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Weatherization Plus Moisture Add Up to Health Hazard

December 21, 2009 - PORTLAND -- Weatherizing a home can make its occupants sick, experts in indoor air quality are warning.

Sealing air leaks and adding insulation can cause or increase health threats that include mold, radon and carbon monoxide.

The answer isn't to live in a drafty, hard-to-heat house. The solution is to take steps to reduce moisture, install proper ventilation and control contamination as part of the weatherization process.

"When you're weatherizing, don't do any harm," said Bill Turner, president of Turner Building Science & Design LLC of Harrison.

Turner made that point during the past three days to energy auditors, weatherization crews, contractors and other professionals at seminars around the state. They came together to field test a first-of-its kind training program, sponsored by the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The goal is to develop a formal set of rules to help the country's growing weatherization industry evaluate and address indoor air quality problems. The council will hold its first training program in February, in Augusta.

The information is important for homeowners. Experts said the message for them isn't to be alarmed and put off energy upgrades, but to be aware.

The focus on indoor air quality is timely.

Maine has some of the oldest homes and highest heating bills in the nation. Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a law that includes the goal of weatherizing every home and half of all businesses by 2030.

The federal government, meanwhile, is pumping millions of dollars of economic stimulus money into the state, earmarked for weatherization. Government officials recognized Maine this week for running one of the strongest weatherization programs in the country.

Maine is a complicated place, however, when it comes to weatherization.

Maine's older homes typically lack exhaust fans that pull moist air from bathrooms and kitchens, where it can contribute to mold and mildew growth.

The stone foundations, dirt floors and high water tables that are common here have caused problems for generations. The trouble gets worse when caulk, weatherstripping and insulation seal the pathways for moisture and hazardous gases to escape.

"Maine basements, in general, are a mess," said Christine Crocker, the Indoor Air Quality Council's executive director. "If people have a wet basement, they need to deal with the moisture issue before they undertake weatherization."

Maine has a growing army of professionals who evaluate home energy performance and do weatherization work.

Some work for community action agencies that tighten up low-income residents' homes through the Maine State Housing Authority. Others, associated with Efficiency Maine, are gearing up for an expanded, government-sponsored program aimed at the middle class. Others focus on the private market.

All go through certification programs that, to varying degrees, raise awareness of indoor air quality issues.

The training falls short of laying out a formal protocol for identifying and solving common moisture problems, said Turner and Crocker.

What's more, not all contractors who install insulation or provide weatherization services for the private market are certified, and that raises concerns.

"Anybody can hang out a shingle and do this work," said Bob Howe, chief executive officer of the Maine Association of Building Efficiency Professionals.

The association is a recently formed group of evaluators, insulation contractors and businesses in the green building field. The group will hold its first annual training meeting next month in Portland.

It's a good idea, Howe said, for homeowners to make sure that anyone who does work for them identifies potential problems with moisture, ventilation, radon gas and combustion from furnaces and stoves. Such issues should be in a list of priorities for the most cost-effective weatherization measures.

Homeowners also should use common sense, said Charles Wing, a nationally recognized home energy expert and author who lives in West Bath.

Most of Maine's older homes are very leaky, he said. People can take basic air-sealing steps – such as weatherstripping, caulking and tightening windows – and not worry about degrading indoor air quality.

But for residents who have damp basements and mild mold problems, the answer is to dry the cellar first, not rely on adding ventilation.

"It's not that the house is too tight – it's that the basement is too wet," Wing said.

By TUX TURKEL, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, December 17, 2009


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