Environmental Consulting
Moisture Dynamics & Mold
Moisture dynamics is a critical factor in any building, requiring an in-depth knowledge of the building envelope. MZA has expertise in building envelope design and analysis throughout the United States, ranging from cold weather regions to mixed weather areas to hot humid climates, where moisture intrusion/mold is an especially critical issue.
MZA offers a wide range of services pertaining to mold and moisture intrusion, including but not limited to the following:
- Moisture intrusion inspections
- Building envelope inspections
- Window testing (per ASTM procedure)
- Thermal imaging (IR camera)
- Mold spore air sampling (as a clearance tool)
- Mold remediation design
- Mold training
- Pre-disaster planning
- Disaster recovery planning
- Insurance claim analysis and support
- Vapor transmission modeling and analysis
Site restoration projects often involve construction defect problems or contamination problems, such as mold resulting from moisture intrusion. MZA provides consulting services to clients affected by water intrusion caused by storm damage from hurricanes and floods. MZA's team of certified environmental professionals specializes in damage assessment and proper remediation techniques for occupied facilities. Simply cleaning up a mold-contaminated area does not necessarily address the moisture problem that initially created the mold. MZA identifies the source of the moisture intrusion and determines how to correct the problem at its source.
MZA diagnoses buildings to determine the source of water intrusion problems that have led to mold growth in buildings in hot humid climates and hurricane-prone areas, in which buildings may have suffered damage to the building envelope and encountered water intrusion due to wind-driven rain. The sources of water intrusion must be corrected before mold can effectively be remediated. Water intrusion can occur under the severe conditions of a hurricane. MZA has often been engaged to determine leak pathways and evaluate building envelopes to find both obvious and hidden defects that allow water intrusion.
In forensic work involving moisture infiltration in buildings, it has often been helpful to apply hygrothermal modeling to simulate moisture transport through building assemblies exposed to weather conditions such as hurricanes and severe storms. Increased moisture content in components of the building envelope can result in industrial hygiene and mold growth problems in the built environment. MZA is trained in the application of WUFI® (Wärme und Feuchte instationär) hygrothermal modeling software developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the U.S. and the Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics in Germany.
Working in conjunction with The Environmental Institute in Atlanta, Georgia, MZA has developed and regularly instructs a course in Mold Assessment and Remediation that attracts contractors, building owners, and facility managers from across the United States. MZA is the author of "Mold and Moisture Damage in Building Envelopes" in the Whole Building Design Guide, published by NIBS (the National Institute of Building Sciences).