Odor Investigation
Project: Senior Medical Care Center
Scope of Work: Indoor Air Quality Testing
Overview:
The testing was requested by the owner of a Senior Care Facility due to specific rooms having spots on the walls which was suspected to be mold. EEC performed an initial walk through inspection of the facility, and proposed a follow up inspection and testing plan based on the original walk through. The scope of work included the use of a moisture meter, infra-red camera inspection, measuring the comfort parameters (temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide levels) and performing non-viable fungal spore testing of the air and swab samples of suspect hard surfaces for fungal spores. In some rooms it appeared the possible water source for the air quality problems was the shower stall overflowing to the floor, to the adjacent baseboard and then around the corner to the backside of the shower wall. This was confirmed with the moisture meter and also with the infra red camera as wall area was affected on the baseboard by water. There were individual thermostats in each unit. They were also equipped with humidity control settings. The relative humidity and carbon dioxide readings were erratic indicating the AC system was out of balance. The AC contractor of this two year old facility was called in to recheck the system. Once the humidity control was re-established the spots on the walls ceased.
Project: Office Building (4,500 sf) – Lakeland, Florida
Scope of Work: Indoor Air Quality Testing
Overview:
The sampling was requested by the landlord due to employee concerns and because of an odor in the facility. The testing was performed to insure acceptable air quality for the employees. Non-Viable Fungal Air samples were collected using the Air-O-Cell cassette sampling method. The cassettes are connected to an air pump that draws air through the filter media at a rate of 15 liters per minute. The air quality for fungus was tested and determined to be acceptable. EEC determined that the source of the odor was from the coil and pan not draining properly. It is possible that this unit was not cleaned regularly. EEC recommended cleaning the coil and drain pan and adjusting the drain line as necessary. In addition, EEC recommended inspecting the duct work to determine if it needs to be cleaned.