THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170863
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
The City Council voted Tuesday to spend an additional $23,000 on an air-quality study at Churchland High School, bringing the tab to nearly $67,000.
And the bill is expected to climb.
The company - Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern Inc. of Virginia Beach - has completed most of the initial testing at the school, where staffers and students began to complain last year about polluted indoor air.
The company found that most problems stemmed from too little fresh air in the building and a lack of adequate humidity control. The problems aren't related to the building's construction, said City Engineer Richard Hartman.
The $23,000 covers the cost of having the company craft three solutions, compare the effectiveness and price of each solution and then complete design work for the solution eventually chosen.
So far, the city has paid for the study with money left over from construction of Churchland High, Hartman said. The council must later decide how much it's willing to spend on a proposed solution.
On Tuesday, several council members seemed anxious to wrap up the work or to quickly get a handle on the total bill.
``How much longer is this going to go on?'' Council member P. Ward Robinett Jr. asked at one point.
A company representative said Wednesday that the proposals would be ready in no more than four weeks.
Some Churchland High teachers and students say the 3-year-old school suffers from ``sick building syndrome.'' That condition can occur when a combination of faulty heating and inadequate air circulation leads to a buildup of moisture, mold and mildew. About a dozen other schools in the region have reported similar problems.
The council hired Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern in May to study the Churchland situation. Most of the testing was done over the summer.
The mold and mildew have been blamed for some people's aggravated allergies and respiratory difficulties. Inhaling mold or bacteria can cause watery eyes, a runny nose or flulike symptoms. Too little fresh air in a building also can raise carbon dioxide levels - causing headaches, fatigue, nausea or dizziness.
The region's high humidity creates an ideal climate for mold and mildew, which can be found in homes, schools and other buildings throughout Hampton Roads.
Experts say nature probably will give school officials a helping hand with the approach of winter. Cold weather slows the growth of mold and mildew.
Churchland High was built under a previous building code that called for considerably less fresh-air ventilation than the current code.
Starting in 1974, building codes were drastically changed to reduce fresh-air ventilation. Across the country, buildings were designed to be cocoons, circulating the same air over and over in order to save energy.
The current code - from 1993 - calls for about three times as much fresh or ``outdoor'' air, compared with its most recent predecessor. The new I.C. Norcom High will comply with the 1993 standard, Hartman said.
No enforceable rules for indoor air quality currently exist.
KEYWORDS: SICK BUILDING BUILDING CODE by CNB