IAQ Radio

Jeffrey Siegel Ph.D. - COVID-19 Risk Mitigation – A Researcher’s Perspective

This week we start a series of shows from different perspectives on COVID-19 Risk Mitigation. We start with Dr. Jeff Siegel a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at The University of Toronto. Prior to accepting his current position he was an Associate Professor at the University of Texas, Austin. His interests and research have focused on healthy and sustainable buildings, ventilation and indoor air quality in residential and commercial buildings, control of indoor particulate matter, secondary impacts of control technologies and strategies, aerosol dynamics in indoor environments and HVAC systems.
 
Dr. Siegel’s Ph.D. is in Mechanical Engineering (2002) from the University of California, Berkeley, he also has an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (1999) from the same institution and a B.S. in Engineering (1995) from Swarthmore College. He is a prolific researcher and speaker and a very active member of professionals societies and associations including ISIAQ and ASHRAE. We look forward to LEARNING MORE with him this week on IAQ Radio! 

Kerry Kinney, Ph.D. - Professor, Civil Engineering -The University of Texas at Austin - The Microbiome, Filter Dust Forensics & Whole Communities-Whole Health

This week we look at The Microbiome, Filter Dust Forensics and a program called Whole Communities-Whole Health with Dr. Kerry Kinney of The University of Texas at Austin. Kerry Kinney, Ph.D., is a courtesy professor in the Department of Population Health. She also holds the L.P. Gilvin Centennial Professorship in Civil Engineering in The University of Texas at Austin Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. Kinney’s cross-disciplinary research in environmental engineering and molecular biology centers on the investigation of microorganisms and contaminants in engineered systems including buildings, residential water systems and municipal wastewater systems. She has extensive experience working with multidisciplinary teams to investigate human exposure to microorganisms and contaminants in the indoor environment.
 
Over the last decade, her research group has explored the microorganisms, allergens and contaminants found in schools, homes and other buildings. These studies have led to a greater understanding of the conditions that promote fungal growth in buildings, new indoor sampling strategies (e.g. filter forensics) and insights into the relationships between indoor exposures and health. Most recently, Kinney has been working with researchers across campus on the Whole Communities–Whole Health Bridging Barriers Initiative. She is also on the steering committee for the Center for Health and Environment: Education and Research at Dell Med.
 
Learn More this week on IAQradio+

Claudette Hanks Reichel, Ed.D - Professor & Housing Specialist with Louisiana State University AgCenter - Hurricanes, Resilience and Restoration

This week on IAQradio+ we welcome Claudette Hanks Reichel, Ed.D. for a hurricane update and discussion on disaster restoration and resilience. Dr. Hanks Reichel is Professor and Extension Housing Specialist with Louisiana State University AgCenter. She serves as Director of LaHouse Resource Center, a public exhibit of multiple high performance housing solutions and hub of Extension education programs to advance resource-efficient, durable and healthy housing for the southern climate and natural hazards.
 
Dr. Reichel has developed numerous educational outreach programs and resources relating to housing, including energy-efficiency, healthy homes, hurricane and flood resilience and others. She has authored more than 100 Extension publications, presented at numerous professional events, was twice a featured speaker at the National Building Museum in Washington DC, and has received 12 national and state level awards for program excellence and impact.
 
Learn More this week on IAQradio+

Tony Ward, PhD - Chair & Professor, University of Montana School of Public & Community Health Services - Fires and IAQ: Living with Soot

This week on IAQ Radio+ we welcome Tony Ward, PhD for a wide ranging discussion on fires, IAQ, air cleaners and public health. Dr. Ward is a Professor and Chair of the School of Public and Community Health Sciences at the University of Montana. Originally from Houston, Texas, he moved to Missoula in 1997 to attend graduate school at the University of Montana In addition to teaching environmental health classes, his research involves working with schools and rural communities and schools throughout Montana, Idaho, Alaska, and Arizona on air pollution (forest fires and wood stoves) and respiratory / cardiovascular health issues. On a personal note, he has two teenage daughters and enjoys the outdoor activities that Montana has to offer (skiing, backpacking, trail running, and fly-fishing).
 
Research in his laboratory focuses on investigating indoor and ambient inhalational exposures (including emissions from wood stoves and smoke from forest fires) common to residents of rural and underserved areas of the northern Rockies and Alaska. The research group also has delivered the Research Education on Air and Cardiovascular Health (REACH) Program, an outreach / education program, to rural schools throughout Montana, Idaho and Alaska since 2003.
 
 
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Michael Geyer PE, CIH, CSP - Hot, Hot, Hot – Using Heat for Remediating Buildings

This week we welcome Michael Geyer of KERNTEC Industries in Bakersfield CA to discuss the use of heat in remediating residential and commercial buildings. Mr. Geyer has 30+ years of hands-on experience in construction, engineering, environmental and biological sciences…developing work, estimating project costs, negotiating contracts, managing staff, and executing assignments. Mr. Geyer has worked on thousands of tasks over the course of hundreds of projects, some exceeding $80-million in value.
 
Mr. Geyer is an expert in mitigating chemical-biological contaminants in buildings, conducting property conditions assessments, improving indoor air quality, mitigating vapor intrusion, characterizing landfill gas, and building off-grid homes. In addition to his years of industrial hygiene and environmental experience Michael has 15-years of construction experience working in the trades, building off-grid power systems, and supervising building projects. He has built hundreds of residential homes (tract developments, custom houses and remote ranch-style homes) and commercial buildings, and many special-use structures, e.g., theater, sport venue and schools.
 
His unique construction experience has been valued by developers/owners building on compromised property (e.g., Brownfields) with known chemical or biological hazards. He specializes in high-hazard construction efforts and those impacted with methane, hydrogen sulfide, VOCs, and biological contamination.
 
Learn More this week on IAQradio+

Jonathan F. Hale, MPA - New from ACGIH ”Ventilation for Industrial Settings during the COVID-19 Pandemic”

This week we welcome Jonathan F. Hale, MPA the Chairman of the ACGIH Industrial Ventilation Committee for a discussion of the new ACGIH White Paper called “Ventilation for Industrial Settings during the COVID-19 Pandemic”. This promises to be an excellent discussion whether you work in industrial settings or not. The fundamental principles discussed will be useful in any type of facility and the document is excellent. Mr. Hale's mastery of the topic will be obvious to anyone joining the show.
 
Mr. Hale has a varied background including working as EPA Inspector and Permits Engineer- Local Air Regulatory Agency, Winston-Salem NC, Director of Environmental Engineering and Industrial Hygiene for Douglas Battery Manufacturing-Winston-Salem NC, and Founder and Owner, Air Systems Corporation, Inc, July, 2009.
 
He is also the winner of 2 National ASHRAE awards for excellence in energy efficient design of industrial ventilation systems and the Faculty of UNC Chapel Hill’s Summer and Winter Industrial Hygiene Institute- Since 1999, Past President of Carolina’s Air Pollution Control Association and an Instructor at Johns Hopkins Univ. Bloomberg School of Health IV Course, 2003-2007 as well as Faculty, Michigan State University Industrial Ventilation Conference, since 2009. Mr. Hale holds a BS in Biology, Wake Forest University-1975 and an MA Public Administration (Regulatory Affairs), Appalachian State University-1980.

Bradley Prezant, MSPH, CIH, CPE - What is COVID-19 Infection Risk Manager?

This week we welcome back Brad Prezant to Iaqradio+. Its been 8 years since we had Brad on the show he is now working in Australia. We look forward to getting his perspective on COVID 19 and the new COVID 19 Infection Risk Manager.
 
Brad Prezant is an evidence-based public health scientist with a background in epidemiology, occupational health & hygiene, and ergonomics. Until the company was sold in 2007, he operated Prezant Associates, Inc. in Seattle, providing consulting, training, and laboratory services for 20+ years. After migrating to New Zealand in 2008, Mr. Prezant spent 3 years at Massey University researching a variety of occupational health issues including solvent exposure to auto body painters, fumigant and VOC exposures from shipping containers, and dust exposures to woodworkers. He previously was Chief Editor of AIHA's first edition of Recognition, Evaluation, and Control of Indoor Mold, an author of several other standard of care documents, and is the current Vice President for Practice of ISIAQ (International Society of Indoor Air Quality & Climate). Since 2015, he is Chief Scientific Officer at VA Sciences, an occupational health consultancy, IICRC training facility (TESA Directive), and microbiological laboratory (Symbiotic Labs) in Melbourne, Australia. He is involved in a wide variety of indoor air quality and occupational health issues, from indoor moisture and mould to ventilation, traditional IH exposure assessment, and infection transmission indoors.

Kevin Kennedy MPH, CIEC & Larry Zarker – CEO of BPI - Healthy Housing Principles Reference Guide

This week we look forward to an enlightening discussion on the "Healthy Homes" movement and a new related document called Healthy Housing Principles Reference Guide. We are thrilled to have Kevin Kennedy and Larry Zarker joining us to discuss how the building performance world is getting more and more involved in indoor environmental quality.
 
Kevin Kennedy is an Environmental Hygienist and the Program Director of the Environmental Health Program at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. The center works in patient homes, schools and child care facilities providing environmental health assessments, consulting, training, education and performs research in indoor environmental health. Mr. Kennedy has worked in the environmental health science field for over 30 years. He is a Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant and teaches courses on the healthy housing principles, environmental assessment and investigation, environmental measurement and sampling and building science.
 
Larry Zarker is the CEO of the Building Performance Institute, the professional standards setting and credentialing organization for both the weatherization and home performance contracting industries. He oversees BPI’s national network of over 12,000 certified professionals and BPI GoldStar contracting companies. He helped found the new Building Performance Association, the industry association for America’s home performance workforce. Prior to BPI, he worked for nearly twenty years with the NAHB Research Center and was the Vice President of Marketing for over a decade, serving both the new home and remodeling sectors with innovative product development and research.

Lew Harriman - ASHRAE Distinguished Fellow - Damp Buildings, Human Health and HVAC Design

This week we welcome Lew Harriman for a discussion about the new ASHRAE document "Damp Buildings, Human Health and HVAC Design". The new document is intended to provide clear guidance for consultants, building owners/managers and others on measuring and managing moisture in buildings.
Lew Harriman was a contributor to the EPA guidance for Moisture Control in Buildings, the EPA’s Guidance for Air Cleaners and most recently the ASHRAE Special Publication titled: Damp Buildings, Human Health and HVAC Design. After college and a 5-yr stint in the US Air Force, Lew worked for a manufacturer of industrial dehumidification systems for 10 years, before beginning a second, 32-year career as a humidity control and building forensic consultant. He operated his one-person firm under the name Mason-Grant until 2018, when he retired from active consulting and took the tongue-in-cheek title of “Emeritus Director of Research” because he says likes the sound of it. Still, he seems unable to off-load his attachment to ASHRAE volunteer work, since he continues to serve as a humidity and filtration consultant to ASHRAE's COVID-19 Epidemic Task Force.
 
This episode follows up our series we call the Moisture Mob Episodes. Check them all out at the links below.
 
Moisture Mob Episodes
 
John T. Hull – Roofs, Moisture Meters, Inspections & Solutions for Leaks: Lessons Learned from an Industry Veteran!
 
Robert Higgins – Concrete & Moisture: Fact vs Fiction
 
William Thornton – Flooring Confidential: The Underbelly of Cradle to Grave from Manufacture to Installation & Use!
 
Howard Brickman – Hardwood Flooring from the Tree Tops to the Roots: An Intimate Fireside Chat with an Industry Trailblazer!
 
Roland Vierra – The Life & Times of a Renown Flooring Inspector: Stories from the Dark Side in the Trenches!
 
Andrew Rynhart – Tramex Limited – Measuring & Documenting Moisture Content

Stephanie H. Taylor MD M Architecture, CIC - Relative Humidity, Infections & IAQ

This week we welcome Stephanie Taylor, MD, M Architecture, CIC the CEO of Taylor Healthcare Commissioning, Inc. After working as a physician for many decades, Dr. Taylor obtained a Masters in Architecture as well as Infection Control certification. Her lifelong commitment to patient care includes focusing on improving the healthcare physical environment and clinical work processes to help patients heal quickly and save hospitals valuable dollars. Dr. Taylor is a graduate of Harvard Medical School (MD), and Norwich University (Masters Architecture). She has numerous research publications in "Nature and is also a member of the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force. We look forward to a fascinating dicussion about buildings and their role in infection control. 
 
LEARN MORE this week on Iaqradio+!