IAQ Radio

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.

Jay Stake - IAQA President - Open Microphone with the New IAQA President

This week we welcome Jay Stake to back to Iaqradio+. Mr. Stake joined us last year right after the Indoor Air Quality Association announced they were leaving the ASHRAE fold. We will preview the upcoming conference, see how things are working out, learn about plans for the future, review 2018 and preview 2019. A few friends of the show will be calling in to join the conversation.
 
Jay Stake is the new Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) President for 2018-19. He is also the owner of J&J Consultants a total indoor air quality assessment company and President of Structural Sciences, Inc. Structural Sciences provides indoor air quality consulting services to the relocation industry throughout North America. Mr. Stake uses a network of 269 inspectors to assist with the relocation of clients in the network. The majority of the inspectors in his network are IAQA members. He has been a member of the IAQA Board of Directors for 3 years and prior served as Vice Chair of the IESO before it became inactive under the ASHRAE umbrella.

Thomas J. Phillips - Healthy Building Research - Davis, CA - The Heat Is On

This week we welcome Tom Phillips to Iaqradio+. Mr. Phillips is a consultant on healthy sustainable buildings and lives in Davis, California. He has spent over 35 years working at the intersection of research and policy addressing public health, pollution, and buildings, mainly at the California Air Resources Board. From 1985 to 2009, he designed and managed research contracts on human exposure to indoor and outdoor pollutants, ventilation, air cleaning, and building ventilation. He also produced health-based guidelines on indoor combustion pollutants and air cleaners. Tom has served as a technical adviser to national, state, and local agencies, NGOs, and private firms on various IAQ issues, climate change adaptation, and green building programs for homes, schools, and offices. Since 2010 Tom has served as the principal scientist at Healthy Building Research, where he has assessed IAQ research needs for net zero energy buildings, effective ways to prevent intrusion of outdoor pollutants, and ways to adapt and mitigate climate change and health impacts in the building sector.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY - William (Bill) Vaughan, PhD Mold Assessment Issues and Answers | Original Air Date: 4-15-16 - Episode 410

Radio Joe and the team of IAQ Training Institute instructors are in Greenville, SC teaching all week so this week we will flash back to a great show we did with Dr. William (Bill) Vaughan about methods for assessing mold contamination and best practices for preparing for clearance air sampling. Over the years Dr. Vaughan has perfected a method for assessing Condition 2 areas in buildings and a method (air polishing) for cleaning the air prior to post remediation verification. He has had great success using and teaching these methods. We look forward to talking in detail today at noon.
 
Dr. William (Bill) Vaughan is President & Principal Scientist for Nauset Environmental Services, Inc. on Cape Cod Massachusetts. He has worked in the area of air quality investigations since the late '60s with a focus on IAQ issues for the last 15-20 years. He and his staff have carried out investigations at more than 3,000 locations in New England. Dr. Vaughan became interested in the IICRC's concept of Condition 2, settled spore, contamination just after the IICRC S520 was initially released in 2003. He asked the question, "If you can't see settled spores and colony fragments, how do you know if they are there much less if they have been cleaned up adequately? His group developed the concept of paired air sampling - quiet and fan-disturbed - to address this question and have been utilizing it productively since 2004. Dr. Vaughan's PhD is in Biophysics from the University of Illinois, Department of Physiology and Biophysics.