Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 21, 1994 TAG: 9404210210
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"Workers" in this surreal setting, a small part of the Virginia Tech Research and Demonstration Facility, also sometimes smoke cigarettes. In all likelihood, they puff a Phillip Morris brand since the tobacco company is among the prime funders of the 14,000-square-foot building dedicated Wednesday.
"We need to learn how to design and build a healthy building," Tech Building Construction Professor Jim Woods told the crowd on hand for the occasion. He also offered no apologies for accepting money from a tobacco company to research how to attain that goal. The company kicked in $900,000 for the building - which cost more than $2 million - and another $300,000 for research.
"We, as architects, cannot decide if tobacco smoke is going to be present [in a building]," he said later.
Bob Schubert, interim assistant dean for research for the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, said if researchers can figure out how to clear cigarette smoke from a building's air, they can get rid of other harmful pollutants, too. "It's not narrowly focused on tobacco smoke," he said. "If it were, I think we would have a problem."
Schubert said research also will look at radon - a known natural carcinogen - and at how to mitigate volatile organic compounds, blamed for what's called "sick building syndrome."
Woods has already been involved in the issue of second-hand cigarette smoke. He was on the Environmental Protection Agency science advisory panel that declared second-hand cigarette smoke a potential carcinogen.
Tech will research innovative indoor environmental controls, said Woods, who directs the college's Indoor Environment Program. What use Phillip Morris makes of the research will be up to the company.
He predicted that good building design and operation could save $60 billion dollars a year, most of that in recovered worker productivity, and "enough to pay most of the interest on our national debt," he added.
Pinning down and regulating the factors that determine how people respond to their indoor environment is the key, he explained. If, for example, a shopper leaves a store because its air quality, temperature, lighting or acoustics are uncomfortable, "there's lost revenue potential," he said.
For his part, Phillip Morris Research and Development Director Harold Burnley conceded that designing a building to accommodate indoor smoking is on the company's agenda.
"Sure, that's part of it," he said. The vertical airflow systems Tech is investigating - in part at Phillip Morris' request - will "keep the breathing zone clear" for individuals in an office, he predicted. "It's a way to isolate the breathing environment for each individual."
Tech research so far indicates a substantial drop in carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulates and total volatile organic compounds in test rooms using vertical displacement ventilation as opposed to conventional variable air volume designs. The new facility can simulate both environments and measure the results with sophisticated, computerized instruments.
Burnley - a Tech alumnus and a smoker - said he "can't imagine why" his company's research donation would generate a conflict of interest. He said his company is no different than any other Virginia firm that might donate money to research activities.
Four years ago, an anti-smoking group criticized Wood for accepting a grant from Phillip Morris while serving on the EPA's panel investigating second-hand smoke, but EPA officials denied there was any conflict of interest as long as Woods' grant was public knowledge.
All but a small percentage of the money to build the Research and Demonstration Facility came from companies and industry groups - the National Concrete Masonry Association among them - that likely will benefit from its scientific studies in the long run. One phase of the facility is devoted to building products innovation.
Ironically, a flood following heavy rains last year carried manure- and fertilizer-contaminated water into the facility and delayed the dedication about a year.
"We had to do a major decontamination process," Woods said. The cleanup had to be chemical-free to avoid tainting future research, he explained.
by CNB