IAQ Radio

David Jacobs, PhD, CIH - A Healthy Homes Pioneer; Over 40 Years of Improving IEQ

This week we welcome David Jacobs for an interview about his pioneering career working toward making housing healthier for all. For over 40 years David has been a force for good in the healthy homes movement. It started early in his career as a research scientist at Georgia Tech and continues today at his current positions at the NCHH and as the Director, US Collaborating Center for Research and Training on Housing Related Disease and Injury, World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization. From lead paint to gas stoves and everything in between David has been a tireless advocate for healthy housing. We look forward to his thoughts on accomplishments, current events and the future of healthy housing.
 
David E Jacobs, PhD, CIH is currently Chief Scientist at the National Center for Healthy Housing, where he recently completed a major study on indoor air quality in homes with gas stoves. He directs the US Collaborating Center for Healthy Housing Research and Training for the World Health Organization. He is also an adjunct associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health (Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division). Jacobs holds degrees in Environmental Engineering, Science and Technology Policy, Environmental Health and Political Science. He is a licensed lead paint risk assessor and a board-certified industrial hygienist. He was a contributing author to the recently released Guidelines on Housing and Health from the World Health Organization. He helped launch the Healthy Homes Initiative in the US in 1999 with a report to Congress, where he has testified on several occasions (most recently in 2021). Dr. Jacobs has led research related to childhood lead poisoning prevention, lead exposure assessment and mitigation, healthy housing, asthma, green building design and policy development. He also was the principal author of the Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead Based Paint Hazards, the standard industry reference in the field. He was the principal author of the President’s Task Force report on childhood lead poisoning prevention in 2000. He previously served as director of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes from 1995-2004. He has over a hundred peer-reviewed papers and 20 book chapters or books, most of which are available here.

Joe Spurgeon, PhD - Surface Dust Samples, ERMI Scores and Assessing Mold Exposures

This week we welcome back Dr. Joe Spurgeon to talk about the use of surface dust sampling for assessing mold exposure. Many IEP’s are frustrated with the lack of consensus on how to take and interpret surface dust samples for mold. They are also frustrated with the misuse of ERMI scores to assess exposure. Dr. Spurgeon will review his work and discuss his methods. He also hopes our audience will poke and prod to help him improve his recommendations. In the past we have interviewed him about his book on surface sampling, air sampling for mold and sampling after wildfires. Check out the interviews here:
Episode 375
Episode 525
Episode 648
 
Joe Spurgeon, PhD has a multidisciplinary doctorate degree in Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Health from the University of Pittsburgh; and was a Certified Industrial Hygienist from 1993 – 2013. His career has included working as a research chemist on the NBS Lead-Paint Poisoning Program, directing the FAA’s Combustion Toxicology Laboratory, performing Health Assessments for CDC/ATSDR, implementing US EPA’s Laboratory Exposure Assessment Project, and working as a consultant specializing in microbial indoor air quality for US PHS. He has performed over 4,000 residential and commercial investigations involving water intrusions and microbial contaminants; has taught courses on mold investigations, sampling, and data interpretation methods; and has served as an expert witness in numerous mold cases. Articles from Dr. Spurgeon are available at www.bi-air.com. His books are available at http://expertonmold.com/

Roger Berry Founder & CEO – SUDOC | Brian Lester President of Indiana Mold Remediation – Mold Remediation, Can Spray Be The Way?

This week we welcome Brian Lester and Roger Berry for a discussion on mold remediation and cleaning products. Brian has been doing remediation for nearly 25 years and Roger is an entrepreneur and Founder of SUDOC, he also has a lengthy and fascinating history in world affairs. The Z-man is intrigued by the product they have developed and when the Z-man is takes notice of a cleaning product it’s a good bet there is something there. We’ll LEARN MORE today.
Brian Lester has been in the cleaning and restoration business since 1998 when he started as a carpet cleaner doing water extractions with a portable extraction machine. He has managed 1000s of drying jobs as well as countless mold remediation projects. He is currently the President of Indiana Mold Remediation and work with his brother and best friend providing remediation work to all of central Indiana.
Brian also  represents Dot cleaner as a product specialist having taken part in the design and implementation of the dot cleaning product directly into the remediation market. Dilute oxidation technology is new technology developed at Carnegie Mellon University. His friend Terry Collins is the inventor. The technology, which they refer to as the NT7 molecule is an oxidizing catalyst which mimics the action the takes places in the human body. They use this new technology because it reduces the chemical burden of remediation contractors.  Because Dot is a dry form product, their waste and shipping burden is markedly lower.
Roger Berry is a passionate and experienced CEO and investor in high-potential technology companies with a focus on sustainability. Two decades plus of experience in private equity, covering fundraising, team incubation, deal due diligence, sustainable technology development and ultimately as CEO for a series of technology companies, has prepared Roger for his current role in building a transformative sustainable chemistry company in Sudoc.
Roger has experience in analyzing and managing turnarounds and start-up ventures. Roger was a Partner with TEM Capital, an early-to-growth stage fund manager focused on clean energy and sustainable resources. On behalf of TEM, Roger served as CEO of two businesses including Clean Electricity Generation (CEG), a company with proprietary clean energy technology. Roger was Head of Group Funds and Investor Relations for Climate Change Capital, a fund manager with over $1.6 billion of assets. From 2000 to 2006, Roger was a Managing Partner and co-founder of Liberty Global Partners, an advisory and placement firm focused on emerging markets private equity. Liberty Global Partners raised significant commitments from institutional investors and led the creation of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association.
Roger had formative experiences in the United States Congress and First Lady Hillary Clinton’s health care task force. He subsequently worked in international development and conflict resolution. Roger draws inspiration from the times he spent with historic figure Nelson Mandela and other leaders of South Africa’s transition to democracy. He first met President Mandela in 1993, before he became President, where he helped coordinate his testimony in front of the congressional International Affairs subcommittee on Africa. He subsequently went to work for the National Democratic Institute, living in Southern Africa and supporting the new leadership to establish key legislative processes. While in South Africa, he was also part of a team that facilitated discussions for the conflicted parties of Northern Ireland with the leadership of South Africa’s government including President Mandela. This event was credited as a helpful step in the process of achieving reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
Motivated by the impact of learning, Roger developed and co-teaches a course on private equity for the International Business Program at Tufts University Fletcher Graduate School. Roger serves on several Boards including the Managing Board of Aptima Ventures, the commercialization arm of Aptima Inc, a company that has done over $300 million of R&D on how technology and data can assess and enhance human performance for NASA, the US military and various agencies of health. Roger is the co-chair of the Harvard Alumni Committee for Cambridge, which is responsible for interviewing all of the city’s applicants to the college.
Roger is an honors graduate of Harvard University (1990) where he advanced to the number two position on the nationally ranked division one tennis team. He lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife Sonia Perez Villanueva, their three children Oscar, Alonso, and Alana, and their young beagle Millie.

Elliott Gall, PhD - Particle Mitigation Strategies; What Works?

This week we welcome Dr. Elliott Gall, Associate Professor at Portland State University to discuss some current research on particulate and gas phase pollutant mitigation. Particles are everywhere in indoor environments from skin cells to automobile exhaust to wildfires by-products. Particulate removal is also a big topic when it comes to the pandemic. What do we know about particle behavior and how well do various mitigation processes work? We will talk to Dr. Gall about what his and other research shows about this important IEQ topic.
 
Dr. Elliott Gall is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical and Materials Engineering Department in the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University. Dr. Gall’s primary technical specialties are physics and chemistry of indoor air quality, heat and mass transfer phenomena in built environments, human exposure to air pollution, indoor environmental quality and sustainable buildings, building HVAC, and urban air quality.
 
Dr. Gall’s research and teaching interests center around developing new approaches that improve building sustainability through an understanding of the intersection of building energy use, indoor air quality, and occupant well-being. Specific research areas include: i) fundamental laboratory and field studies of indoor air pollutant transport and transformation, ii) air pollution exposure assessment through modeling and personal exposure studies, and iii) evaluation of building technology and design with respect to indoor environmental quality. 
 
LEARN MORE this week on IAQ Radio+.

Andrew K. Persily, PhD - National Institute for Standards & Tech - Flashback Friday

This week our engineer Jon “You Gotta Have” Faith helped us clean up, edit and add to a great show we did in May of 2010 with Dr. Andrew Persily of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Dr. Persily is currently a Fellow at NIST but at the time of this interview he was leading the indoor air quality and ventilation group. During this interview we talked about his time as the Steering Committee Chair of the ASHRAE Design Guide “Indoor Air Quality Guide- Best Practices for Design, Construction and Commissioning” a collaboration between ASHRAE, AIA, BOMA, SMACNA, EPA and the USGBC. We also discussed what NIST does, weatherization issues, ventilation and of course indoor air quality.
 
Dr. Andrew Persily has worked at NIST for four decades after earning his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University. His research has focused on indoor air quality and ventilation in commercial and residential buildings, including the development and application of measurement techniques to evaluate airflow and indoor air quality performance and of multi-zone airflow and contaminant dispersal models. He has published more than 300 journal articles, conference papers and NIST reports. Dr. Persily was a vice-president of ASHRAE from 2007 to 2009, and is past chair of ASHRAE Standard 62.1 (Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality) and Standard 189.1 (Design of High-Performance Green Buildings). He is a Fellow of ASHRAE, ASTM and ISIAQ, and recipient of the NIST Bronze, Silver and Gold medals.

Andrew K. Persily, PhD - Understanding Indoor CO2, Building Ventilation and Their Affects on IEQ

This week we welcome back Dr. Andrew Persily a Fellow at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for a discussion on indoor CO2, building ventilation and CO2 impact on occupants. We'll also discuss airborne infectious disease transmission and more. Dr. Persily has worked at NIST for four decades after earning his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University. His research has focused on indoor air quality and ventilation in commercial and residential buildings, including the development and application of measurement techniques to evaluate airflow and indoor air quality performance and of multi-zone airflow and contaminant dispersal models. He has published more than 300 journal articles, conference papers and NIST reports. Dr. Persily was a vice-president of ASHRAE from 2007 to 2009, and is past chair of ASHRAE Standard 62.1 (Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality) and Standard 189.1 (Design of High-Performance Green Buildings). He is a Fellow of ASHRAE, ASTM and ISIAQ, and recipient of the NIST Bronze, Silver and Gold medals.
 
LEARN MORE this week on IAQ Radio+.

Don Fugler - IEQ Pioneers

This week we welcome Don Fugler for the second show in our series with the founding fathers and pioneers of today's indoor environmental quality industry. During our first show J. David Miller, PhD mentioned how important Don was during the early research projects that led to solutions for common IEQ problems. This week we look forward to talking with Don about his contributions to our current understanding of indoor environments and his thoughts on what the future holds.
 
Don Fugler spent 25 years conducting research projects for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), in the areas of residential energy use, ventilation, and indoor air quality. Between 1985 and 2010, he managed over 100 research projects. During that period, he published CMHC research reports; wrote and distributed summaries in Research Highlights and About Your House documents and lectured at conferences and meetings. Since 2011, Don’s consulting work has addressed indoor air quality and energy issues for federal departments, NGOs, and individuals. He is active on CSA standards committees (carbon monoxide sensors, residential depressurization) and CGSB (radon). He helped initiate ROCIS (rocis.org) and the Low Cost Monitoring Project through program design and development of the monitoring process participants would follow. He currently concentrates on the house-based factors, such as the entry rate of outdoor pollutants, the distribution of pollutants within the dwelling, the activities within the house that create particles, and the means of reducing the concentrations of particles and other measured pollutants. LEARN MORE this week on IAQ Radio+.

Robert J. DeMalo, M. Sc. & Michael P. Menz, CIH, CHMM - Unique Perspectives; Asbestos, COVID, Lead, Mold, Soot, Silica and More

This week we welcome Rob DeMalo M. Sc. and Michael Menz, CIH, CHMM for a discussion about their unique perspective on industrial hygiene and IEQ. Having spent many years as executives at the largest lab in the country and being in the field now gives them a unique perspective into the big picture around IH and IEQ. In addition to getting their thoughts on the past, present and future of IH and IEQ, we will go into a few traditional IH topics that have not gotten a lot of attention recently including asbestos, lead, mercury and PCB’s. And of course we will talk about mold, COVID, and other current events in IH and IEQ. Join us for a great discussion and LEARN MORE this week on IAQ Radio+.
 
Robert J. DeMalo, M.Sc
 
Robert J. DeMalo, M.Sc. joined Indoor Environmental Concepts (IEC) as Vice President and Partner in November 2020. In this role, he is responsible for business development and strategic company growth in keys areas, including staffing, breadth of services and territories served. Rob holds a Master of Science degree in Industrial Hygiene and has over 30 years’ experience in the industrial hygiene and environmental health and safety industries. Prior to joining IEC, he was Senior Vice President of Laboratory Services and Business Development at EMSL Analytical, Inc. in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, where he spent 25 years coordinating and implementing expansion strategy, business development and overseeing the laboratory technical operations. He was instrumental in assisting the company grow from approximately 100 employees and 7 branch offices in 1995 to the present 1,000+ employees and 46 branch locations in North America while working side-by-side with EMSL founder and president/CEO in daily operations of the company in the U.S. and Canada. 
 
Over the past decade, Rob has become a well sought after writer and presenter on industry-related topics. He co-authored the peer-reviewed published paper “Internal Standard Addition Method for Identifying Asbestos Containing Materials In Bulk Samples Containing Low Levels of Asbestos” and has been published in various publications and government-issued standard operating procedures, including for the USEPA, Region 8. Rob has shared his knowledge and expertise at countless events and national conferences, most recently to include presentations on asbestos measurement methods at the 2019 American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) National Conference, PFAS in drinking water and asbestos inspection training at the 2020 Pillar to Post Brand Conference as well as the new OSHA silica rule at the 2019 Southern California Joint Technical Symposium Annual Conference, which had a shared audience of attendees from AIHA and the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP).
 
Michael P. Menz, CIH, CHMM
 
Michael P. Menz, CIH, CHMM founded Indoor Environmental Concepts (IEC) in 2011, which for a time held his own name, Menz Industrial Hygiene Services. IEC provides industrial hygiene and IEQ services including asbestos investigations, silica exposure assessments, mercury in rubberized gymnasium flooring, mold and IEQ investigations and more. Mr. Menz is an American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) Certified Industrial Hygienist, a licensed EPA/Pennsylvania Asbestos Building Inspector and Pennsylvania Management Planner and an Institute of Hazardous Materials Management (IHMM) Certified Hazardous Material Manager. He also has extensive experience teaching Asbestos, Lead, and Hazardous Waste Operations courses.
 
Prior to launching IEC, Mike was the Environmental, Health, and Safety Manager/Radiation Safety Officer at EMSL Analytical, Inc. in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. He spent seven years ensuring organizational safety to include being responsible for proactive safety practices, investigation of injuries, in-house new hire employee and annual safety refresher training. In his role, Mike also prepared and presented various environmental/industrial hygiene training classes, worked with facility manager and Vice President of Engineering on the design of new laboratory spaces and provided technical support for clients in various areas. Mike’s career also included two decades as General Manager with Synertech, Inc. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he was responsible for daily operations with seventeen (17) employees and approximately 2.75 million dollars in annual sales. 

Patricia L Harman - A Journalist’s Perspective on the Evolution of the Insurance Property Restoration Industry

This week we welcome Patti Harman, editor and chief of the PropertyCasualty360.com group for a discussion on the past, present and future of the insurance property restoration industry. There continues to be big changes in the property restoration insurance marketplace. We will look at how we got were we are today and what the future looks like with a long time industry journalist Patti Harman.
 
Patricia L. Harman is the editor-in-chief of the PropertyCasualty360.com group, which includes Claims Magazine, National Underwriter Property & Casualty Magazine and the PropertyCasualty360.com website, and chairs the annual America's Claims Executive Leadership Forum (ACE), which focuses on providing claims professionals with cutting-edge education and networking opportunities. She covers auto, property & casualty, workers' compensation, fraud, emerging risks and cybersecurity, hosts the Insurance Speak podcast, and is a frequent speaker at insurance industry events. She has 20+ years of experience covering the property restoration and insurance industries.
 
LEARN MORE this week on IAQ Radio+.

Lisa M Brosseau, ScD, CIH - Masking and Respirators; Lessons from COVID-19

This week we welcome back Dr. Lisa Brosseau for a discussion on respirators and masking. After 2 years of COVID-19 research and real world experience what have we learned? Dr. Brosseau, now retired, was a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health from 2015 to 2018, where she was director of the Illinois Education and Research Center, which supported graduate and continuing education for occupational health and safety professionals and community outreach activities. She was also director of the UIC Center for Healthy Work.
 
Dr. Brosseau began her career as an academic researcher and educator at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, where she directed the Industrial Hygiene Program. Her early research focused on the performance of respirator filters when exposed to hazardous aerosols such as silica and asbestos, and later expanded to include biological and infectious organisms. Her more recent research focused on respirator fit, using real-time methods and simulated workplace tasks to better understand how fit is influenced by realistic head and body motions. She continues to serve as a mentor and technical advisor on research projects and for businesses and organizations, including The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP). CIDRAP is a center within the University of Minnesota that focuses on addressing public health preparedness and emerging infectious disease response.
 
Dr. Brosseau has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, delivered numerous platform research presentations, and has been an invited speaker at numerous local, national and international conferences and workshops. She has written several articles for CIDRAP focused on respiratory protection for healthcare and other workers during outbreaks and pandemics.