UPDATED: August 25, 2021
Improving Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a top concern as campuses prepare for the return of students, faculty, and staff. Practical and accessible solutions to improve the IAQ are essential to help prevent indoor air pollution, caused by the spread of harmful viruses and pathogens, especially with the evolving variants of Covid-19 (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta).
Poor IAQ can lead to health problems and even encourage the spread of germs and viruses as well as affect the comfort, attention span, and performance of students, faculty, and staff. Providing safe and healthy places of learning for everyone to learn and thrive, should be a priority for decision-makers across the nation.
How can your campus protect students, faculty, and staff against getting sick and spreading viruses?
Improve Indoor Air Quality to help prevent mold and kill unwanted pathogens and viruses.
Clean air is an essential part of living healthy. Indoor air pollution is caused by the release of gases, particles, bacterias, and VOCs, that are often trapped inside due to inadequate ventilation. High temperatures and humidity can also attribute to an increase of pollutants indoors.
“Good IAQ contributes to a favorable environment for students, performance of teachers and staff and a sense of comfort, health and well-being. These elements combine to assist a school in its core mission — educating children.” 1
The tankless ENERGY STAR® Certified IW25-4 IN Wall/ ON Wall dehumidifier with Bi-Polar Ion Generator removes up to 29 pints of moisture in apartments, ideal for student housing. The tamper-proof IW25-4 Dehumidifier is the first mountable and tamper-proof dehumidifier, with a digital controlled humidistat concealed behind the front cover, making adjustments by students, and faculty inaccessible.
REMOVE MOISTURE • LOWER HUMIDITY
It’s That Simple
Mold Remediation vs Long Term Mold Prevention in Student Housing
Mold is everywhere and causes problems when it begins to grow inside. Reports of mold in student housing are becoming more and more common; a quick search on google for “mold in student housing” found over 12 million results. Mold remediation is possible but only focuses on the removal and cleaning of affected areas, so what’s next?
How can you prevent mold from coming back… Remove the moisture!
Moisture is added to the air continuously through the day from a long list of activities including showers (lots of showers), laundry, food, perspiration, accidental spills and even the forgotten wet towels (aka tenant behavior). Mold growth is the result of moisture, oxygen, and a food source (protein); molds extract their food from materials in order to grow and reproduce. Mold spores are extremely adaptable and can even grow on materials such as clothing, furniture, or painted surfaces, cabinet glue, and leather if a small amount of protein (food) is available. Supplemental dehumidification can easily control moisture to help avoid the health hazards and liability associated with mold growth.
Many universities have developed a multi-faceted approach to ensure moisture control, dehumidification, and mold prevention in student housing. The Innovative Dehumidifier Systems team has assisted multiple universities and private student housing to confidently resolve issues related to high humidity and mold growth. As the pioneers of commercial In-Wall dehumidifiers, the IW-25 helps maintain relative humidity below 60 percent reducing the potential for microbials and mold growth. Designed to resolve moisture-related issues caused by occupant behavior, the ENERGY STAR® Certified IW25-4 In-Wall dehumidifier’s controls are concealed behind a tamper-proof cover, making adjustments inaccessible to occupants.
The safety, health, and well-being of students and residents is a top priority. In order to prevent future mold growth, remove the moisture because mold cannot grow without moisture. The IW25-4 in-wall dehumidifier effortlessly removes moisture to help prevent future dangers associated with mold.
The Innovative Dehumidifier System team is available to answer questions about mold remediation versus prevention and how supplemental dehumidification is the best solution for student housing. Contact us at (910) 579-3348 or info@innovativedehu.com.
SOURCES:
- EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency: Reference Guide for Indoor Air Quality in Schools: Section 1 – Why IAQ is Important to Your School; July 30,2020
https://www.epa.gov/iaq-schools/reference-guide-indoor-air-quality-schools
