Remodeling involves additional safety controls. All the procedures in new construction need to be part of the overall plan. In addition, working inside an occupied building presents another set of challenges. During demolition contractors need to check for asbestos materials and lead- based paints. Schools built in the 1950-1975 range often had asbestos glazing material present. It is advisable that a district have a thorough asbestos review, including the sampling of materials, prior to a renovation beginning so contractors will know what they face. In pipe insulation samples need to be removed from joints as well as pipe runs. Again, in some construction, asbestos insulation was only used in joints. Floor tile is another concern. The old process of breaking the tile and pulling it up could release fibers into the air as well as cleaning the mastic glue. New machines are available that heat and lift the tile thus preventing any release in the air. The process is so clean that a hygienist report is not required nor do the areas need to be sealed off. Either way such work needs to be scheduled for off hours or vacation periods where the building is not occupied.

As much as is physically possible, the work areas and the occupied areas need to be separated with solid barriers. Simply stringing caution tape across the hall will not solve the air quality issues. Air ducts need to be sealed off also so contaminants cannot move from the construction area to the areas where students are located. Construction debris and dust needs to be frequently removed.

After all construction is completed, the job of air quality control now falls on the operations and maintenance department. Frequently, low staffing levels do not allow a preventative maintenance program to take place. Sufficient resources must be available for this program since it is an integral part of the overall air quality program. A Minnesota study of an elementary school recorded that $8,140 worth of preventative repairs over 22 years could have avoided a $1.5 million school clean up. Maintenance departments must be sure that they receive detailed “as built” drawings to cover renovations or construction. This allows the maintenance staff to quickly trace and stop moisture problems and to address airflow issues.

Allowing for frequent filter changes on HVAC also helps to eliminate a lot of the contaminants. Regular inspection of air supply outlets and inspection of air plenums for mold growth, excess dirt, or obstructions will insure that contaminants do not get a foothold in the building. Condensate pans need to be cleaned monthly. All schedules of cleaning or replacement need to be documented.

When new HVAC systems are programmed, it is important the programmers and balancers refer to the ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62-1999 Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in their calculations. Also the temperature and humidity requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-1992 Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy need to be followed. Such standards assure that airflow is sufficient to remove contaminants and provide adequate ventilation in the new or remodeled air tight buildings. Systems must be set up to bring in sufficient outside air to cleanse the air on a continual basis. In some cases this may require the room air be exchanged up to 5 times per hour. Often this leads to complaints from occupants in rooms with ventilator units that the fan “runs frequently and blows cold air”. To the untrained individual, they assume this to mean the unit is not functioning properly when in reality it is doing exactly what it is designed to do. Educating the staff will help to eliminate such complaints.

Often school boards in a cost-cutting mode will want to eliminate from HVAC designs such modules as humidity control. This is a serious mistake since later issues with mold will often involve much more costly repairs then the original humidity control design would have cost. It is not advisable to skimp on the HVAC system with mold concerns in the national spotlight. A $5,000-$10,000 humidity control module pales in comparison to a $1 million clean up of mold as many districts have already faced. Money spent wisely in the design and construction phase will often pay dividends in the future in the form of reduced liability.

School district administrators need to be alert of these concerns when planning a remodeling or new construction project. By addressing these issues up front, it can eliminate a lot of headaches down the road, literally and figuratively.

SchoolFacilities.com columnist Dr. Dunlap is Director of Support Services for Danville Public Schools in Danville, VA. To submit questions or topics of interest to him, e-mail editor@schoolfacilities.com