Fall 2020 President’s Message From Dick Rollins, President, Maine Indoor Air Quality Council
Due to the pandemic, our annual IAQ & Energy Conference 2020 was held on Oct 27-29 as a 100% virtual event. While we missed the in-person visits and chats, we were very pleased with the high quality and variety of our presentations, sponsor support, exhibitor support and the support of all attendees. If you were able to attend this event, I trust you found the quality and delivery of this conference pleasant and informative. If you weren’t able to attend, all 42 sessions were recorded and will be available through the Fall of 2021. Visit the event website (iaqandenergy.com) to learn how you can still participate and gain great information and knowledge.
As 2021 approaches, our attention will remain on addressing COVID-19 concerns. We are pleased with all the great work we have accomplished this year regarding this topic, and will continue to educate and communicate about strategies for to manage indoor spaces to reduce the risk of exposure indoors. It is important that we all stay vigilant. As our indoor humidity drops, the virus particles will likely be smaller and the need for effective ventilation, filtration and cleaning will remain critical. I hope our members and readers continue to find ways to engage their customers and audiences as we all work in ongoing uncertainty. Please know that we will continue our efforts to do the best we can to educate, communicate, and advocate for healthy indoor spaces. Stay safe and healthy indoors this winter! -Dick
Join us on December 17th for Social Hour + Trivia
On Thursday, December 17th at 5:00 p.m., the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council will host a holiday social hour and trivia contest. Join us for casual conversation and holiday trivia. Prize awarded to winner! Event is free. Click here to join!
IAQ & Energy 2020 Happened in October, But It Definitely Isn’t Over!
The IAQ & Energy 2020 Conference was an amazing event. But it certainly isn’t over. Unlike our live events, the IAQ & Energy 2020 Conference will remain open and available through the Fall of 2021. All 42 sessions are now available to access online. The Conference featured sessions on COVID and IAQ, energy-efficiency, building science, health, construction practices, and more. Continuing education credits are still available for many professions. Online tools to communicate directly with presenters and other attendees are still being used by participants to ask questions, share resources, and continue the relationships started at the event. Even the vendor area is still open! Learn more and register at: www.iaqandenergy.com
The Windows That Brought Us Together
Last Winter, the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council partnered with WindowDressers, another Maine nonprofit that provides removable interior window inserts to Maine homeowners for energy efficiency and comfort in winter. Deb, a Casco homeowner and WindowDressers client, had been worried for a long time about radon, especially now that she and her family are spending so much more time indoors. Thanks to this partnership, the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council was able to test Deb’s home for radon, and subsequently install a system this Fall that reduced Deb’s radon in air levels down to 1.4 picocuries per liter. A true success story!
The funds used to pay for the mitigation were raised during the 2019 GivingTuesday appeal and the 2020 Indoor Insanity 5k. If you would like to support our radon mitigation fund so we can help more families like Deb’s, you can do so on our GivingTuesday webpage: https://www.maineindoorair.org/givingtuesday/Reminder! Winter is a great time to test your own home for radon. If you have questions about radon or need help finding a radon tester or mitigator, visit the Maine radon home page found at www.maineradiationcontrol.org.
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COVID, COVID, COVID
Thanks to the current pandemic, there has never been a better time to be discussing the healthfulness of the indoor environments in which we live, work, play, and learn. The Maine Indoor Air Quality Council has been busy adapting education programs to online platforms, participating in online forums and information sessions, creating and updating our own COVID resources page, and pushing out frequent messages and information by e-mail and social media. On December 8, the Council launched its new “COVID Tip Tuesday” initiative, designed to highlight simple strategies to reduce exposures indoors. These weekly messages will be available on a variety of platforms, including our website (maineindoorair.org), social media (facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter), as well as e-mail. We would love to have some more volunteers help us with these weekly messages. If you have interest, please contact Christy Crocker, MIAQC Executive Director, at 207-626-8115 or christy@maineindoorair.org. What else? MIAQC has been asked by the Maine Community College System to develop two “badge” programs related to COVID-19 Awareness. Badge programs provide those who successfully complete the modules with a virtual badge that can be used on a website, within a resume, or potentially towards college credit. MIAQC will be developing sessions on: Basic Strategies to Manage Indoor Spaces to Reduce COVID-19 Exposure Indoors (ready by December 15), and HVAC Awareness for COVID-19. Visit our COVID resources page for links to the modules when ready.
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Would you like to advertise in this quarterly newsletter? Our distribution goes to more than 19,000 professionals in Maine, and around the country, with a solid open rate. Contact the MIAQC office at 207-626-8115 to secure your ad placement in our next issue.
IAQ Stuff to Do
Get Your Green On With Green Roofing January 12, 2021 24 School Street, Gorham Learn MoreBuild a Better House: A Residential Construction Training Series Live Online for 2021 Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons starting February 2, 2021. Certification available. All programs focus on management of air flow, heat flow, water, and water vapor. Learn More The 2021 Indoor Insanity 5k will be held as a virtual race in February 2021. Details to be posted on our event webpage. Learn More
2021 High Performance Building Conference March 4, 2021 Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland A jam-packed day of learning and networking on air barriers, the building envelope, new building materials, technologies, building strategies and more in effort to help share best practices and what is new in the building industry.Learn MoreBuilding Energy Boston May 3-5, 2021 Call for presentations is open through December 10, 2020. Submit an IAQ-related program proposal! Learn More
Interesting Reading: Interactive Tools to Manage COVID-19
Anyone managing indoor spaces this winter will want to peek at these interesting interactive tools that have been developed by credible, science-based groups.
COVID Aerosol Risk Estimator: Input your parameters for # of occupants, floor space/height, ventilation rate, filtration rate, time indoors, and use of masks to determine transmission risk.
COVID-19 Aerosol Transmission Risk Estimator: The Estimator calculates COVID-19 infection risk for a number of basic situations: college classrooms, choirs, taking a bus, being outdoors, participating in demonstrations.
Portable Air Cleaner Calculator for Schools: A tool to simplify decision-making around portable air cleaners in schools for airborne transmission control (it can also be applied to residential or office air cleaning, noting differences in ventilation practices and occupancy).
A Picture is Worth 1000 Words…
The new normal – our online Tradeshow at IAQ & Energy 2020. You can still stop in at the exhibit booths to explore the great products and services offered. Just go to www.iaqandenergy.com/virtual-tradeshow.
Spicy was the winner of the trivia contest held at the recent IAQ & Energy Conference! Prize awarded – a MIAQC Hoodie!
Our Council Partners:
Support MIAQC! Support the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council each time you shop on Amazon. Start at https://smile.amazon.com. Contact MIAQC Executive Director Christy Crocker to find out how you can participate in and support the work of the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council: 207-626-8115; christy@maineindoorair.org.
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