The First Facility Management Blog

The American Indoor Air Quality Council (IAQ Council) has launched a campaign against consumer fraud in the environmental consulting and remediation industries. In response to increasing misuse of its certification marks by non-certified individuals and companies, the IAQ Council is now taking formal steps to halt the misrepresentation of IAQ Council credentials.

“It’s a problem that has been growing for some time,” said Charlie Wiles, IAQ Council executive director. “This campaign represents our decision to address it aggressively.”

The campaign targets the use of IAQ Council certification marks by individuals who have never held IAQ Council certifications, individuals whose certifications have lapsed or expired, and companies who do not employ Council-certified professionals.

“We offer the most respected certifications in indoor air quality and we are not surprised that some would seek to trade on our name inappropriately,” said Wiles. “The bottom line, however, is that it’s fraud - and we plan to fight it.”

The IAQ Council has formally encouraged certificants and consumers to anonymously report suspected cases of consumer fraud by making use of its online database of current certificants. This database is open to the public and is searchable by certificant name, company name or zip code. Updated every Friday, the Council ensures it is an accurate list of who is currently certified.

The IAQ Council has sent letters to approximately 50 companies and individuals to date, requesting that Web sites and other advertising materials be corrected. If a company or individual has ignored the request, the IAQ Council will respond with a certified letter and begin formal complaint proceedings with the company’s local Better Business Bureau, county attorney, state attorney general, and appropriate state licensing agencies.

“We owe it to our certificants to protect the integrity and credibility of their designations,” said Wiles. “We will take every step necessary to fulfill this obligation.”

About the Council
The American Indoor Air Quality Council is a non-profit certifying body founded in 1993 to serve the indoor air quality industry. The IAQ Council operates independent, third-party accredited certification programs for indoor environmental consultants, microbial consultants, microbial remediators, indoor air quality administrators and residential mold inspectors. The IAQ Council certifies more than 5,000 professionals in the United States, Canada and overseas.

The American Indoor Air Quality Council has announced that its certifications are compliant with international standards for program operation developed by the International Organization for Standardization.

ISO standards 9000, 9001, 9004, 17000, and 17024 apply to organizations conducting personnel certification programs. The IAQ Council is the first certifying body in the indoor air quality industry to comply with these standards.

“The IAQ Council is dedicated to providing the most credible certifications in indoor air quality,” said Charlie Wiles, IAQ Council executive director. “This announcement signals another important step in maintaining our credibility.”

ISO-compliant certifying bodies must meet rigorous standards for program operation and maintenance, including independence from certification-related training, exclusion of trainers from participation in certification decisions, and documented procedures for safeguarding impartiality and confidentiality.

“Compliance with ISO standards sets IAQ Council certifications apart,” said Wiles. “At the same time, it reflects practices that we have followed since the founding of our organization.”

The American Indoor Air Quality Council is a non-profit certifying body founded in 1993 to serve the indoor air quality industry. The IAQ Council operates independent, third-party accredited certification programs for indoor environmental consultants, microbial consultants, microbial remediators, indoor air quality administrators, and residential mold inspectors.

This story contrasts a FacilityBlog Weird Wednesday post about a fast food chain in China that was losing business because of its smoke free policy. In Minnesota, bar owners are going to great lengths to undermine the state’s new cigarette ban.

According to a 3/8/08 article from Ed Pilkington of The Guardian:

More than 100 bars across the state have started holding “theater nights” in which patrons are encouraged to dress up in period costume and project their voices, playbills are pinned on the walls, and bar paraphernalia makes up the props.

The bars are seeking to bypass a smoking ban introduced last October by exploiting a loophole that allows cigarettes to be puffed in theatrical productions.

The creative idea was the brainchild of Mark Benjamin, a lawyer who feels the policy infringes on the rights of citizens. (How do you like that, Poor Richard?)

Pilkington continues,

Bars have taken to calling their theater nights “Before the Ban”, which allows them to claim that their customers are in character playing themselves before the October injunction came down. Black cloth is draped over entrances, with notices saying “Stage Entrance”. And ashtrays are piled up under the label “Props”. Other bars hand out badges to anyone who donates a dollar saying “Act Now!”

Officials in the state are warning makeshift “theaters” that they are still breaking the law, an act that could cost as much as $10,000 and result in the loss of the bar’s operating license.

The HON Company’s laminate case good workstations have been certified by Scientific Certification System (SCS) Indoor Advantage program. Certification in this program signifies that the product has met rigorous criteria for indoor air quality standards (IAQ) in the United States.

This certification marks The HON Company’s ninth product line in two years to receive either SCS Indoor Advantage or SCS Indoor Advantage Gold recognition, cementing the company’s ongoing environmental commitment and active participation in sustainability initiatives, as well as its support of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system.

SCS, a third-party auditor and certifier of environmental and sustainability claims, has developed internationally recognized standards and certification programs designed to help manufacturers meet the highest level of environmental and quality performance. The SCS Indoor Advantage certification program tests and certifies products for indoor air quality.

“As one of the largest providers of professional office furniture, The HON Company is committed to developing products that incorporate sustainable design with minimal impact on the environment,” said Eric Jackson, vice president of wood case goods for The HON Company. “Achieving the Indoor Advantage certification from SCS guarantees that we offer our customers all the benefits of traditional workstations with the additional benefits of environmental performance.”

The HON Company strives to emphasize efficiency and waste elimination in all of its operations. To this end, the IAQ certification process is an extension of The HON Company’s commitment to find new and innovative ways to bring sustainable products to market.

Additionally, as part of The HON Company’s initiative to ensure all products adhere to the LEED system standards, the company also makes material improvements to existing lines. As such, several furniture lines, in addition to the newly certified laminate casegoods collection, have received the SCS Indoor Advantage Gold certification. These include the F3™, 7800 and Pillowsoft seating lines; all metal storage products; and the Accomplish™ line of classroom furniture.

(Pictured: HON Park Avenue Laminate Office)

Today (9/20/07), the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) announced it will recognize certain American Indoor Air Quality Council certifications in its Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) certification maintenance program.

Effective immediately, any CIH who earns the Council-certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC) designation or the Council-certified Microbial Consultant (CMC) designation will receive 2.5 certification maintenance points toward recertification as a CIH.

“Industrial hygiene and indoor air quality have always been closely related,” said Charlie Wiles, IAQ Council executive director. “This announcement confirms that relationship and helps to establish IAQ Council certifications as the standard for our industry.”

Wiles noted that many CIECs and CMCs hold the CIH designation and predicted that many more will take advantage of the new program. “It is entirely appropriate that our certificants be recognized for holding the only accredited certifications in the IAQ industry,” he said. “They are truly the finest practitioners in their field.”

The American Indoor Air Quality Council is a non-profit certifying body founded in 1993 to serve the indoor air quality industry. The IAQ Council operates independent, third party accredited certification programs for indoor environmental consultants, microbial consultants, microbial remediators, indoor air quality administrators, and residential mold inspectors. The IAQ Council certifies more than 5,000 professionals in the United States, Canada, and overseas.

The American Indoor Air Quality Council (IAQ Council) has announced an addition to its Web site: a locator service listing insured companies that employ IAQ Council certified professionals. Companies that carry professional liability insurance will be listed in the locator upon request, along with the names of IAQ Council certificants in their employment.

The American IAQ Council has always encouraged consumers to inquire about professional insurance when hiring Council certified professionals. Now the IAQ Council has done some of the legwork for them. “Professional insurance and IAQ Council certification are important marks of reliability and credibility in the indoor air quality industry,” said Charlie Wiles, IAQ Council executive director.

“At the same time, the locator allows consumers to verify the quality and reputation of the firms they are hiring,” said Wiles. “We believe the industry as a whole will benefit from this service.”

The locator database is searchable by zip code or company name and will return all qualifying companies within 100 miles of the zip code entered. Listing in the locator is provided free of charge as a service to IAQ Council certificants and their employers. Listings include company name, certificant name, and professional insurance carrier. Consumers are encouraged to inquire further about coverage for specialty risks such as mold.

The IAQ Council operates independent, third-party accredited certification programs for indoor environmental consultants, microbial consultants, microbial remediators, indoor air quality administrators, and residential mold inspectors. The IAQ Council certifies more than 5,000 professionals in the United States, Canada, and overseas.

In today’s marketplace, a green building means an energy efficient, healthy building, but nothing can tarnish that sparkling image faster than indoor mold growth. Lenders and insurers as well as facility managers know that when mold takes hold, it can cause deterioration of building materials, which can be expensive and inconvenient to replace. Indoor mold growth also can become a source of indoor air pollutants, which can lead to serious health problems, including allergic reactions and asthma attacks.

To help take the guesswork out of selecting building materials that resist mold growth and to support product manufacturers in their efforts to provide products that meet this critical need, Air Quality Sciences (AQS) has developed a targeted test method that reliably predicts the ability of newly manufactured building materials to resist mold growth. The test method that supports this rating system, Method For Measuring Microbial Resistance From Various Sources Using Static Environmental Chambers, is based on ASTM D 6329-98 (2003), Standard Guide for Developing Methodology for Evaluating the Ability of Indoor Materials to Support Microbial Growth Using Static Environmental Chambers, which was developed for the study of indoor materials.

Unlike other ASTM test methods used to evaluate microbial resistance, the AQS mold resistance test method provides quantitative results across a wide variety of building materials within a reasonable amount of time and under conditions favorable for indoor mold growth. Once tested, a newly manufactured product receives a performance rating based on a quantitative growth of mold colonies during testing. Products measured to be resistant are eligible to be listed under the new GREENGUARD program.

“This publicly available listing of mold resistant products, which may be found on the GREENGUARD Web site, is an invaluable resource for specifiers, contractors, builders, and others who may use these products,” said Marilyn S. Black, PhD, CEO and chief scientist of AQS.

AQS conducted a rigorous trial of the test method, followed by a year long pilot study of various products. A white paper that provides perspective on the usefulness of this new test method and rating system is currently available here.

Mold.pdf

In late May, the International Code Council approved an ASHRAE proposal to incorporate the prescriptive ventilation rate procedure from ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2004, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, in the International Mechanical Code (IMC). The code establishes minimum regulations adopted and implemented by federal, state and local government agencies for mechanical systems in new buildings. Approval of ASHRAE’s Standard 62.1 ventilation rate calculation procedure marks a milestone for the high-profile mandatory language standard after years of development aimed at code adoption.

“With adoption of the new ventilation rates into building codes, we can expect to see reduced air intake flow in many previously over ventilated buildings,” says Dennis Stanke, chair of the 62.1 committee. “With adoption of the new calculation procedures, we can expect to see improved indoor air quality in many previously under-ventilated multiple-zone systems. Ventilation systems with lower outdoor rates compared to the current code reduce both first costs and energy costs, while system designs that account properly for air distribution within buildings result in better indoor air quality than designs based on over-simplified air distribution assumptions.”

The current ventilation criteria in the IMC are based on ASHRAE Standard 62-1989. Based on 20 years of IAQ research and experience with ventilation system design, ASHRAE introduced an improved version of the standard in 2004 to include the new rates and calculation procedures. This code change makes both the IMC and the 2006 Uniform Mechanical Code consistent with the ASHRAE standard.

“The new ventilation rate procedure requires designers to account for pollutant sources from both the building and its occupants, and to account for the efficiency of different ventilation systems when delivering outdoor air to the breathing zone,” Stanke said.

The new requirements will be included in the 2007 IMC Supplement.

Purafil, Inc. is proud to announce that the Purafilter– OA (Outside Air) was recently award the Gold Award for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in the 2007 Dealer Design Awards (DDA).
Chris Muller, Purafil Technical Director, explained, “We looked at the major contaminants in outside air such as nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, ozone, and VOCs, and designed the Purafilter– OA to better address these contaminants than other Purafil media types.”

The DDA’s recognize contractor-oriented products with features that assist in installation, maintenance, and service of installed products to the HVAC&R industry. An independent panel of 51 contractors acted as judges in the contest that had 106 entries from 73 manufacturers. The product entries are divided into 13 categories and the winners are presented with Gold, Silver or Bronze awards along with 13 Honorable Mentions. Each product entry was rated based on ease of installation, maintenance, service, overall design, uniqueness, and impact on the HVAC&R industry.

The Purafilter– OA is a combination particulate and chemical filter. As the product’s name denotes, the Purafilter– OA is designed for use in high-occupancy commercial environments, such as hospitals, office buildings and airports, in which the outdoor air quality is questionable and optimal indoor air quality is a requirement. Yet in addition to those environments, the Purafilter– OA can be used in other facilities for general odor control from indoor or outdoor contaminant sources.

Under its certification program, GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) will test blinds, shutters, shades, louvers, curtains, and drapes. With this latest addition, GEI now performs testing for 18 major product categories that can be used to finish and furnish interior spaces.

The parameters to which window treatments will be tested can be viewed on the GEI Web site in the Certification Programs/GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified section.