The Department of Housing and Residential Life [HRL] at the University of Rhode Island has made serious efforts to prevent mold from growing in the dorms at the end of another humid summer.
When the air gets more humid, the concentration of mold spores in the air on campus will be higher. Open doors and windows allow the mold spores and the humid air into the building. The moisture in the air will condense onto the cold surfaces of the halls, allowing the mold spores to grow.
The Department of Housing and Residential Life (HRL) has replaced the roofing surfaces of eight buildings in an attempt to prevent water from absorbing into the building and creating a moist surface. Some of the residential halls that have had the roofing replaced include Burnside, Adams, Coddington and Fayerweather. HRL is planning on continuing to replace about four roof surfaces a year.
According to Jeffery Plouffe, the associate director of HRL, the House Cleaning Department has taken measures to prevent mold during the summer when the dorms are vacant.
“In the summer when the residence halls aren’t occupied we are keeping the doors open to encourage air flow through the building,” Plouffe said. “If you close that door that air is stagnant, spores are there. We changed our cleaning technique to try to encourage air throughout the building. When we get to move in weekend we actually have a disaster recovery company that is on-site, even though we inspected all the rooms right up until [August 16].”
In addition, HRL has installed fans in the roof of older buildings such as Fayerweather, Gorham and the Roger Williams Complex Buildings. The idea behind this is to evacuate air through the bathrooms but keep moisture running through the building so the air does not condensate.
Plouffe said that when mold is discovered in the buildings, House Cleaning Services will clean it with a fungicide called Gelmax and then do a follow up reinspection within the next several days.
If the mold is too big for cleaning services to handle, then HRL will order a cleaning company to come that day to remove the mold. HRL will then follow up with an air quality test to ensure the residents that the air quality is at an acceptable level.
According to Plouffe, the three types of mold that have been discovered on campus are aspergillus, penicillium and miceti. None of these mold types are disease causing unless a resident has a mold allergy.
According to Frankie Minor, the director of HRL, students can take measures to prevent mold from growing in their dorms.
”If [residents] live in an air conditioned building, and if they are getting too cold, adjust the thermostat [but] do not open the window,” Minor said. “The combination of the cool air inside the room and the warm moist air that is coming in creates condensation and allows mold to develop. The other thing I think students can do is if they are shifting their furniture around periodically, we find mold developing if fabric is up against a wall like a bedspread. Move things around periodically and if [students] notice it, certainly report it so we can treat it.”
Regardless of the situation, Plouffe ensures that any mold found in the dorms will be taken care of in a timely manner if reported.
“Every report that comes from a student will ultimately come to me,” Plouffe said. “If you report this the next thing you know I will be standing at your door. So literally, we will have someone there the day that the mold gets reported.”