water & air quality
Left: loft-mounted Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) unit; Right: semi-rigid ducting offers rapid, air tight ventilation installations
housing in England and has one or more of the Category 1 Health Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) hazards. This category includes damp and mould growth because of its direct correlation to aggravating respiratory and dermatological conditions. The report found that Category 1 hazards were responsible for 70 per
cent of the NHS costs associated with poor housing. It also revealed 3.4 million (15 per cent) of England’s 22 million homes have HHSRS Category 1 hazards. The study suggests the NHS could potentially save £600m a year if all the
Category 1 repairs were carried out in housing. However, if vulnerable people continue to live in the poorest 15 per cent of England’s housing, this will cost the NHS around £1.4bn a year in first year treatment costs.
Eyesore
The high visibility of damp and mould growth and the distress this can cause means it is one of the main causes of complaints for housing maintenance teams during the colder months. Relative humidity inside the home is higher, and windows tend to be kept closed trapping moisture-laden air inside. Social housing providers and private landlords often address the
problem of damp and mould growth by upgrading insulation, adding new heating systems, followed by re-plastering and re-decoration. All of these actions can help, but do not tackle the cause of the problem – a serious lack of ventilation. It is a common misconception that turning up the heating will prevent condensation. It doesn’t – the only solution is adequate ventilation.
Whole house approach
In the past, the best way to tackle condensation and mould growth in one particular room was to fit extract fans in the bathroom or kitchen. This can certainly help, but many housing management companies and local authorities are increasingly taking a ‘whole house’ approach to improve ventilation throughout the property. Weary of mould treatments that don’t work, they are looking for longer
term, effective solutions. Retrofit solutions like Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) are helping to improve indoor air quality for residents across the country while mould risk and damage to the fabric of a building. PIV systems work by drawing in fresh, filtered, clean air from outside and gently ventilating the home from a central position – this is usually in the loft, above a landing if installed in a house, or in a central hallway in a flat or bungalow.
They dilute moisture-laden air, displacing it and replacing it to control humidity levels between 45 and 60 per cent.
Permanent solutions
Research such as the BRE study is helping increase public awareness of the impact of damp and mould on health into focus, and highlight the need for permanent solutions. In the past, ventilation has been given a lower priority than heating and insulation when it comes to upgrades. Now, with indoor air quality becoming a more widely recognised issue, whole-house ventilation is being seen as a way to improve the nation’s health and in turn reduce the burden on the NHS.
Andy Makin is managing director of EnviroVent
“It is a common misconception that turning up the heating will prevent condensation”
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM November 2016 | 55
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60