Wednesday, March 05, 2008
INDOOR AIR QUALITY OF KATRINA TRAILERS MAY CAUSE BUILDING RULES TO TIGHTEN UP
RV Business
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The trailers used to house victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita have turned indoor air quality into a front-burner issue and could lead to sterner building codes for manufactured housing and even regular homes, environmentalists and engineers say.
The Indianapolis Star reported that a pair of congressional committees have opened inquiries into the higher formaldehyde levels measured inside some of the travel trailers and mobile homes made expressly for more than 100,000 Louisiana and Mississippi residents displaced by the 2005 storms.
Indiana trailer makers, including Coachmen Industries Inc., Gulf Stream Coach Inc. and Pilgrim International Inc. have until Friday (March 7) afternoon to produce documents ordered by the House Oversight and Government Procurement Committee. The committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is looking into the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) response to reports that formaldehyde, a chemical used in wood adhesives and found in nature, was sickening trailer residents.
FEMA, a federal agency that provides disaster assistance, ordered 56,000 trailers and turned them over primarily to Katrina victims in 2005 and 2006 as temporary housing until their homes were restored.
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified eight manufacturers at the center of the formaldehyde controversy. Six have extensive operations in Indiana, where about 23,000 workers form the center of the nation's manufactured housing industry.
When FEMA ordered the emergency trailers, it did not spell out the building specifications for manufacturers in detail, said Joseph Hagerman, who heads the building technology group for the Federation of American Scientists in Washington.
The Star reported that many manufacturers used inexpensive plywood from China and employed sloppier production methods than are usual as a way to cut costs and make higher profits, said Hagerman, an architect and civil engineer who studied the FEMA trailers for the federation.
"My one concern is this is going to kill the manufactured housing industry in the United States,'' Hagerman said. "It's going to create the perception that all manufactured housing is full of formaldehyde.''
The federation, whose funds include grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, was hired by the state of Mississippi to help design a safer emergency trailer for storm victims after the formaldehyde issue surfaced.
Because of the congressional probes, Hagerman said he expects trailer makers will fight back against a public perception that they are making unhealthy houses.
"What you're going to see is a move to a tougher code,'' Hagerman said.
Builders could launch a campaign to point out that they have upgraded standards, he said, and the campaign could carry over to builders of regular homes, which he said emit formaldehyde just as the emergency trailers do. Emergency trailers are far smaller than regular homes and contain less air, so the formaldehyde is more concentrated, he said.
To reduce formaldehyde, he said, trailer manufacturers could adopt the plan the federation developed for Mississippi. Among its specifications, he said, are that a venting system is in place, wooden surfaces are sealed with special paint to keep the gas from escaping, plywood use is minimal, and drywall replaces natural wood molding and trim on walls.
Formaldehyde is a colorless gas emitted naturally as wood decomposes or, scientists say, as some foods are fried in cooking oil. It is also commonly put in glue. Today, millions of homes contain furniture and cabinets put together with glue using formaldehyde. The chemical helps wooden molecules bind tightly in plywood and particle board.
In Mississippi, about 1,200 trailers have been built to the federation's 60-page specifications, Hagerman said, noting each unit costs $17,000 to $32,000, compared with $14,000 to $27,000 for the trailers FEMA purchased.
The Star reported that two decades ago, makers of mobile homes and travel trailers in Indiana and throughout the nation fended off air quality concerns by adjusting production processes to use less formaldehyde. The issue surfaced again early in 2006 on the Gulf Coast, where residents living in the FEMA trailers complained of respiratory ailments.
Both the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) and the Recreational Park Trailer Association (RPTIA) last year adopted formaldehyde emission control standards established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the manufactured housing industry.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The trailers used to house victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita have turned indoor air quality into a front-burner issue and could lead to sterner building codes for manufactured housing and even regular homes, environmentalists and engineers say.
The Indianapolis Star reported that a pair of congressional committees have opened inquiries into the higher formaldehyde levels measured inside some of the travel trailers and mobile homes made expressly for more than 100,000 Louisiana and Mississippi residents displaced by the 2005 storms.
Indiana trailer makers, including Coachmen Industries Inc., Gulf Stream Coach Inc. and Pilgrim International Inc. have until Friday (March 7) afternoon to produce documents ordered by the House Oversight and Government Procurement Committee. The committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is looking into the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) response to reports that formaldehyde, a chemical used in wood adhesives and found in nature, was sickening trailer residents.
FEMA, a federal agency that provides disaster assistance, ordered 56,000 trailers and turned them over primarily to Katrina victims in 2005 and 2006 as temporary housing until their homes were restored.
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified eight manufacturers at the center of the formaldehyde controversy. Six have extensive operations in Indiana, where about 23,000 workers form the center of the nation's manufactured housing industry.
When FEMA ordered the emergency trailers, it did not spell out the building specifications for manufacturers in detail, said Joseph Hagerman, who heads the building technology group for the Federation of American Scientists in Washington.
The Star reported that many manufacturers used inexpensive plywood from China and employed sloppier production methods than are usual as a way to cut costs and make higher profits, said Hagerman, an architect and civil engineer who studied the FEMA trailers for the federation.
"My one concern is this is going to kill the manufactured housing industry in the United States,'' Hagerman said. "It's going to create the perception that all manufactured housing is full of formaldehyde.''
The federation, whose funds include grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, was hired by the state of Mississippi to help design a safer emergency trailer for storm victims after the formaldehyde issue surfaced.
Because of the congressional probes, Hagerman said he expects trailer makers will fight back against a public perception that they are making unhealthy houses.
"What you're going to see is a move to a tougher code,'' Hagerman said.
Builders could launch a campaign to point out that they have upgraded standards, he said, and the campaign could carry over to builders of regular homes, which he said emit formaldehyde just as the emergency trailers do. Emergency trailers are far smaller than regular homes and contain less air, so the formaldehyde is more concentrated, he said.
To reduce formaldehyde, he said, trailer manufacturers could adopt the plan the federation developed for Mississippi. Among its specifications, he said, are that a venting system is in place, wooden surfaces are sealed with special paint to keep the gas from escaping, plywood use is minimal, and drywall replaces natural wood molding and trim on walls.
Formaldehyde is a colorless gas emitted naturally as wood decomposes or, scientists say, as some foods are fried in cooking oil. It is also commonly put in glue. Today, millions of homes contain furniture and cabinets put together with glue using formaldehyde. The chemical helps wooden molecules bind tightly in plywood and particle board.
In Mississippi, about 1,200 trailers have been built to the federation's 60-page specifications, Hagerman said, noting each unit costs $17,000 to $32,000, compared with $14,000 to $27,000 for the trailers FEMA purchased.
The Star reported that two decades ago, makers of mobile homes and travel trailers in Indiana and throughout the nation fended off air quality concerns by adjusting production processes to use less formaldehyde. The issue surfaced again early in 2006 on the Gulf Coast, where residents living in the FEMA trailers complained of respiratory ailments.
Both the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) and the Recreational Park Trailer Association (RPTIA) last year adopted formaldehyde emission control standards established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the manufactured housing industry.
