Air Conditioning

[Guest guest]

:

All VERY well stated.

And let me add a few tidbits regarding air conditioning. AC is the root cause of many of the ills we discuss on IEQuality. People demand creature comforts and they want to sit on their butts at 75F regardless of the outdoor temp. HVAC systems are not well designed for long-term health control, they are based purely on temperature control – ducts and equipment are not typically located/routed to be periodically cleaned or maintained, they become soiled and dysfunctional in a matter of 5 to 10 years, and they contribute to health problems of the occupants therein. If people would open their windows and allow the air to flow through their homes, moisture would be removed along with most of the VOCs and SVOCs that contribute to poor IAQ. Alas, but this would prohibit maintaining the 75F temperature that people has become accustomed to. In fact, many folks have become intolerant to anything over 85F. Also consider that this Country’s Founding Fathers decided to locate the capital (Washington DC) on a mosquito-infested swamp in order to limit the time politicians would spend being politicians, i.e., to avoid having career politicians residing in an “in-habitable” place. They felt, and wrote, that when politicians are politicizing, the common man should fear for his life, liberty, and property rights. Air Conditioning has really mucked things up! We now have career politicians that reside in D.C. who have no clue what us common folks need or do, and constantly pontificate laws that infringe on our rights. Moreover, some of the worst IAQ is in our nation’s buildings in D.C......all because of air conditioning!

For what it is worth....

Quack,

It is not that simple. I'm doing a small remediation job for a woman that has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. She was never sensitive to mold but now is. She is of modest means but not poor. She wants a mold free house. This means like new. This costs money.

I was there to remove and replace part of her front wall which was water damaged. (Insurance paid her about 2x what I charged.)

While there doing the remediation work I cut open her AC ducts. They were 25 year old rigid duct and were quite nasty. Her shag carpets are 15 years old. I explained that for her house to be like new (mold free) she would need new ducts as the current ducts cannot be cleaned. And she would need new carpet as the current carpet is way beyond cleaning.

She has decided to have this work done. When done we will go back in and clean and test and provide a like new home for her.

This is looking at the mold and allergen problems from a " whole house " point of view. You can't just fix a wall and then as part of that work and with some extensive testing somehow make the house like new. Often there needs to be big money spent on AC duct replacement, new carpet, mold remediation and sometimes replacing old fabric furniture and curtains etc.

Poor people cannot afford this. What they can do is rip out the old carpet and open their windows to keep their homes well ventillated. In third world countries there is no increase in asthma or cases of mold illnesses since there is no AC and homes are open to the fresh outside air.

Rosen

www.Mold-Books.com <http://www.Mold-Books.com>

Re: Here we go again [was: Insurance cap...]

I'm sorry, I should clarify that this was me snapping (I'm sorry that

I got mad, its not for his last post but its for some of the things

he's said previously) at .

The point that I was trying to make is that when poor people rent and

they complain about mold, more often than not the 'solution' that they

often fight for months or even years to get is no solution at all, for

them.

If they haven't moved already, obviously they will have to move

regardless of whether there is anyplace for them to go or not. If they

end up like me then they are so sick that they can't live in many

other places either.

And they can't work in many workplaces.

Look, let me spell it out just the last few days worth..I know that

for me myself and I am in my 40s, too young for this, I can't go into

many places without getting ill. A few days my wife and I went

shopping for cheap - very cheap - GPS units because we both are not

doing well reading maps or finding places.. something I used to be

really good at - that ability is now literally gone.. fried..

whatever..

So we went into some of these big office supply stores and I

immediately got a splitting headache. The result of this is that I

stay at home and don't go out that much because unless the destination

is outdoors, I know that in many places I will get sick and I do. So I

avoid them unless its necessary.

What the hell are people like me supposed to do when (if?) we recover

enough to start looking for jobs?

So please excuse me for getting angry.. but I think we really need

some EFFECTIVE way of TESTING AND CERTIFYING WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT

PLACES ARE ACTUALLY REMEDIATED AND WE NEED TO CODIFY THAT INTO LAW...

Then when you folks accept a job you will have a defined goal and you

will have to price your services to reflect its true cost. If that

means that insurance rates will have to go up so be it. By all

accounts insurance companies have been raking in record profits, even

with Katrina etc. so I don't think that they will be impacted that

much.. The net result will be the purchasers of insurance will have to

do better maintenance rather that rely on insurance companies to bail

them out of situations that are frequently and emphatically their

fault.

if you don't maintain a building, you have problems.

>

> Oh the 'magic of the marketplace' , right?

>

> (I probably should not have brought this up to you because I didn't

> want to give you ideas)

>