Indoor Environmental Quality
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- Continued growth confirms need for verification of environmental claims.
- Open comment period runs March 30, 2012 – May 14, 2012. This standard defines minimum performance requirements for occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS).
- If there is one expression that has become the motto, if not the marching orders, of today’s professional cleaning industry, it is “cleaning for health.” This all-important phrase was likely first coined by Dr. Michael Berry in his precedent-setting book, Protecting the Built Environment: Cleaning for Health. Since then, this concept has become powerful and significant—and rightly so.
- A combination of physical and/or chemical means is necessary to achieve the desired cleaning effect.
- Much of what you read in trade journals is generated by PR people (whether they define themselves as “industry writers” or not) representing manufacturer interests, and quite often the “information” shared does not have the bona fide interests of readers at heart on an equal plane with those of the sponsoring manufacturer.
- Program encourages teachers to create healthy, sustainable classrooms.
- The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) announced today that the Board of Directors has voted to return the formal name of the organization to the IICRC, keeping cleantrust as the service mark of the organization.
- The book, The Nature Principle, highlights the importance of what it calls "Vitamin N" (for Nature) to make indoor environments healthier.
- Extensive water damage after major hurricanes and floods increases the likelihood of mold contamination in buildings. This report provides information on how to limit exposure to mold and how to identify and prevent mold-related health effects.
- Protecting the safety and health of restorers and building occupants is of paramount importance in water damage restoration projects.
- This paper summarizes the current state of scientific knowledge about the adverse impacts of indoor environments in schools on health and performance.
- The vision of the Biology and the Built Environment (BioBE) Center, located at the University of Oregon, is to develop hypothesis-driven, evidence-based approaches to understand the "built environment microbiome".
- Organizations encourage spirit of cooperation between members.
- Since agreeing in the summer of 2009 to be part of an ICM pilot with IEHA, the University of Washington Building Services Department has learned a great deal about what it takes to integrate scientific data and measurement into an operation.
- Everett WA-based Advanced Vapor Technologies (AVT) - recognizing the surging interest in greener cleaning and infection prevention, and the media attention steam vapor devices have received In recent months - has announced the availability of a Resource Library on steam vapor technology to help readers better understand the science underpinning the efficacy of steam vapor sanitation systems.
- Find out about The Clean Trust’s ultimate aim in promulgating standards.
- The International Executive Housekeepers Association (now “IEHA”) and The Housekeeping Channel (HC) are pleased to present free flu-prevention information for schools.
- Proper waste management promotes good indoor air quality (IAQ), decreases the need for pesticides, and controls odors, contaminants, and vermin.
- IEHA's Master's Program will be for IEHA’s elite members committed to continuous improvement and propagating professionalism.
- One of the best ways to capture tracked-in moisture and soil is through the use of floor mats. However, using the right floor mat is important.
- When renovating or remodeling, extra precaution should be taken to ensure the safety of students and staff. Here's how to do so before, during, and after renovation.
- Here's the details on how to keep students and staff safe when renovating and remodeling.
- The Clean Trust - formerly the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) - has announced that Mili Washington has been hired as the new Standards Director.
- The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) and The National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) are partnering to reduce slips and falls by promoting the installation of NFSI-certified entrance matting, and carpeting wherever possible.
- How to go about a simple school walkthrough inspection and what potential IAQ problems to be on the lookout for.
- Use this checklist from EPA to make your IAQ walkthrough inspection as productive as it can be.
- Occupational exposures to antimicrobial pesticides are known to cause adverse health effects.
- After hypothesizing potential causes, you can perform simple checks to determine if the problem is obvious or if deeper investigation is required.
- Recommended techniques and tools to measure for adequate airflow, lighting, and thermal comfort - relative humidity and temperature.
- Evaluating the symptoms can help narrow down possible causes and can help you determine what checks need to be done.
- Determining where and when problems occur, and by which individuals, can help management determine the source of the indoor air quality problem.
- How Integrated Pest Management (IPM) can be used to reduce student and staff exposure to harmful pesticides.
- Woodard has been the Director of Custodial Services at the University of Washington, Seattle, for 25 years, and is currently the Director of Building Services, which includes Custodial Services and Recycling and Solid Waste programs.
- The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) is now The Clean Trust.
- IEHA’s goal in developing the ICM Module is to provide IEHA members and cleaning professionals with the skills to expertly measure processes and practices, better the performance of their cleaning organizations as a whole and to position themselves for success.
- ISSA's focus is on improving human health, reducing environmental impact, and positively influencing facilities’ and members’ bottom lines.
- The Clean Trust has announced the development of a certification exam for professionals in the mold remediation industry.
- The Cleaning Industry Research Institute International (CIRI) is pleased to announce that Dr. Eugene Cole will be the keynote speaker for its Fall 2011 Cleaning Science Symposium, “Cleaning and Disinfection: The Science, Practice and Controversy.”
- Her past strategic involvement with the Green Guide for Health Care (GGHC) will help environmental services staff and other facility professionals understand how to make significant progress on the healthy and greener environments continuum.
- The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) has developed three indoor air quality (IAQ) testing programs that will minimize the potential of emissions from new carpet installations. The programs cover carpet, carpet cushion, and floor covering adhesive products.
- Restorers should understand building systems and the related physical laws in order to restore a damaged building to its intended function and use-life.
- The Healthy Facilities Institute (HFI) is pleased to officially support the Cleaning Industry Research Institute International (CIRI) Symposium, “Cleaning & Disinfection: The Science, Practice & Controversy”.
- The president of the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) sums up his views on carpet for the Healthy Carpet Workgroup.
- The Cleaning Industry Research Institute International (CIRI) is pleased to announce its “Save the Dates” for its innovative fall science and technology symposium, “The Science and Efficacy of Antimicrobials, Disinfectants and Their Impact on Cleaning Technologies.”
- Microbial communities are an important part of the complex, dynamic systems we call “buildings”.
- Antimicrobial coatings are designed to help prevent future growth of mold on previously contaminated surfaces that have been properly cleaned.
- How can cleanroom cleaning procedures and technologies be adapted for attaining low airborne and surface bacterial levels in home, school, hospital, and industrial spaces?
- Pulsed xenon ultraviolet light destroys viruses, bacteria and bacterial spores in the patient environment without contact or chemicals.
- Carpet systems that meet or exceed CRI’s Green Label Plus standard can contribute one full Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Credit to the LEED ratings of the U.S. Green Building Council.
- Evaluating and adjusting your facility's green cleaning program with a simple "green gap audit" can result in substantial cost and performance benefits.
- Ms. Gilmore Hall, RN, MS, CAE is the Executive Director of Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading membership organization for institutions in the healthcare community that have made a commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly practices.
- A Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) assessor explains the benefits of certification.
- 'Glowing hands' in the waiting room improves kids' handwashing.
- Searchable databases on chemical toxicity and exposure data are now available for scientists and the public.
- Since there are no official standards for indoor air quality, outdoor air quality measurements set by EPA are often used as benchmarks.
- Types of mold and the health effects and symptoms associated with exposure to them.
- There are five general principles of cleaning up - or remediating - mold.
- EPA's guide to evaluating moisture and mold problems and properly handling water damage and mold growth to ensure full remediation.
- Jeffrey C. May, MA, principal scientist, May Indoor Air Investigations LLC, and member of the HFI Healthy Carpet Workgroup, shares his perspective.
- Werner Braun, president of the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), and member of the HFI Healthy Carpet Workgroup, offers his perspective.
- The common causes of mold growth and ways to prevent it.
- John Gayetsky has joined The Healthy Facilities Institute (HFI) Advisory Board. Gayetsky is the Environmental Management Specialist for the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO), providing consultative, training, and technical support services to school districts across the U.S.
- Promoting discussion of asthma, allergies, and the role of carpet selection and care.
- The Cleaning Industry Research Institute International (CIRI) is pleased to announce its call for topics, proposals and papers to be considered for its science and technology symposium, “Cleaning Effectiveness and the Science of Antimicrobials & Disinfectants.”
- Infectious disease expert says both are on the rise; more study is needed.
- AJIC study says a supplemental portable anteroom high-efficiency particulate air (PAS-HEPA) filter unit outside operating room suites may prevent secondary transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis).
- VOC sensors optimize ventilation to help ensure better air quality for occupants and reduce utility costs for building owners.
- OSHA guide to preventing mold, mold sources, and building-related illnesses.
- Healthcare acquired pathogens can be prevented by optimizing high touch surface cleaning and by implementing programs that include monitoring and education.
- Carpeting can help hospitals improve sound-absorption, indoor air quality, staff and patient safety, and aesthetics, but it also poses many challenges.
- There is a growing recognition that facility management contributes to the health and well being of building occupants, thereby benefiting efficiency, productivity and profitability — key pillars of an organization’s bottom line.
- While there are services to protect adults from some environmental hazards at school, more vulnerable children lack the same protection.
- ICM is defined as an open-source protocol in which best practices are evaluated by scientific measurement of cleaning outcomes.
- To help meet the growing demand for green and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, the Cleaning Industry Management Standard and Certification Program (CIMS) has been expanded to include Green Building (GB) criteria and an optional GB designation.
- View the overview of “The Virtual School Walkthrough: Identifying and Solving Common Indoor Air Quality Problems” produced by the non-profit Northwest Clean Air Agency.
- View the 'Outside' portion of “The Virtual School Walkthrough: Identifying and Solving Common Indoor Air Quality Problems” produced by the non-profit Northwest Clean Air Agency.
- View the 'Inside' portion of “The Virtual School Walkthrough: Identifying and Solving Common Indoor Air Quality Problems” produced by the non-profit Northwest Clean Air Agency.
- View the 'Classrooms' portion of “The Virtual School Walkthrough: Identifying and Solving Common Indoor Air Quality Problems” produced by the non-profit Northwest Clean Air Agency.
- View the 'Fixes' portion of “The Virtual School Walkthrough: Identifying and Solving Common Indoor Air Quality Problems” produced by the non-profit Northwest Clean Air Agency.
- View the 'Wrap-Up' portion of “The Virtual School Walkthrough: Identifying and Solving Common Indoor Air Quality Problems” produced by the non-profit Northwest Clean Air Agency.
- Cleaning, by its very nature and definition, is, or should be, green.
- Without a long-term commitment to comprehensive environmental management, not even the best high performance school can hope to stay high performing for very long.
- Introduction to “The Virtual School Walkthrough: Identifying and Solving Common Indoor Air Quality Problems” produced by the non-profit Northwest Clean Air Agency.
- View the introduction to “The Virtual School Walkthrough: Identifying and Solving Common Indoor Air Quality Problems” produced by the non-profit Northwest Clean Air Agency.
- Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools™ (PCHS™) optimizes efficiency, cleanliness, ease-of-deployment, and health factors through a carefully designed and documented system tailored for K-12 school districts.
- First-of-its-kind green healthcare rating system distinguishes construction of high-performance healthcare facilities.
- Johns Hopkins researchers identified Legionella growing in 50 percent of cultured water samples from 20 electronic-eye faucets in or near patient rooms on three different inpatient units, but in only 15 percent of water cultures from 20 traditional, manual faucets in the same patient care areas.
- The Healthy Facilities Institute (HFI) has announced its support of the ISSA Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) and CIMS-Green Building (GB) program as a means to help enhance the health of indoor environments.
- The recipe for mold is “just add water.” Your best investment is in prevention.
- Certified technicians may use particle counters to help ensure your air is clean after mold cleanup.
- Pathogenic microorganisms are transmitted in many ways in hospitals. One important consideration is the role that the environment plays in pathogen transmission, specifically leading to airborne and waterborne infections.
- Upholstered couches and chairs, rugs, and bean bag chairs harbor dust mites, pet dander, and other contaminants that adversely affect classroom environmental quality.
- Asthma is a big problem in schools, and reducing it is a way for cleaning product distributors to make a big difference.
- A hands-on guide from a school cleaning expert.
- If you have time to quickly swipe your pager or cell phone three times, that would be your best bet to get rid of most of the bacteria. And a simple tissue moistened with saline would do the trick. But if you only have time for a single swipe of a 'dirty' phone – you'd be better off reaching for a disinfectant wipe.
- Indoor environmental quality is the sum total of decisions made by an enormous variety of individuals and institutions.
- Most chemicals in commercial use have not been tested for possible health effects. Fewer than one-third of regulated, high-production chemicals, including many found indoors, have undergone even a screening level of testing for adverse effects.
- Metallic copper surfaces kill microbes on contact, decimating their populations, according to a paper in the February 2011 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of over 100 different chemicals that are formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil and gas, garbage, or other organic substances like tobacco or charbroiled meat.
- 2003 study published in Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) found 1.8% of population loses job as result.
- The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program has been one of the most significant developments in the Green Cleaning movement over the past decade, but additional positive changes may now be afoot.
- Getting commercial cleaning product manufacturers to come clean and disclose their products' ingredients is important.
- Coal tar sealants are often used to protect and renew parking lots. Dust from this substance can get into buildings and cause a health hazard.
- Excerpts from a report by the Environmental Working Group.
- A clean facility is a healthy facility - most of the time - but it’s ironic that some products designed to make our buildings cleaner and healthier may contribute to asthma.
- The Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assists the cruise ship industry to prevent and control the introduction, transmission, and spread of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses on cruise ships.
- Data from many facilities show that a properly commissioned building with controls and equipment functioning properly can save 5%-15% in total building energy cost. With a little knowledge this can be done without compromising IAQ.
- "Log reduction" is a mathematical term (as is "log increase") used to show the relative number of live microbes eliminated from a surface by disinfecting or cleaning.
- Since a floor that is slip-resistant when wet will generally be slip resistant when dry, taking measurements of the condition of floors by benchmarking the wet Coefficient of Friction (COF) is an important starting point to raise safety levels.
- Pulsed xenon ultraviolet light goes where housekeepers can’t.
- Test scores improved when fresh air was properly circulated.
- The swabs used for sampling surfaces for microbial contamination are examples of devices that are simple in design and construction, but are difficult to use without discipline and training. This article discusses why this is so.
- Walk-throughs are a practical learning experience for staff that builds awareness, confidence and skills – essential elements of a sustainable IAQ program.
- Hazardous chemicals and products are made and used in the greatest quantities in workplaces — where they first expose workers.
- Current technology allows easy and relatively inexpensive measurement of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) as an indicator to help ensure ventilation systems (for high density occupancy zones) are delivering the recommended minimum quantities of outside air to the building’s occupants.
- Four elements - sources, the HVAC system, pollutant pathways, and occupants - are involved in the development of IAQ problems.
- A brief introduction to making measurements that might be needed in the course of developing an IAQ profile or investigating an IAQ complaint.
- According to the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health: "Returning to school after vacations substantially increases the risk of hospital admissions for asthma in children, and this has considerable public health and economic impact."
- The benefits of carpet are forgotten or ignored in the face of perceived hazards.
- Integrated Cleaning and Measurement (ICM) is changing the perception of the cleaning industry and generating interest from individuals who want to pursue cleaning as a career. By employing the newest cleaning and measurement technologies and encouraging innovation with the larger goal of protecting public health, ICM is attracting students and new groups of professionals to the industry.
- There is a widespread perception that carpet cannot be kept clean (sanitary) and that because of its inability to be kept clean, carpet contributes significantly to the deterioration of indoor environmental quality, especially leading to unhealthy indoor air quality. This unnecessary misconception often leads to policy decisions for removing carpet from many environments such as schools, health care facilities, and public agencies.
- There are many factors that can affect IAQ, such as human activity within the building, the building’s construction materials, and the types of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in a building.
- How to prevent the growth of mold and mildew in the school environment.
- A green school is not necessarily a healthy school unless it takes into consideration the health of its occupants and is operated accordingly.
- Restorers should have an understanding of the proper use of agents that can help control the growth of microorganisms and reduce potential risks.
- Detergent residues left on surfaces can provide nutrients for bacteria.
- Any cleaning process must be validated by measurements of contamination levels before and after a cleaning step.
- Five positive sustainable trends in the U.S. you may not have noticed.
- Making the case for comprehensive IAQ management in schools.
- A healthy school needs to engage in a scientific and professional cleaning process to realize its health objectives.
- Regardless of how efficient and effective air-cleaning devices are in removing pollutants, a question still remains about their ability to reduce adverse health effects.
- By all accounts, disinfection of drinking water is one of the major public
health triumphs of the 20th century. No human endeavor, however, is without risk.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established four Toxicity Categories for acute hazards of pesticide or disinfectant products.
- What benefits of healthy schools have been documented?