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National Tribal Forum on Air Quality

National Tribal Forum on Air Quality. Co-Sponsored by: Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals & National Tribal Air Association. New Construction Methods & Mold Prevention. Steve Klossner. New Construction Methods & Mold Prevention. What are we building? Healthy/Durable/Efficient

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National Tribal Forum on Air Quality

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  1. National Tribal Forum on Air Quality Co-Sponsored by: Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals & National Tribal Air Association

  2. New Construction Methods & Mold Prevention Steve Klossner

  3. New Construction Methods & Mold Prevention • What are we building? • Healthy/Durable/Efficient • Useful life of our buildings • Moisture management • Maintenance requirements and responsibilities • First costs driven construction methods • No performance requirements

  4. Oversight requirements • Innovative and durable design takes additional resources during construction • From the design team • From the builder • From all subcontractors • From the building owners • A process for making sound decisions on site

  5. Wall cavity insulation • Why do we insulate wall cavities? • What happened when we added insulation?

  6. Winter relative humidity • Can be maintained with flow thru humidifier • MUST HAVE OUTSIDE RESET • Current practice (fear of winter RH) generally precludes these from being installed

  7. Summer relative humidity • Can only be controlled with air conditioning system or dehumidification • Dehumidifiers cost as much as air conditioning to operate • Dehumidifiers add heat to the home • Most basements and crawl spaces are at or below the dew point for the RH in summer • Guarantees mold growth

  8. Rank Order Pen/AspFrom all Minnesota Tribal Houses

  9. First up is moisture management • When you dig a hole and the whole fills with water you have? • A swimming pool • A well or cistern • Wet foundations • A crawl space or basement

  10. Wet Foundations

  11. Moisture Source

  12. Moisture Source

  13. If it is not a boat, it won’t float!

  14. Water proofing

  15. Basement Insulation

  16. Basement Insulation

  17. Above Grade Construction Considerations • Are we building our houses too tight? • Are we putting too much insulation in our walls and ceilings? • Are our air handlers tight enough to not generate interstitial pressure problems?

  18. Air Flow Management • Unfiltered air leaking through a typical 2,000 square foot house due to wind, stack effect, leaky ducts, and unbalanced air distribution systems. • 900 CFM during very cold windy weather. • 300 CFM average during the year. • 30 CFM during mild weather and low wind.

  19. House Wrap Proper as Specified

  20. House Wrap Application as installed

  21. A different approachVapor Retarder Drainage Plane

  22. R-10 Rigid Insulation (Outperforms R-19 cavity insulation)

  23. Drainage behind siding

  24. Heat and Energy Recovery Ventilation • With high fuel costs would seem appropriate • Energy recovery rates from 60-90% • Increases the temperature of inlet air • Significant for occupant comfort • Has significant maintenance requirements • Or becomes exhaust only or worse no ventilation

  25. Outside exhaust hoods (Installation)

  26. Outside exhaust hoods (Installation)

  27. Outside air inlets (maintenance)

  28. When hoods get blocked . . . (maintenance)

  29. Outside exhaust hoods (maintenance)

  30. Outside air inlets (maintenance)

  31. HRV (Maintenance)

  32. HRV Filter (maintenance)

  33. Ventilation Controls

  34. Ventilation MaintenanceNot just for HRV’s

  35. So for ventilation. . . • Simple is best • HRV’s only if we are willing and able to complete maintenance requirements • Monthly for filters • Quarterly for air inlets • Bi-yearly for core • ERV’s with above maintenance AND • Capillary breaks • Water proofing

  36. Filtration • Primarily for IAQ we need to be concerned with smaller particles • Most low cost furnace filters will not capture these • MERV rating of 10 or greater is appropriate for IAQ • To filter the air, the air handler has to be in operation • Same requirements as ventilation distribution

  37. Source:AAF Particle Settling Velocities

  38. Filtration & Air Handler Operation • Care must be taken when choosing high efficient filtration • 1” filters tend to have high static pressure • Number 1 cause of compressor failure • Will cause short cycling in heating season (efficiency) • Maintenance requirements for 1” filter are higher • Four inch filter with pressure sensor is the sliced bread of residential filtration

  39. How to Move Forward • Measurable, quantifiable, specifications seems to be one of the ways we should be moving. • Interior relative humidity • Shell tightness (whole building) • Ventilation • Measured flows • Distribution • Operating costs and system efficiencies • Maintenance issues and costs

  40. Closing Thoughts • We need to spend more time evaluating what works and what does not work in housing ($) • If we understand what is “broke”, we can fix it and design it out of the next project. • If we don’t we will simply perpetuate the problem or spend monies on inappropriate fixes • The solutions are out there, we simply need to find and adopt them!

  41. Thanks! • Questions or Discussions?

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