IAQ Radio

Ritchie Shoemaker, M.D. – Part 2 of our series with the Mold Warrior (Flashback Friday: Original Air Date 5-2-2008)

Radio Joe is on the road this week. On Iaqradio+ we will Flashback to Part 2 of our original series with Ritchie Shoemaker, MD. We will review key points from week one and get into more detail about Dr. Shoemakers research on sick building syndrome and water damaged buildings plus information on treatment options for patients and answers to questions sent in by our listeners.

Parham Azimi, PhD - Research Associate Illinois Institute of Technology - New Research on Particulate Matter & Mortality

This week we welcome Parham Azimi, PhD to Iaqradio+. Dr Azimi is a research associate in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology. Much of his research work has focused on fate, transport, and control of indoor aerosols of indoor and ambient origin, chronic health impacts of fine particles in various microenvironments, and energy performance of residential and commercial buildings. Parham is a member of ASHRAE Technical Committee 2.4, UL 2904 Standard Technical Panel, International Society for Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ) and American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR).
 
Dr. Azimi's work came to our attention recently when we were sent a copy of a recent paper he worked on with Brent Stephens, PhD called "A framework for estimating the US mortality burden of fine particulate matter exposure attributable to indoor and outdoor microenvironments". Dr. Stephens joined us on March 13, 2015 for a great show on The Intersection of Building Science, Energy Efficiency & IAQ.

Ritchie Shoemaker, M.D. - Part 1 of our series with the Mold Warrior (Flashback Friday: Original Air Date 4-25-2008)

Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker first joined Iaqradio as a guest back in April of 2008. Since then we have welcomed him back once a year or so to update us on his research into Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). Today we are going to replay our first show with Dr. Shoemaker and we hope to have him join us again soon for another update. Following his bio we have listed all our shows with him over the years. 
 
Ritchie Shoemaker, M. D., is a recognized leader in patient care, research and education pioneer in the field of biotoxin related illness. While illness acquired following exposure to the interior environment of water-damaged buildings (WDB) comprises the bulk of Shoemaker's daily practice, other illnesses caused by exposure to biologically produced toxins are quite similar in their "final common pathway." What this means is that while the illness might begin acutely with exposure to fungi, spirochetes, apicomplexans, dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria, for example, in its chronic form, each of these illnesses has similar symptoms, lab findings, and Visual Contrast Sensitivity findings. Taken together the inflammatory illness from each of these diverse sources is known as a Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome.

Oliver Threlfall - CEO Steamatic of Australia - A Unique Perspective on how the Global Restoration Big Dogs Play!

Over the past 30 years Oliver Threlfall has been totally dedicated to the cleaning and restoration industry. He studied biology at Deakin University- before commencing Steamatic in Melbourne, Victoria in 1986. He then completed IICRC (The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) training in various modules and in addition took Microbial and Bioaerosol remediation training under the guidance of Dr. Tullis and Dr. Thulman of Duke University. Steamatic was formed in Australia in 1986 following requests from underwriters to establish proven claims reduction services that had been demonstrated overseas. They then transformed an established cleaning company into a specialist cleaning technologies firm. Oliver is the Steamatic of Australia CEO which makes him a very busy and connected man "down under".

Corbett Lunsford - The Home Performance Worskshop & The Worlds Highest Performance Tiny House on Wheels!

Corbett Lunsford, wasn't a home performance expert- he used to play piano for ballerinas. In 2008, he learned a few things very quickly: construction is unbelievably messy, most pros are over-rushed and under-paid, and homeowners end up suffering in small ways, for their entire lives in a house. None of this has to be so- we can opt out of the whole thing with performance testing. His goal is to package building performance so it can easily be understood and used by professionals and consumers alike, for better buildings worldwide. In 2009, he started teaching pros through the Building Performance Workshop and he has hosted over 300 YouTube videos and 80 interviews for the Building Performance Podcast. He also wrote the book Home Performance Diagnostics: the Guide to Advanced Testing, and developed the APT Reports software tool.
In 2016 he and his wife Grace built the world's highest performance tiny house on wheels, the #TinyLab, and toured the US before settling down in Atlanta, Georgia. Along the way, they created the first TV series about home performance, Home Diagnosis, which airs on public TV across the U.S. Corbett, Grace, and their new baby went on a 13,000 mile, 34-city U.S. Tour from April 2016-January 2017 in the world's highest performance tiny house on wheels, the #TinyLab. Their mission was simple: to revolutionize the home market by teaching consumers and contractors alike to use scientific testing to prove the work gets done to quality standards. Each city on the Proof Is Possible Tour was sponsored by a local company that shared the passion for empowering homeowners and changing the game. Along the way certain cities shared in filming of the couple's TV show Home Diagnosis. They invited over 7,000 strangers into their home on the tour, and now live in Atlanta, Georgia.

Open Mic - Topics for this week include: Current Events, Certification, Standards, Training, Networking & Resources

Today we are going to try something new and if it works we will make it a regular part of the line up. We are going to throw out some topics, invite a few friends and have a discussion about IAQ, disaster restoration and building science. We also encourage listeners to text in your questions or comments. Today we expect to hear from Jay Stake, Eric Shapiro, Carl Grimes, John Downey and Pete Consigli. The topics we will throw out for discussion will come from the list in this week's show title. We have some of the leaders of the industry join us every week so lets take advantage of that and start a conversation. LEARN MORE this week on Iaqradio+.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY - Brett Singer, PhD Group Leader - Indoor Environment Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)

Today we flash back to a great Research to Practice show with Brett C. Singer, PhD. Dr. Singer is the Staff Scientist and Group Leader of Indoor Environment in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He is also a Principal Investigator in the Whole Building Systems Group in the Building Technologies and Urban Systems Division. Dr. Singer conceives and leads research projects related to air pollutant emissions and physical-chemical processes, and pollutant exposures in both outdoor and indoor environments, aiming to understand real world processes and systems that affect air pollutant exposures. 
 
The recent focus of Dr. Singer's work has been indoor environmental quality and risk reduction in high performance homes, with the goal of accelerating adoption of IAQ, comfort, durability and sustainability measures into new homes and retrofits of existing homes. Key focus areas of this work are low-energy systems for filtration, smart ventilation and mitigation approaches to indoor pollutant sources including cooking. Dr. Singer co-developed the Population Impact Assessment Modeling Framework (PIAMF). He holds a PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley

David B. Corry, M.D. - Baylor College of Medicine - Fungi in Health & Disease

This week we welcome Professor of Pathology & Immunology and Medicine, David B. Corry, MD of Baylor College of Medicine, Michael E. Debakey VA Medical Center. We are looking forward to a fascinating discussion on Fungi in Health and Disease with Dr. Corry. 
 
Dr. Corry is a pulmonologist by clinical background and still practices, mostly focusing on allergic airway diseases such as asthma and sinusitis. Most of the time, he is an immunologist and his research focus is into the mechanisms underlying inflammatory lung and other diseases including smoking-related emphysema, asthma, and sinusitis.
 
Among his groups contributions to science, they have shown how fungi cause allergic inflammation-largely through their release of powerful proteases.  They have further demonstrated the ability of fungi to infect the mouse airway and produce a disease that is essentially identical to asthma and further demonstrated that common human disorders such as asthma and chronic sinusitis are often times, in essence chronic fungal infections. His group primarily relies on antifungal medications to treat their asthma and sinusitis patients. It has been revolutionary and they have published some of their experience, with more to come.
 
Dr. Corry also recently published a paper on Candida and how it goes directly from the blood stream to the brain in mice. We will also talk about non respiratory health issues and fungi including the state of evidence on Alzheimers, Chronic Fatigue and other health issues sometimes blamed on Fungi. If you are interested in Fungi and Health don't miss this show.

Shelly Miller, PhD - University of Colorado - The Weatherization, Ventilation & Respiration Puzzle

This week Shelly Miller, PhD joins us to discuss some recent research and thoughts on weatherization, ventilation & respiration. We hear a lot that we need to tighten homes and ventilate them. What does that do with respect to occupant health? Today we will go over some results from work Dr. Miller has done. 
 
Dr. Miller is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder in the Mechanical Engineering Department and faculty in the interdisciplinary undergraduate Environmental Engineering Program. At the University of Colorado Boulder Dr. Miller investigates indoor air quality, assesses exposures to air pollutants, and develops and evaluates air pollution control measures. Her research has included studying weatherization of homes and indoor air quality, understanding the role of ventilation systems in the transmission of infectious agents in buildings, engineering controls for reducing exposures to infectious diseases, studying ultraviolet germicidal coil cleaning technology, source apportionment of particulate matter and associated health effects, characterization of indoor air quality and the microbial communities in homes, and investigating urban air quality issues including industrial odor episodes.  Dr. Miller has received funding for her research program from the US EPA, CDC, NIOSH, NSF, NIH, ASHRAE, HUD, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and various private foundations and industry sponsors.

Henry Gifford - Buildings Don’t Lie

This week Mr. Henry Gifford of Building Energy Science joins us to discuss building science issues and his new book "Buildings Don't Lie".
Henry Gifford has 25+ years experience making buildings energy efficient, using common sense approaches. He's worked on all kinds of buildings, but apartment  houses are his favorite. Henry Gifford has worked on and designed over 40 Energy Efficient buildings and houses.  Henry Gifford is also a well known speaker, an expert on Building Science and using real measurements not just estimates.  
Henry spent 11 years working on this over 500 page masterpiece and created a truly remarkable book. Order your copy and learn all the science behind better buildings. Buildings Don't Lie includes all the science behind creating better buildings and houses.