Missouri State

Campus Memo

Date: October 26,2001

To: Dr. David Hough

Dean, College of Education

From: Bob Eckels

Director, Physical Plant

Subject: Greenwood Laboratory School HVAC Problems

Since the renovation of the Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system in Greenwood Laboratory School three years ago, there has been a continued humidity control problem in the building. The initial identification of the humidity problem caused for action to be first concentrated on debugging the system, proper insulation of chilled water piping, and then assurance of proper temperature and air flow settings throughout the system.

This last summer was a very wet season with high outdoor humidity; the abnormally humid outside air brought into the Greenwood spaces, exacerbated our problem. Fresh air is brought into a building for the health and comfort of its occupants; building codes today require significantly more air exchange than was the case with the old system. The irony here of course is that the high humidity, brought in with the fresh air, is adversely affecting the comfort of the occupants. Air conditioning systems do act as dehumidifiers to a degree; however, in this case, the outdoor air contains more humidity than the system is capable of removing.

A clear visual result of the high humidity has been the staining of the ceiling tile throughout much of the building. Chilled water lines passing through humid air above the ceiling is the cause for ceiling tile to be stained from condensation dripping on the tile. After several reported concerns of mold growth affecting the occupants of the building, the Greene County Health Department was asked to make an assessment. Enclosed is the October 18, 2001 report from the Air Quality Control section of the Department; the report states: “indication at this time is the mold is inactive because the source of moisture has been removed.” Dr. Moseman submitted a work request to the Maintenance Department on this date to replace stained ceiling tile throughout the building. The tiles are to be replaced by November 15^th.

Over the last few months, considerable effort has been put forth to solve the cause for the humidity problem. In September, some mechanical modifications were made to four rooms in the east wing to determine if a change in coil size of the heat exchangers would be effective. It was concluded the modification was an improvement; however, additional modifications are under design to remove humidity from the outdoor air introduced into the building, prior to reaching the individual room air handlers. The design is expected to be complete within a couple of weeks. The actual modifications are planned to be in place prior to the next cooling season.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Enclosure

cc: Dr. Gerald Moseman

Dr. Chris Craig

Kent Thomas

Greg Burris

Brad Kielhofner

Carl Henson