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It has been well over a decade since I first
professed the potential benefits of repositioning the HVAC
profession out from under the umbrella of the construction
industry and placing it under the auspices of the healthcare
industry. Regrettably, manufacturers, distributors, designers,
and trades people remain more likely to identify with the
hardware of HVAC, rather than the software of HVAC, that being
its contributions to the
ergonomics of the indoor environment. Then along comes
Health Canada’s publication,
Reducing Radon Levels in Existing Homes: A Canadian Guide for
Professional Contractors.
Ok, so I am just an ordinary lad, but even I can
raise the question: Why is
Health Canada
and not CMHC or
NRCan providing
guidance to professional contractors? Have you read what Health
Canada is all about? It is the federal department responsible
for helping Canadians maintain and improve their health – that's
why it's called Health Canada (go figure). So, in addition to
being a resource for Canadians and their doctors, nurses,
pharmacists, nutritionists and physiotherapists, it is now
providing guidance to contractors. What is up with that? It is
because the health professionals in the federal government and
their provincial/territorial counterparts correctly understand
that standing between the health of Canadians and the hazards of
indoor environments is you, the professional contractor.
Imagine that...you who is all caught up in the
day-to-day management of jobsites, vehicles, staff, insurance
and negotiating of prices for furnaces, boilers, pumps and
tools, being asked to mitigate the health of the indoor
environment because it could affect the health of its occupants.
There are potentially large benefits from repositioning the
profession of HVAC out from under the umbrella of the
construction industry. A Reader's Digest 2012 poll showed
healthcare professionals among those that Canadians trust most.
Healthcare matters to Canadians. Let that be a big hint to those
professional contractors being asked by Health Canada to step
up, at least when it comes to radon.
Reproduced with the permission of Natural Resources Canada 2008,
courtesy of the Geological Survey of Canada
So let’s talk about radon as described in Health
Canada’s Reducing Radon Levels in Existing Homes and the ASTM
Standard E 1465-2008A Standard Practice for Radon Control
Options for the Design and Construction of New Low-Rise
Residential Buildings. Radon is a radioactive, colourless and
odourless inert gas that causes lung cancer. Next to smoking,
radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in Canada. The
only difference between carbon monoxide poisoning and radon is
the former can do you in under a few minutes, whereas radon has
the courtesy of taking a long time – and yet both can be
prevented. The danger with radon is you never know if you are
inhaling it.
In order to determine if inhaling radon has been
a past and/or present activity of
 you and yours, you have to
test the indoor environments you have lived in or currently live
in. It is not a difficult thing to do, nor is it expensive. For
the relatively small disruption, it is well worth making it an
educational project for your family and clients. All the details
for testing are in the recently published guide, as are the
mitigation processes. I would be remiss if I did not emphasize
the technical value of the ASTM Standard E 1465-2008A, which is
referenced in the World Health Organization (WHO) radon document
(Box 2, pg 44), but for some as yet unexplained reason is absent
in the Health Canada document.
So why the focus on radon now? Where were the
radon concerns decades ago when the United States and other
countries embarked on radon control? Actually, it has always
been a concern in Canada; if you had been paying attention to
some of the earliest proponents of HRVs. Back in the late 70s
and early 80s, at least two brands of heat recovery ventilators
that I know of were using radon control to market their
products. I am pretty hard on manufacturers using marketing
techniques that masquerade as science - well mea culpa - here is
a case where legitimate concerns were publicized by the
manufacturing sector before it became fodder for a federal
government health guide some 30 years later.
Let’s wrap this up by stating that the WHO long
ago declared radon a health concern. It is supported by member
countries, of which Canada is one. At least one large Canadian
co-operative of professional contractors has stepped up and
trained members of its team on the aspects of radon, including
testing and mitigation of existing and new installations; and
there are a few others who have done the same. If you have any
desire to step into this arena, see the references and spend
some time studying the content at the Canadian National Radon
Proficiency Program. Radon testing and mitigation is not
difficult to execute but it is not a walk in the park either.
You will have to learn the "alpha to omega" of radon.
Becoming listed as a C-NRPP measurement and
mitigation certificate holder adds a new dimension to one's
skill set, but the real benefit of the process may be in helping
you better understand the role that you play in the health of
the indoor environment and how that paradigm elevates you up and
out from under the skeptical eyes consumers generally hold for
the construction industry. <>
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