NAA/NMHC Publish Best Practices White Paper To Design and Build More Moisture and Mold-Resistant Apartments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 26, 2005
WASHINGTON, DC -- Continuing their leadership role on the issue of healthy indoor environments in apartment properties, the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) and the National Apartment Association (NAA) have published a new white paper to acquaint property developers with construction materials and techniques that will maximize a building’s potential to resist damage by excessive moisture and mold growth.
“Mold is an all-too-familiar problem for anyone who owns, manages or develops real estate,” noted Eileen Lee, NMHC/NAA Vice President of Environment. “While it is impossible to make a building ‘mold proof,’ building owners and design and construction professionals can minimize the risk of mold growth through proper planning and the use of appropriate building materials and construction techniques.”
NMHC/NAA’s white paper, Best Practices for Reducing Moisture Intrusion and Excessive Mold Growth during Construction and Renovation, offers comprehensive guidance from pre-construction considerations to selecting building products and designing building components such as wall systems, foundations, heating and air conditioning, and much more.
It includes chapters on new mold- and moisture-resistant building materials as well as sophisticated new computer modeling programs that can be used to analyze the moisture potential of a particular property given its design, height, location, exposure to wind and other factors.
Because efforts to control moisture and mold must be part of the initial building planning and design phase, the white paper includes a “Discussion Checklist” that property owners can use with their architects and contractors to make sure all the possible risk mitigating practices have been considered.
In 2002, NMHC/NAA published an Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Plan for Mold and Moisture Control to help apartment owners develop formal mold/moisture control procedures and integrate those practices into their existing maintenance procedures. That document covers training, routine maintenance, remediation techniques, recommended documentation and sample communications plans to educate residents about mold.