IAQ Radio

Steven Caulfield, PE, CIH – President at Turner Building Science & Design, LLC – Building Science, Moisture & “The Green Book” AIHA’s Recognition, Evaluation and Control of Indoor Mold

This week welcome back Steve Caulfield, P.E., CIH for part 2 in our series on the AIHA’s second edition of “Recognition Evaluation and Control of Indoor Mold” aka The Green Book. This week we discuss Building Science & Moisture with Steve and he will include some case studies to illustrate the key points.
Mr. Caulfield has over 30 years of experience in mechanical engineering, industrial hygiene and indoor air quality studies. Mr. Caulfield is skilled in the design and evaluation of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and their relationship to complex indoor air quality problems. He has provided HVAC design and commissioning services for healthcare, educational, and commercial facilities. He has conducted indoor air quality evaluations for both new construction and existing buildings.
Steve was one of the editors of the newly revised Recognition, Evaluation and Control of Indoor Mold aka the “Green Book”. He also volunteers a lot time industry organizations such as ASHRAE, MIAQC and ISIAQ.

Roland Vierra & Robert Blochinger – Here Come the Moisture Mob Enforcers: The Forensic Aspect of 3rd Party Evaluations – Moisture Related Issues Affecting Wood and Concrete Substrates and Flooring!

This week IAQ Radio+ will have a special show in the ongoing Moisture Mob series when Joe and Cliff interview Roland Vierra and Bob Blochinger in a follow up from previous solo shows with them and do a deep dive into the aspect of Forensic methodology for 3rd party inspections. A good inspector must “turn over all the rocks” to see what is lurking in the dark to determine the causation of the problem to offer viable solutions. Roland and Bob will dig deep into their archives from decades of projects and the lessons learned to identify and resolve moisture and installation related problems in concrete, and other substrates related to flooring problems. In an interactive around the horn format, culminating in “dueling case studies”, with a “I can top that” cordial spirit, live listeners will get an entertaining educational experience based on their combined years in the trenches!
Radio Joe and the Z-man will interview Roland and Bob to better define the use and meaning of the term “Forensics” which is often misunderstood and taken out of context. The show will drill down into the methodology of the “mindset” of a 3rd party investigator and the inspection and diagnostic process which often involves project oversight. Topics to be covered will include, discerning damage to finish flooring from moisture migration from substrates. Other issues addressed involve PH testing and chemical reactivity on an installation and the use of the calcium chloride testing and compliance with silica dust during drilling of concrete for ASTM moisture testing procedures.
Another issue that deserves a closer look is the importance of floor prep on slab and wood substrate materials that cause a defect in flooring installations resulting in failures. Further the IAQ Radio team will engage the Moisture Mob “Enforcers” on their opinion and criteria for the selection, use and calibration of moisture meters in forensic applications. What does the Restoration and IAQ industry professional need to know about the choice and use of the wide selection of penetrating and non penetrating moisture meters and thermal hygrometers available in the marketplace?
How important is training on meter usage and interpretation of the readings? What about the standards and protocols used for various moisture assessments that are relied upon for reports and expert witness work? The case study presentations will address many of these issues and illustrate the why and how of the inspection process to determine causation.
If you want a no holds barred opinion on these piercing questions and more, based on accurate information from years of experience that stand the test of time, then call in this week to listen live. The Global Restoration Watchdog will be calling in live from AEML Labs in Ft Lauderdale, Florida with Bavarian Bob as Mr. Stick Zooms in from San Jose, California. Join Joe, Cliff, Pete and Bob and Roland for a unique show in the Moisture Mob series this week on IAQ Radio+.

John Lovett & Mark Hernandez, PhD, PE - Leveraging a new generation of mobile bioaerosol monitors: research to practice before, during and after COVID

This week we take a deep dive into the new generation of mobile bioaerosol monitoring with two leaders of the movement.
 
John Lovett is the CEO of DetectionTek Holdings the parent company and creators of, InstaScope an air sampling technology for instant mold and air quality assessment results. Developed by the military, applied commercially for indoor air quality, InstaScope is the only optical technology of its kind on the market. Prior to founding DetectionTek Mr. Lovett was CEO of Droplet Measurement Technologies. He has a long history as an entrepreneur, CEO and founder of companies such as Lovett Ski Co. (First commercially produced fiberglass Cross Country skis in US), The Ski Co., Frank Shorter Running Gear, Allied Marine and Anchor Asset Management.
 
Dr. Hernandez attained all his engineering degrees from University of California at Berkeley. He is a registered professional civil engineer and an expert on the characterization and control of bioaerosols – both indoors and out. Based at the University of Colorado, he has 25 years of research leveraging forensic science into wide area surveillance and the design of aerosol disinfection systems for the built environment.
 
LEARN MORE this week on IAQ Radio+.

Ehsan Mousavi PhD - Clemson Department of Construction Science & Management - Indoor Air Quality: What Can We Learn from Hospitals

This week IAQ Radio+ welcomes Ehsan Mousavi, PhD for a look at his work on Indoor Air Quality in Hospitals. We will focus on what we can learn and use from the hospital setting in other indoor environments. Dr. Ehsan Mousavi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Construction Science and Management (CSM) at Clemson University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska in 2015 and has served in various capacities in the construction industry including dam, road, and building construction projects. Collaborating on projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air‐Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Dr. Mousavi has developed an extensive research background in the indoor air quality of hospitals. Specifically, he has studied the effect of environmental parameters (ventilation rate, ventilation arrangement, temperature, door motion, etc.) on the transmission and spread of pathogenic agents.
 
The average U.S. health-care facility uses three to five times more energy than a comparable size office building. More than two‐thirds of total energy consumption is dedicated to maintaining environmental control and indoor air quality. The main goal of Dr. Mousavi’s research is to appraise the effect of environmental parameters on the design, construction, operation, and maintenance (DCOM) of healthcare premises. In particular, questions are addressed as to how patient safety and the quality of care can be improved through attention to DCOM. The research results will be further implemented in the development of regulatory codes and standards.
 
Existing healthcare premises need to transition into newer and more effective facilities in response to growing demands. Due to the large expense of building a new facility and the increasing use of modular elements, renovation has shown to be an effective solution to providing reliable health care facilities. Hospitals cannot afford a complete shut‐down to proceed with renovation; that is, the “construction” zone and the “functioning” zone coexist in a renovation project to minimize the down‐time of the hospital. Under such conditions the two zones, hosting two vastly different types of contaminants, are adjacent and cross-contamination is highly plausible. Research is needed to systematically measure the current efforts to minimize the impact of construction on patient safety and comfort. Thus, Dr. Mousavi’s group of collaborators actively seeks to document the best practices performed by industry professionals, and to address questions as these measures’ effectiveness.
 
LEARN MORE this week on IAQ Radio+.

Paul LaGrange - LaGrange Consulting - A Building Scientist’s Take On: Methods, Myths & Mistakes

IAQ Radio+ returns to Cajun Country this week to learn about construction methods, myths and mistakes from renowned building scientist Paul LaGrange. Mr. LaGrange is a master forensic investigator for moisture and energy movement in both historic and new homes located in the hot humid Gulf Coast Southern region of the US. LaGrange Consulting has been providing energy efficiency solutions for builders and homeowners since 1999. They are a full service consulting company specializing in energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and sustainability in residential and small commercial buildings
 
Paul also works as an expert witness for legal cases related to building science and is a building science educator at the LaHouse Resource Center at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. If that is not enough Paul is also a Former Contractor with over 20 years of building experience and enjoys sharing his experience on his WWL radio show, through his Paul’s House referral network and through his blog.
 
Paul is well known in Building Science circles as an excellent Cajun Chef and makes a mean Gumbo, as anyone that has attended The Annual Westford Symposium on Building Science aka “Building Science Summer Camp” over the past decade will tell you. Learn More this week on IAQ Radio+ through case studies about lessons learned from diagnosing moisture in materials, evaluating methods to fix mistakes, and demystifying BS (Building Science) myths anywhere but particularly in hot humid climate zones!

Robert “Bavarian Bob” Blochinger - One Man’s Professional Journey to Carve a Niche for Flooring Forensics in the Cleaning & Restoration Industry!

This week IAQradio+ brings our growing and loyal group of listeners another unique show in the Moisture Mob ongoing series. Bob Blochinger is a fierce advocate for flooring forensic experts specializing in third party evaluations and oversight of complex installations. Bob’s early career from New York City with roots in the restoration field eventually lead him to South Florida which started an interesting journey over the past 3 decades to dealing with moisture and humidity related problems and how it affects flooring installations and a buildings indoor air quality.
Bob’s experience dealing with a wide range of projects from a diverse customer perspective including, contractors, building owners and managers, manufactures and distributors, lawyers and other stakeholders involved in flooring, moisture and IEQ related projects has shaped his life experience. Through the many lessons learned by Bob and hisgroup of national experts they fill an important role when an objective third party opinion is required to troubleshoot problems and find solutions to complex claims!
Join Radio Joe and the Z-man this week as they engage with an interesting and unique figure from this important industry niche who lists Brooklyneze as one of three languages he is fluent in on his social media profile! The Global Watchdog said in helping arrange this Moisture Mob show, “You can take the kid out of Brooklyn, but you can’t take the Brooklyn out of the kid!”. Call in live this week for this engaging and provocative interview!
Bob was raised in New York City, working in the family construction business. He moved to Florida for college, majoring in business management and worked seasonally in the hospitality industry. He began his career in the flooring industry in 1970, offering carpet cleaning and installations while specializing in water and fire damage restoration work. In the early 1980’s he expanded into the retail department store sector providing installation of floor covering sales. During the 1990’s his company started to service the architectural and interior design trade with high-end floor covering product sales and installations for residential, commercial and industrial applications. In 1990, Bob attended Southern Tech GA, specializing in technical training for carpet manufacturing and inspection. This started his career in forensic review of floor covering products that have a negative impact on performance, appearance and/or use. He is a multi-discipline flooring consultant. Bob also works as an expert witness, inspector and investigator for law firms, condominium associations and flooring manufacturers. He consults for flooring projects on bid package formatting and review, installation supervision and maintenance procedures. Bob’s oversight consultation assignments often require moisture testing of concrete for public works projects and private corporations tracking major installations from the retail store to the manufacturing facility.

Francis “Bud” Offermann, MSME, PE, CIH - Ventilation, Air Filtration, and COVID-19, “Avoiding the Snake Oil Salesman”

This week we welcome back Francis “Bud” Offermann for a discussion of ventilation, air filtration and COVID 19 Avoiding the Snake Oil Salesman. Mr. Offermann is president of Indoor Environmental Engineering, a San Francisco based IAQ consulting firm. Prior to starting up Indoor Environmental Engineering, Mr. Offermann was a Staff Scientist with the Building Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality Program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He has been a recipient of research grants regarding building air quality and ventilation field studies, tracer gas techniques, contaminant emission rate measurements, and performance testing of air cleaning devices. 
 
Mr. Offermann served as an expert witness for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission regarding the performance claims found in advertisements of air cleaners. He also provided consultation to the American Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) during the development of AHAM Standard AC-1, which is used to measure the Clean Air Delivery Rates (CADR) for portable air cleaners. He was also a past chairman of ASHRAE TC2.3 and SPC-145 committees for gas phase air filters and a corresponding member of ASHRE TC2.4 and SPC-52.2 for particulate air filters. Mr Offermann will discuss the impact of air filtration on indoor airborne concentrations of SARS-CoV-2, including what types of air filtration work and what types pose potential health risks. LEARN MORE this week on IAQradio+.

Wynn L. White, PE - Effectively Managing Restoration & Remediation Projects: Lessons from Cajun Country

This week we welcome Wynn L. White, PE for a discussion on managing large restoration and remediation projects particularly after hurricanes and water damage events. Wynn is a second generation civil engineer who got his start working for his father’s engineering firm in Indiana, starting out on the survey crew. He worked his way up to crew chief and, after graduating from high school, earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Purdue University.
 
Wynn’s early work included a variety of civil engineering projects that included water, wastewater, subdivision layout, and road projects. Wynn went on to become a licensed sewage treatment plant operator, where he learned what really works (and what doesn’t) for his future projects. Wastewater brought Wynn to Louisiana in 1980. Wynn is the only person who’ll ever admit he was carried south by sewage. Wynn incorporated his own firm in 1987. Since then, he has worked on hundreds of environmental projects and has been the principal-in-charge on over 2,000 projects. When the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) was passed, Wynn knew schools across Louisiana would need help conducting their asbestos inspections and developing asbestos management plans. So he embarked on a whirlwind tour of the state to offer services to schools. As a result, his firm conducted more asbestos inspections and developed more asbestos management plans for schools than any other firm in Louisiana. 
 
In the early 2000’s, mold related litigation made national headlines, bringing about rarely before seen emphasis on mold and moisture problems. Wynn positioned the firm as a regional leader in helping clients manage mold and moisture problems, and avoid and solve construction defects and building enclosure problems. Wynn is a Registered Professional Engineer (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas) and has been a at many prestigious events including the Annual Westford Symposium on Building Science AKA Summer Camp. Mr. White has also served as an expert witness in numerous legal cases and brings a real world perspective to his thoughts on managing restoration and remediation projects.
 
LEARN MORE this week on IAQradio+.

Alan P. Zelicoff, MD - COVID 19 Prevention, Treatment, Vaccines, & Lessons Learned

This week we welcome back one of our favorite medical contributors and epidemiology of infectious disease expert, Dr. Alan P. Zelicoff MD. Dr. Zelicoff has been educating the IAQ Radio+ audience about biological weapons and infectious diseases since 2008. The first show we did in 2008 was on Microbes: Are We Ready for the Next Plague, followed by shows on Ebola, H1N1 and COVID-19.
 
Disclaimer :Dr. Zelicoff has agreed to help us by researching and commenting on current events related to COVID-19. His opinions are not individual medical advice but rather opinions from someone that has been warning the world for years this pandemic was coming.
 
Dr. Zelicoff is a physician (board certified in internal medicine 1992, clinical fellowship in rheumatology, 1983) and physicist (A.B., Princeton, 1975), who has had a varied career including clinical practice, teaching, and operations research. In the latter roles, he was Senior Scientist in the Center for National Security and Arms Control at Sandia National Laboratories from 1989 to 2003. His interests include risk and hazard analysis in hospital systems and office-based practice, and in technologies for improving the responsiveness of public health offices and countering biological weapons terrorism. Dr. Zelicoff has traveled extensively in countries of the former Soviet Union and has led joint research projects in epidemiology of infectious disease, while establishing Internet access at Russian and Kazak biological laboratories. He is the author of numerous text book chapters and articles in these subjects, and is a frequent contributor to Op-Ed pages in the Washington Post and other newspapers. Dr. Zelicoff’s book on this subject is: Microbe: Are we Ready for the Next Plague? Available on Amazon.
 
LEARN MORE this week on IAQradio+.

Paula Olsiewski, PhD - Contributing Scholar Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security - HOMEChem: House Observations of Microbial and Environmental Chemistry

This week we welcome Paula Olsiewski, PhD for an update on the HOMEChem project and a discussion about her new position at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. In her new position she will be focused on COVID and indoor air quality. Dr. Olsiewski is a Contributing Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She is a pioneering leader in policy and scientific research programs in the microbiology and chemistry of indoor environments
 
During her 2 decades at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, she led innovative and multidisciplinary programs that inspired, accelerated, and produced lasting impact. Her expertise in partnering with academic, governmental, and for-profit stakeholders fostered innovation and built research capacity through the creation of diverse stakeholder networks. Her accomplishments include the creation and direction of the microbiology of the built environment, chemistry of indoor environments, and biosecurity programs.
Dr. Olsiewski is recognized as a leading expert in biosecurity and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is Chair of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Homeland Security Research Subcommittee and is a member of the EPA Board of Scientific Counselors Executive Committee. She is also a member of the NTI|bio Working Group for Biosecurity Innovation and Risk Reduction Initiative and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in chemistry.
 
Dr. Olsiewski’s acumen in board governance, recruitment and development, and fundraising has helped both scientific and philanthropic organizations improve their operational efficacy and programmatic outcomes. Early in her career, Dr. Olsiewski was Vice President of Product Development at Enzo Biochem and President of Neo/Tech Corp. She is an active board member of the Critical Path Institute, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the drug development and regulatory process. She is also Vice Chair of the Spondylitis Association of America and was board chair of Asphalt Green—a not-for-profit organization in New York that encourages a lifetime of participation in sports and fitness.
 
Dr. Olsiewski received a PhD in biological chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As an alumna, she was a member of the MIT Corporation and President of the MIT Alumni Association, earning her the association’s top honor: the Bronze Beaver award. Dr. Olsiewski was a member of MIT’s Initiative for Faculty Race and Diversity Advisory Committee and is an advocate for diversity and ongoing supporter of MIT's Women in Chemistry. She also received a BS in chemistry, cum laude, from Yale.
 
LEARN MORE this week on IAQradio+.