SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A labor union that represents workers at the Springfield Courthouse held another protest ahead of a trial before the Supreme Judicial Court now scheduled for next week.

People working inside the Roderick Ireland Courthouse continue to fight for a new building, as reported mold issues persist and as a lawsuit gets ready to take place in Boston. The OPEIU Local 6 and those who work inside the Springfield Courthouse were back in front once again Monday afternoon ahead of a lawsuit involving the Trial Court set to be heard by the Supreme Judicial Court May 3rd.

The trial will be livestreamed here: https://boston.suffolk.edu/sjc/

The Supreme Judicial Court requested a one-week continuance of trial, while finalizing a settlement agreement. It was originally scheduled for Wednesday, April 27th.

The lawsuit is for the concern of mold and unhealthy air quality within the Roderick Ireland Courthouse. Technicians hired by the Massachusetts Trial Court found airborne PCBs in two rooms last month, according to an air-quality report released last Friday. An independent study earlier this year found toxic, cancer-causing mold inside the building.

New air quality report for the Roderick Ireland Courthouse

“I have a hazmat suit on because this is what everyone needs to have on right now.”

Workers hoping their message is heard that the courthouse is an unsafe place to work.

“Get your people out of here. Put them in a safe environment where they are not breathing in these mold spores, where we are not breathing in this unsafe material.” Cindy Palmer, Probation Case Specialist working in the Roderick Ireland Courthouse

A local union representing these workers has been holding rallies outside the court house over the past several weeks demanding the state shutdown the building and build a new one.

“I’ve always had a little bit of allergies but the last 15 years I’ve had sinus infections.” Donna Jaskula, OPEIU Local 6

Before moving to a temporary work location, Donna Jaskula has worked in the courthouse for the last 17 years. She’s blaming the recent mold findings as the cause for her asthma because of the buildings air quality.

“I’m hoping that they will tear the building down and built a new courthouse because this building you can’t cover up mold, I think it keeps growing back.”

An upcoming courthouse could be built in Springfield

The latest assessment, which was conducted on April 1, said conditions are improving and mold is not impacting the indoor air throughout most of the building. A court date now set for Tuesday May 3rd, in Boston.

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Based on Public Health’s latest data from Monday, April 25th, our rate of cases now puts King County into the Medium COVID-19 Community Level as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): over 200 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period.  

While the CDC “medium” risk category is not a magic threshold, meaning something has suddenly or fundamentally changed about the outbreak, it does tell us that COVID-19 risk is increasing for individuals and for our community. We can use this information to lower our own risk and those around us by increasing our protection.

To limit spread of COVID-19, Public Health recommends using layered prevention measures. These include:

• Get up-to-date on all recommend COVID-19 vaccine and boosters . Help improve indoor air by increasing ventilation or using HEPA filers. Find out what is being done to improve indoor air in places where you spend time. If the air seems stuffy, ventilation may not be good. Look for open windows and doors.
• Consider testing before indoor group gatherings, especially if high risk people are present. Test and isolate if symptoms develop or you’ve been exposed to someone with COVID-19. If you’ve had COVID-19, and your fever is gone and symptoms improving, consider testing if you are leaving isolation before day 10. And please, remember to continue wearing a well-fitting mask through Day 10
• Choose outdoor activities and dining when possible. Wear a high-quality (N95, KN95, KF94) and well-gitting mask in crowded indoor spaces. A high-quality mask can reduce can reduce your risk of infection where risk is greatest such as at an indoor event in a setting with poor ventilation. This is especially important for people who are immunocompromised or unvaccinated and people who are not up to date with their vaccinations (including boosters)

What the numbers tell us

We know the number of reported cases is an underestimate of the actual current level of COVID-19 in the community. That’s because more people are using at-home rapid test results that are often unreported to health officials and some people don’t get tested at all.

While cases have been rising gradually over the past month, hospitalizations and deaths remain relatively low, thanks primarily to the protection against serious illness that vaccinations and boosters are providing to most King County residents.

As King County Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin reflects, “that hospitalizations and deaths are stable and relatively low is a good sign that people who are vaccinated and boosted have great protection from serious infections. This can change if cases continue to increase, but so far, it’s reassuring.”

COVID-19 activity can rise and fall in response to several factors. For example, the amount of virus in our community can change based on whether we take more or fewer precautions. Levels can also change when new variants emerge and if they spread more readily, cause more severe illness, or dodge protection from vaccines and past infection.  And levels can shift depending on if or when protection from vaccination or past infection decreases over time.

“Preventing hospitalizations and deaths is the top priority, and our vaccines are currently doing a great job on this front,” says King County Health Officer Jeff Duchin. “Although we’re not able to count every case, every case counts because even less severe COVID-19 can lead to long COVID in an estimated 10-30% of cases, with brain, heart and lung problems that can make it difficult to work and do normal activities. People with less severe infections can also spread COVID-19 to others, including people at high risk. And some people will get severe infections, especially those who are unvaccinated such as children under five,” says Dr. Duchin.

What about any new restrictions?

At this time, we are re-emphasizing our recommendations for layered prevention measures described above and are not issuing any new requirements or restrictions in King County.

Public Health will continue to monitor our local situation to determine whether additional measures will be needed to optimally protect the health of our community.

Looking ahead

It’s not possible to predict if cases will continue to rise, when they might fall, or when they might rise again, but we expect ongoing ups and downs over the next few years based on what variants emerge, population immunity and other factors. By increasing our prevention steps when more virus is circulating, as it is currently, we can help prevent larger surges and lower our risk.

Going forward, to decrease risk over time, it’s critical to continue to focus on sustainable, long-term strategies, such as increasing opportunities to improve indoor air quality and confronting structural and systemic disparities that place some communities at greater risk for more severe impacts from COVID-19.

Watch video on how to reduce risk

This latest video highlights the key recommended steps that can help reduce risk.

Originally published 4/25/22

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Online presentation has heard from an engineering expert about how better design can ensure lower carbon approaches to improve indoor air quality and ventilation in buildings

A recent BESA webinar has argued that it is possible to improve IAQ and ventilation rates in buildings in line with national decarbonisation ambitions.

Ella Clark, a mechanical engineer with AECOM and a committee member with the British Council for Offices, said it was important to build understanding that lower carbon approaches to improving air quality were possible with sufficient design.

She said during the webinar, “We now know that doubling the rate of ventilation reduces the spread of Covid-19 by around half and that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends ventilation as a first-line strategy for getting people back to the office.”

“We can make our HVAC systems pandemic resilient and design buildings with excellent indoor air quality (IAQ) that are also low carbon.”

Ms Clark argued that effective natural ventilation was the most energy efficient approach to ensure air flow into buildings. This approach could also save money in terms of operational costs of running a building.

However, there were some setbacks due to the risk of polluted external air and contaminants entering a building without additional treatment, Ms Clark added.

She said, “Many studies show that the IAQ can be considerably worse than the outdoor air in these circumstances…and 75 per cent of urban areas in the UK are above the WHO recommendations for air quality.”

Technologies such as radiant heating and cooling panels, ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR), and direct evaporative cooling systems were all highlighted by Ms Clark as technologies that can efficiently ensure better IAQ rates.

The webinar was told that displacement ventilation could also play a part in addressing occupant demand for lower carbon solutions by affectively removing pathogens in an air supply.

Ms Clark said, “Displacement ventilation is a good option because it is more effective at drawing away pathogens compared with top-down air mixing,” she explained. “It can reduce energy cost by 20 per cent because it allows air to be introduced into the occupied space at higher temperatures so reducing the need for cooling power. However, it does require larger volumes of air so needs bigger air handling units etc.”

The BCO’s own recommendations suggest that a good standard for ensuring occupant comfort and wellbeing was to ensure that a temperature that is maintained between 20 deg C to 24 deg C, while also ensuring 12 litres per second per person of clean air into a building. This figure should be increased by 10 per cent in cases of higher density occupancy, according to the research.

Humidity challenge

The relative humidity of an indoor space was another vital factor for consideration by engineers and building managers.

Ms Clark noted during the BESA webinar that studies performed by the BCO found the average relative humidity of surveyed buildings to be at 38 per cent.  Current recommendations for acceptable humidity levels to ensure a healthy and productive environment to work in are set at between 40 and 60 per cent.

Ms Clark argued that a relative humidity of 35 per cent in an environment had been linked to sore throats and eye irritation. Lower levels of humidity were then linked to even more serious conditions.

She said, “At 23 per cent relative humidity, more than 70 per cent of flu particles remain infectious after an hour in the air, but at 43 per cent [humidity] that falls to just 14 per cent according to a range of studies.”

“However, providing those conditions can lead to an energy penalty if you use humidifiers. Adding an extra 0.28 l/s pp can increase energy demand by 0.6kWh/m2 per annum which is 5,000 kw annually for a large office.”

The webinar also heard how mechanical ventilation should be seen of providing a more controllable approach to meet the specific air quality needs of a building, such as by using filtration solutions to limit the ingress of pollutants into occupied spaces.

Ms Clark said, “We want to ensure that we are filtering down to PM2.5. There are HEPA filters and ULPA filters which are typically used in clean rooms in hospitals.”

“You will get a higher pressure drop across these filters and they do also have to be maintained, but we can still find the balance between healthy indoor conditions and sustainability if we use the right design approach.”

The webinar followed the recent publication of a free IAQ guidance from BESA. The ‘Buildings as Safe Havens – a practical guide’ document, which has been produced with support from Mitsubishi Electric, provides practical guidance around assessing and implementing ventilation, filtration and air cleaning solutions.

BESA said the document was the third free IAQ guide it has published over the last year with the aim of addressing the “significant number” of under-ventilated buildings across the UK.

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Spring is also an ideal time to make functional and aesthetic updates to your home, including surfaces in oft-used rooms like kitchens and bathrooms. From countertops to closets, Wilsonart, a world-class innovator of next generation engineered surfaces, manufactures and distributes high pressure laminate, quartz, solid surface, coordinated thermally fused laminate, edgebanding and other decorative, engineered surface options. Infusing style from nature, the full line of products provides nearly endless design possibilities with lasting durability and beauty to help redefine living spaces and bring ideas to life.

Get started on your home upgrade this spring with these ideas:

Reimagine Your Bathroom Walls
Bathrooms are one of the most oft-improved spaces in many homes with style and long-term durability at the top of homeowners’ wish lists. An on-trend option like the Water-Proof Wall Panel System from Wetwall, a Wilsonart Company, makes it easy to transform bathrooms and create spa-worthy retreats that deliver high-end style without disruptive demolitions. Ideal for shower walls, bath surrounds, accent walls and cladding, the easy-to-clean, grout-free system features tongue-and-groove panels that can be installed in as little as 2 1/2 hours and don’t require special tools. For more information, visit wetwall.com.

Enhance Your Surface Spaces
As the line between residential and commercial design continues to intertwine, the High Pressure Laminate Stone Collection from Wilsonart offers surfaces to enhance your home environment and create comfortable and inviting spaces. With 16 designs reminiscent of natural stone surfaces, the collection offers a casual look with authentic characteristics and veining details. Able to withstand the rigors of most interior environments, the “no-fuss” surfaces are low-maintenance solutions, GREENGUARD Gold Certified to meet low chemical emission limits for better indoor air quality and premium designs come with AEON Enhanced Scratch & Scruff-Resistant Performance Technology. To learn more, visit wilsonart.com/laminate-surfaces.

Michael French
[email protected] 
1-888-824-3337
editors.familyfeatures.com

About Family Features Editorial Syndicate
A leading source for high-quality food, lifestyle and home and garden content, Family Features provides readers with topically and seasonally relevant tips, takeaways, information, recipes, videos, infographics and more. Find additional articles and information at Culinary.net and eLivingToday.com.

SOURCE Family Features Editorial Syndicate

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Although most parts of the United States have abandoned mask mandates and social distancing, the pandemic is not over and facilities still need methods of protecting people from COVID-19. Owners and managers at many facilities, especially schools, are overhauling their ventilation systems to improve indoor air quality and protect against airborne viruses like SARS-CoV-2, CNN reports.

Epidemiologists and aerosol scientists say that improved ventilation is a powerful tool against the coronavirus — if businesses are willing to invest the money. Earlier this spring the White House launched a voluntary initiative encouraging schools and work sites to assess and improve their ventilation. The federal American Rescue Plan Act provides US$122 billion for ventilation inspections and upgrades in schools, as well as $350 billion to state and local governments for a range of community-level pandemic recovery efforts, including ventilation and filtration.

Lower infection rates in Georgia elementary schools have been linked to ventilation upgrades, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Other studies have found that exchanging indoor air five times an hour cuts the risk of coronavirus transmission in half.

However, following industry ventilation standards remains voluntary. Although the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) released new ventilation guidelines for reducing exposure to the coronavirus, there is no rule requiring facility manages to adopt these guidelines and ASHRAE has no power to enforce its standards. Many cities and states incorporate ventilation standards into local building codes for new construction, but older structures are usually not held to the same standards.

Federal agencies also have little authority over indoor ventilation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates standards for outdoor air quality only, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is limited to enforcing indoor-air-quality requirements in health care facilities.

Epidemiologists are calling for a federal standard for indoor air quality but are concerned such a standard would result in backlash from the business community. In the meantime, many facility managers are recognizing the importance of air quality and are pushing for accommodations to be made in company budgets to update ventilation systems.

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