Mold. To the general public, it’s quickly gaining notoriety as “the new asbestos.” Headlines that tell of mold-infested structures, including new schools that infect children and have to be demolished, are all too common, as are the lawsuits that quickly follow.

To BAC craftworkers and contractors, concerns about mold cast a timely light on proper construction materials and systems and raise critical questions about whether lower cost materials and methods are truly cost-effective in the final analysis. Building owners are discovering that once mold takes hold, products like gypsum that initially were cheaper to install are resulting in expensive headaches that could have been prevented with quality masonry installation. In fact, the mold epidemic dramatically illustrates that by taking a long-term look at life cycle costs, quality union masonry pays in the end.

IMI Area Market Development Director Richard Filloramo presents a seminar on mold prevention strategies and masonry construction to a group of architects.

IMI Market Development and Technical Services experts are helping building owners and designers sort out these issues and apply the right solutions to both mold prevention and control.

In Connecticut, for example, IMI Area Market Development Director Richard Filloramo has presented dozens of mold seminars and consultations and has reached more than 25,000 decision makers through targeted mailings offering the latest information and publicizing IMI’s technical services.

“School planners and designers are definitely listening,” says Filloramo. Of the last eight large school projects in Connecticut, seven went primarily CMU back-up wall. One architect even issued this edict: “There will be no stud walls in this school!”

All IMI mold programs are AIA accredited for continuing education, and attendance is quickly rising, he says. “Once designers learn about the advantages of masonry back-up in terms of mold resistance, they choose it over steel stud framing.”

By developing approaches that add little or no cost to existing masonry veneer and CMU back-up walls, IMI experts have offered tangible, immediate help to countless construction decision makers that for many has translated into considerable cost savings over time. They also take the opportunity to demonstrate the mold prevention advantages of masonry materials, including AAC, to avoid future headaches.

Mold itself is a fact of life, both indoors and out. All it needs to survive are oxygen, temperatures between 35 and 100 degrees, food and moisture. Inorganic materials like brick and block, tile, terrazzo, stone and plaster do not provide a food source, and as a result, provide for easy removal. By contrast, organic materials like wood and gypsum wallboard feed mold and require extensive removal or even replacement.

Mold experts believe that problems have reached catastrophic proportions for several reasons, including faster construction schedules, lighter materials and untested lightweight building systems. Ironically, these systems can wind up costing more than masonry wall systems, with no guarantee that the problem is solved, as tighter industry standards for controlling mold come into play.

The critical element in controlling mold is moisture control both during and after construction. Control strategies include air barriers, vapor barriers, and additional insulation in the case of steel stud wall systems.
Mold prevention and control strategies have been incorporated into
the IMI technical seminars that are offered throughout the country on a continuous basis, as well as the IMI Contractor College curriculum.