Mold: Whether due to hurricanes or burst pipes, escalating water damage and mold removal costs could run into the tens of billions for insurers and property owners. A rapid heat treatment remediation process could save billions.
(PRWEB) December 6, 2005 — For insurers facing extraordinary exposure from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and losses beyond any other natural disasters in US history, the bad news continues. Serious mold contamination is now threatening water-damaged properties throughout the region. With losses estimated to rise beyond $90 billion in flooded New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the more than 15,000 adjusters dispatched aren’t nearly enough to handle the estimated two million claims resulting from mold and hurricane damage.
Hurricane Wilma and flooding in the Northeast only compound the problem and Purdue University researchers are predicting disruptive weather patterns for the rest of the century.
With all this bad news, the insurance and real estate industries could use some good news. The revolutionary ThermaPure heat treatment process established in California could be the silver lining to a very cloudy period, providing an alternative methodology which could save insurers and property owners billions of dollars.
The ThermaPure heat process was developed by E-Therm (www.thermapure.com), an environmental remediation innovator based in Ventura, California. ThermaPure has proven to be an effective alternative to traditional demolition-based remediation. Superheated air is used to disinfect, decontaminate and dry out buildings in much the same way heat is used to pasteurize milk and kill bacteria in wine.
In the ThermaPure process, technicians use propane-powered portable heaters and air blowers to inject dehumidified air into affected spaces, raising the temperature to as much as 160º F for several hours. Heat has shown to be effective in destroying active mold growth sites, and kills mold spores, bacteria, viruses and insects without using chemicals. It dries out wet buildings faster than traditional methods of simple air movement and dehumidification that are typically used by flood restoration contractors.
Used in conjunction with limited “remove and replace” remediation or as an alternative in some instances, heat treatment allows the contractor to treat many building materials in place, avoiding the expense of unnecessary removal of walls, flooring and furnishings.
Traditional remediation typically includes limited or extensive demolition of impacted building materials and costly cleaning using techniques such as wire brushing, sanding, HEPA vacuuming, and microbial wipe down.
“Cost escalates when suspected contamination requires the tear down and build back of structures that may be salvageable,” says Joe McLean, CEO of Alliance, a California-based environmental contractor that deals extensively in mold and asbestos remediation. “For instance, if a consultant specifies removal of a 4-foot perimeter on four walls because moisture has wicked up one, the tear down and build back of showers, cabinets and countertops can significantly increase costs.”
Inaccessible areas such as wall cavities, crawlspaces and doorjambs present another dilemma. Either spend prohibitively to remove and replace building structures in these areas - or leave them with potential live mildew that could pose a re-infestation hazard.
In the wake of some of the country’s worst storms and disasters, ThermaPure has emerged as an economical alternative that can shrink escalating water damage and mold liability costs.
The ThermaPureHeat™ process is a patented new technology that utilizes clean, dry, odorless heat to create an environment that is lethal to the targeted organism. We deploy this process for the disinfection of structures, enclosable areas, and objects, such as mail or household items.
While much of our work is involved in treating entire structures for the more common hazards such as termites, toxic mold, and other microorganisms, the same scientifically proven principles we use are effective on bacterial and viral contamination such as Hantavirus, Anthrax and Smallpox.
Companies utilizing ThermaPureHeat™ have completed more than twenty thousand (20,000) indoor contamination projects, including numerous Federal, State and local government sites. In addition, microbiological decontamination has been deployed for the National Park Service and the Department of Defense.
The ThermaPureHeat™ technology is an effective tool to use in improving the air you breathe.
First, to protect your building from cross contamination, a plastic containment barrier is erected to confine the mold spores. Mold spores can become airborne when disturbed during cleaning. A vacuum is created using HEPA filtered negative air machines to eliminate outbound leaks in the containment and capture any airborne spores.
The accessible mold contamination is then physically removed. Damaged and weakened building materials are removed while other surfaces are thoroughly cleaned. While working our technicians wear personal protection equipment. Cleaning up toxic mold contamination is something you should not try on your own.
Then clean, dry heat, generated by EPA registered equipment, is directed into the containment through flexible Mylar ducting and the inside air is slowly raised to a safe “sauna-like temperature”, but one that is lethal to mold, bacteria, viruses and odors. To ensure that the temperature is maintained at levels which are lethal to the target organisms, state-of-the-art digital thermometers monitor inside ambient and surface temperatures. This heating process kills the inaccessible mold, bacteria and viruses for a higher level of cleanliness.
The heating process also helps dry out your building making it less conducive to mold and bacterial growth. ThermaPureHeat™ may also reduce annoying and irritating odors. Once the desired temperature level has been maintained for the specified time, the cool-down begins.
Since no toxic chemicals are used, our technicians can enter and monitor the treated area, and there are no harmful residues to contaminate the air or surfaces.
After remediation, your consultant should again test to be sure that the inside air is as clean, or cleaner, than the outside air. Only then can we remove the protective containment barriers and your remediation process is finished.
“Heat is an effective, non-toxic form of biological control in structures, and substantially improves indoor air quality where it has been compromised.”
“Recently, the development of heat technology for thermal pest eradication has demonstrated a new potential for control of mold dissemination through control of insect vectors… Heat treatment will also kill fungal spores and vegetative structures and can substantially aid the rapid drying of building materials.”
“Since the days of Louis Pasteur, it’s been well-known that ‘heat kills’. Millions of lives have been saved through the technique of heating milk and other foods, destroying or otherwise inactivating bacteria. The application of this principle to our environment is a natural progression of that knowledge.”
Read more about ThermaPureHeat™:
Suzi T.
Santa Barbara, CA
February 2008
Alliance Environmental Group provides safe, efficient, clean and high quality services to our customers and partners.
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