Mold on Campus

The problem has been with us for years.  In the 1980s, as a married student with small children, my wife and I were living in a campus-run housing development and mold began showing up on the inside of the exterior walls, just below the windows. My wife would clean the walls with bleach and, soon thereafter, it seems the problem would return. Our neighbors began having similar mold issues and it wasn't long thereafter when the campus housing group came through and addressed both the HVAC problems and the insulation in the buildings, including the installation of a new interior wall.  That resolved the problem, at least for the duration of our stay.

Photo source and Wake Forest article here

Fast forward to 2019 and mold on campus is still poses significant problems for university facilities departments across the country.  An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education quoted one student as saying, “I realize that housing is doing the best that they can. But this is definitely an inconvenient thing to have to deal with, and definitely made my semester harder than it already was.” All commercial and residential construction is prone to moisture and temperature control problems, and mold mitigation is big business.  But the confined and "assigned" nature of university housing, in particular, makes dealing with it absolutely critical.

The purpose of this post is to share two important resources for facilities managers:

The first is the EPA's own resource page, here, that outlines best practices for addressing (and inhibiting) mold growth in buildings.  A number of excellent documents are linked to the page, as well.  The page and the EPA's mitigation guide (linked on page) serves "as a reference for potential mold and moisture remediators. Using this document, individuals with little or no experience with mold remediation should be able to make a reasonable judgment as to whether the situation can be handled in-house. It will help those in charge of maintenance to evaluate an in-house remediation plan or a remediation plan submitted by an outside contractor. Contractors and other professionals who respond to mold and moisture situations in commercial buildings and schools may also want to refer to these guidelines."

The second is a page related to the US Green Building Council's LEED program and a possible point for mold remediation, linked here.  Many institutions (including all in our Maryland system) are required to utilize LEED or a similar high performance rating system in the design and construction of our buildings. Given the similarly important goal of addressing mold on campus, it seems reasonable that we'd likewise be interested in achieving this alternative point. The details for doing so are shown on the linked page. The stated goal of the possible point is "to reduce the potential presence of mold in schools through preventive design and construction measures."  Credits in indoor air quality and thermal comfort must be achieved.