Buying or selling a commercial property?   If so,  you should know what a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) is.   Phase I is a form of due diligence completed during real estate transactions. Buyers perform Phase I's to ensure they are not buying an environmental cleanup. Sellers also perform Phase I's to address any issues that would delay the sale and use it as a marketing tool when selling the property.  Properties with clean Phase I reports sell faster with no questions asked.

So what is the Phase I Process?

A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) uses the protocols as set forth in the Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process (E1527-21), prepared by ASTM International.

Phase I Purpose

The primary purpose of Phase I is to document the inquiry of the environmental professional for All Appropriate Inquiries for the subject site. This practice is intended to permit a user (person paying for the Phase I) to satisfy one of the requirements to qualify for the innocent landowner, contiguous property owner, or bona fide prospective purchaser limitations on CERCLA liability (from now on, the “landowner liability protections,” or “LLPs”): that is, the practice that constitutes all appropriate inquiries into the previous ownership and uses of the property consistent with good commercial and customary practice as defined at 42 U.S.C. 9601(35) (B). The Phase I  report is not intended to be part of the site characterization and assessment with the use of a grant awarded under CERCLA Section 104(k) (2) (B). More specifically, the scope is intended to identify conditions indicative of releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances on, at, in, or to the subject site.

 

 Phase I looks into if any past and current use of the site, adjacent and abutting property, and nearby off-site operations have or have the potential to adversely affect the environmental quality of the subject site. The information contained within Phase I is obtained from the performance of a site inspection, the use of an environmental information service company, and face-to-face and/or telephone interviews with persons familiar with the Subject site.

The scope of an ESA is to identify Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs) in accordance with ASTM E1257-21. In addition, Curren’s ESA shall include a visual evaluation or assessment of the following non-scope issues: asbestos-containing building materials (ACBMs), lead-based paint (LBP), radon, mold, and land use restrictions. No sampling was conducted as a part of this Phase I.

How is Phase I conducted?

Phase I is conducted by performing the following tasks:

• Physical site inspection
• Federal, State, and local regulatory document review and personnel contact
• Examination of aerial photographs, Sanborn historical fire insurance maps, topographic maps, etc.
• Geologic and hydrogeological data review
• A cursory inspection of adjacent properties

 

Phase I can be hundreds of pages long if no longer.   For ease of understanding Executive Summaries are included with each report so primary issues of concern can be easily accessed. 

 

Curren Environmental has over 25 years of experience performing Phase I Assessments. Call the Experts.

 

 

You break it you buy it.  Look before you leap.  You only have yourself to blame.  All common phrases.  Well environmental due diligence, i.e., a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is an insurance policy of sorts that protects buyers of commercial properties.  Phase I is a historical and current assessment of a property for environmental issues (read costs to remediate contamination on a property).   But there are two "rubs" when doing a Phase I.  First, no buyer wants to find a problem with the property they are buying (trust me, I have heard clients say they hope we don't find anything countless times).  I call these people Hand Stampers because they want to get stamped that they did a Phase I and nothing was found, I call it unrealistic.   Do you think testing was required in the below photo?  The answer is yes.

The second rub of Phase I is that some 80% of the time, a Phase I is needed, apartment buildings much lower percent.   When Phase II testing is necessary the buyers are surprised by Phase II cost and the cost disparities (when they have time to price shop).  The rub is that a Phase I is 100% office work, a Phase II requires that same Phase I person, but now you are dealing with the environmental trades that 90% of environmental consultants subcontract out.  These Phase II services include Geophysical Surveys,  (GPR), and drilling (that's how you collect soil and groundwater samples). and perhaps excavation for test pits or removal of contamination (which technically is Phase III).   

All these services get marked up by the consultant.  You have to understand that consultants have insurance and workers comp that lists them as clerical, which is a very inexpensive insurance rating, most can't even use a shovel or it can place their personnel into a different workers comp rating which is more expensive.   So most all consultants subcontract services and markup the subcontractor, who does the heavy lifting so to speak.

We were asked to quote a Phase II for a buyer.   Our Phase II  cost was $3,500.00 and basically involved investigating locations where tanks were removed without testing.  The company that did the Phase I quoted the Phase II at  $7,800.00  the $4,300.00 difference represents the consultant's markup and recouping expenses from doing a discounted Phase I, Curren sees this discrepancy all the time.  Our client asked why the price differential, which I just explained to you and they said we should let more people know,  hence why you are reading this article.

 

Now, why would I want to let you know that consultants discount Phase I's knowing they will make it up on the Phase II work.   Well our recent client, who now has hired us for another property they are purchasing (Phase I), said we should.     

Curren Environmental could be considered a boutique or full-service company as we do the consulting and the environmental contracting (heavy lifting).   We find clients like being able to deal with one company and of course the financial savings.

 

Do you have Phase II Questions?

Call the experts

888-301-1050

 

 

 

 

It is not uncommon that Curren receives phone calls regarding a person purchasing a home with an in-use oil tank.  The common question is that even though the house has a new tank and should they be concerned about any other tanks on the property?   Another question asked is how long the new tank will be expected to last?

But our reality for the real concern is why was the old tank replaced?

In our culture we rarely replace an item before it breaks, newer and better cell phones excluded.

As an environmental company, we find that the replacement of an oil tank is because there was an issue with the old tank, but what was the issue with that old tank? Perhaps water entered the tank and the heater shut off or perhaps they noticed a loss of oil.    Maybe sludge built up in the tank and the heater could no longer pull oil from the tank for fuel.

Not to be a pessimist, but in our 30-plus years in business, we have found most people replace tanks because they had to, meaning the tank had a problem.   Think about yourself, have you replaced a heater or water heater before it had a problem?  How about a dishwasher or washer and dryer?  Well, the same reasoning occurs with oil tanks.

Whatever the cause we have found that we have an approximate 70% probability of finding contamination from the old tank.  This means if the old tank is still in the ground we remove it and find contamination.   We find the tank was removed from the ground sometime in the past, we do soil borings and find contamination.   This also relates to Aboveground Storage Tanks (ASTs).  We find contamination may have leaked from AST both outside and inside the home.      Tank owners for sure hope no one looks for contamination, but when we have a client buying a home or even selling a home, we have "the Talk" about tanks leaking and contamination associated with the leak.  The expense of a clean-up?   Well on average you could buy a new Tesla with the money spent to clean up a tank leak. 

 

The photo below was a leaking tank and yes the cost was equal to a Tesla.

We had a young couple buy a home that had an in-ground tank (UST) and an in-use AST.  Curren removed the tank before purchase and bingo it leaked.   We returned to define the contamination and yes it migrated to the neighbor's property (just by a few feet).  Clean-up was budgeted at $42,000.   Now the parents of the young couple and the attorney want a conference call, to discuss the cleanup.  A posed question was "Is this a large cleanup"?   Our answer is no.   SILENCE.   The family and attorney for the buyers were taken back since that much money could redo a bathroom or kitchen or both, which by the way the house needed.    So they were surprised a tank leak could cost so much and they were also taken back by thinking a newer tank was better.

Look, if you manage tanks in three states for over three decades and you become an expert.

Call the experts  at 888-301-1050

*Oh and yes the photo below is from one of our projects in the 1990s.

 

 

New Jersey allows sellers of real estate properties to complete a Property Condition Disclosure Statement.  The property disclosure statement relative to mold references he following. 

NJ Seller’s Property Condition Disclosure Statement
(N.J.S.A. 56:8-19.1) A. 2685 

◦Yes    No         
[ ]      [ ]               9)        Are you aware of any water leakage, accumulation or 
                                       dampness within the basement or crawl spaces or any 
                                       other areas within any of the structures on the property? 

◦[ ]      [ ]               9a)      Are you aware of the presence of any mold or similar 
                                         natural substance within the basement or crawl spaces 
                                         or any other areas within any of the structures on the 
                                          property? 

As revised, N.J.S.A. 56:8-19.1 newly requires that if a filled-in property condition disclosure statement indicates the seller’s awareness of water leakage, accumulation or dampness, the presence of mold or other similar natural substance, or repairs or other attempts to control any water or dampness problem on the real property, the involved real estate broker, broker-salesperson, or salesperson is required to provide the buyer with a physical copy of the Department of Health’s "Mold Guidelines for New Jersey Residents" pamphlet. 

Mold Disclosure & Consumer Fraud

New Jersey consumer fraud law bans the "concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact with intent that others rely upon such concealment, suppression or omission, in connection with the sale or advertisement of any … real estate." N.J.S.A. 56:8-2. 

The administrative rules of the Real Estate Commission provide that real estate licensees must disclose all information “material to the physical condition of any property which they know or which a reasonable effort to ascertain such information would have revealed to their client or principal and when appropriate to any other party to a transaction.” N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.4.  The concern raised by this requirement is that a real estate broker or agent might be called on to answer to a defrauded buyer for passing along bad information originating with the seller. 

1. Mold disclosure in a typical real estate transaction
2. Seller answers no regarding water or mold
3. Home goes under contract
4. Buyer does due diligence including a mold inspection.
5. Mold is found and a repair request presented to the seller
6. Maybe because of mold, maybe another issue but the transaction falls apart and the property is an active listing.

The seller now has to disclose the mold even if it was not disclosed previously. If it is disclosed, the Realtor would need to provide the buyer with the mold guidelines.

Mold growth is due to a water issue, mold will grow back if the water issue is not fixed. After disclosure of mold growth by seller, ask how the water issue was fixed and for some paperwork. Regarding the mold remediation, ask the seller for paperwork from the mold remediation company. The company should provide information on the remediation was performed and warranties on the products used during remediation.

Disclosure of mold by the Seller should not make your run from the property, if you have the proper paperwork backing up that it was remediated and the water issue was fixed, it shouldn't be an issue in the future.

 

 

 

Should I Replace my Aboveground heating oil tank?

Received a phone call from a property owner in Massachusetts, who had an Aboveground Storage Tank (AST) and wanted to know what he should do with it.  There was no natural gas in his area and he has read a lot about Underground Storage Tanks (USTS) leaking and wanted to know if the same rang true for AST's.

My question was how old was the tank?

      He said over 30 years.

I said is your car that old?

      He laughed he said he has a car that is approaching  20 years old.

I asked if he felt comfortable driving that car to Florida or California.  His answer was he would not be comfortable as the car did not perform like new anymore.  Well, I said neither is your AST.  It has rust inside and out, it is well out of warranty and it has no warning system to alert you when it is going to leak.  The photo below is from a crawlspace, you can see the rust on the tank.  Why would there not be rust, it was in a crawlspace, which is moist.  

He wanted to know when the tank leaks -  will it be drip or a flow of oil, I said it could be either one.  He didn't like that answer.

My point being is If you want to store hundreds of gallons of oil, you must ensure the tank is capable of doing that.  Older tanks degrade.  You can see visible rust on the tank exterior, including the legs which support the tank.    In this case the tank did not spring a hole but the leg rusted and gave out, causing the tank to discharge.  A tank is a system consisting of the tank, piping and supports (legs), you only need the weakest link to fail to have a problem. 

The result of the tank leaking?   Well oil leaked into a sub pump which then pumped the oil outside.  

Not many people are conditioned to fix something that is not broken, but if you wait for a heating oil AST to fail, you could spend tens of thousands of dollars.   When you replace a tank, you get a warranty, which is nice when you go and sell the property.

Look we don't even install AST's, we remove them, but it is a great idea to replace a tank before it fails.   want to lean about closure of AST's?   Click the link below

AST Removal

 

NJ ISRA: The ISRA process begins with determining if the Act applies to your type of business and transaction. The provisions of ISRA only apply to industrial establishments. What is an industrial establishment? The term "industrial establishment" refers to the type of business operation and transactions that would subject a facility to review under ISRA. An industrial establishment must meet each of the following three criteria: The place of business or real property at which such business is conducted, having a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code listed in N.J.A.C. 7:26 B - Appendix C subject to the specified exceptions and limitations. The place of business must have been engaged in operations on or after December 31, 1983; and the place of business must involve the generation, manufacturer, refining, transportation, treatment, storage, handling, or disposal of hazardous substances or hazardous wastes.

What is ISRA?

The Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA) is a unique environmental law which requires the remediation of certain business operations (site) prior to their sale or transfer or upon its cessation of on site business operations. Industrial Establishment is the defined term in the ISRA rule that describes those businesses regulated under ISRA.  Compliance with ISRA begins at the time of specified triggering events. 

Who Must Comply with ISRA?

Any person who owns the industrial establishment, owns the real property of an industrial establishment or is the operator of the industrial establishment must comply with ISRA.   Kind of vague

ISRA Question?  Call 888-301-1050

Aside from NJDEP notification of the ISRA occurring, you will start an environmental audit of the property called a Preliminary Assessment or PA.  The purpose of a PA is to conduct a site assessment that meets the diligent inquiry requirements of the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation (TRSR) at N.J.A.C. 7:26E-3.1 and 3.2 to determine if there may be any potentially contaminated areas of concern (AOC) located on the subject site that require further investigation.  What does that mean, imagine getting all the doctors you deal with (eye, dentist, surgeon, general practitioner, etc.) and having them inspect you, yep that's what a PA is.   Now the PA is historical  assessment and current site conditions assessment which like going to your doctor may lead to testing.

 

           

Recognized Environmental Concerns (REC)

A REC is defined as “the presence or likely presence of any hazardous substances or petroleum products in, on, or at a property due to (1) any release to the environment, (2) under conditions indicative of a release to the environment, or (3) under conditions that pose a material threat of a future release to the environment

Everything you wanted to  know about ISRA but were afraid to ask.

ISRA Overview

 

 

So many people continue to use Underground Storage Tanks (USTS), with the belief that the tank is in 100% working order, meaning no leaks.    How do you know if your tank is leaking -   Ninety-nine percent of the time you have no idea if your underground oil tank is leaking.   Let's be real, your smoke detector chirps when the battery is low, does your oil tank have an alarm or notification system?

Case in point, the following photos show a tank that is in use and was being replaced with an Aboveground Storage Tank (AST) for a future real estate transaction.  The photo below shows the tank fill pipe poking out of the ground about 18" high and in front of the rear stairs, pretty obvious a tank is present.

 

This tank gets removed, and we find that the tank was filled with oil, this oil was going to get transferred to the new AST.

So again, tank was being removed proactively, no signs the tank was leaking.  Tank gets removed, soils are a course sand.

Here is the tank out of the ground after removal.  What you need to note on the tank is the wetness on the top of the tank in the photo.  To you you see the top, but it is the bottom of the tank.   The wetness on the bottom of the tank is actually oil.   Note how soils are sticking to the tank.

So if you were on site and wiped you hand across the wetness, it would feel slick and smell oily.  Almost dead center of the photo below you can see the corrosion hole in the tank, almost big enough to put your finger through.  Now this hole was not always so large, it started as a pin hole, working through the tank as corrosion removed layer after layer of steel.  Once the hole advances through the tank shell, oil drips out, saturating soils, causing the soil to bind to the tank and form a plug that slows the oil leak, but does not stop it.

This tank, which was holding most of the oil, was slowly dripping oil for years.  The owner had no idea, because the hole was at the bottom of the tank, so water would not enter the tank and shut off the heater, the oil loss were drips, not dozens of gallons a day.  If you lost 70 or 10 gallons, you would notice, ounces a day, goes unnoticed.  Don't believe me?  Answer these questions.

• How many gallons of gas are in your car right now?
• When did or does the warranty on your car expire?  Oh the expiration of the warranty on your oil tank?
• Wait, does your oil tank have a warranty?
• How old is the tank?  Did the old owner replace the tank?  If so when?  Did you even ask?
• Do you have any salad dressing in the refrigerator that have expired?

Not trying to be funny, just making a point, that you don't pay attention to the mundane.   When your computer hard drive crashes, its a catastrophe,   well the same goes for your oil tank.  Rust never sleeps and the majority of tanks are well out of warranty and even farther out of the engineered design life expectancy.

Tanks are out of sight out of mind and people think they have a handle on the tank being in good condition, they think oil usage is normal no water in the tank are all signs the tank is not leaking.  Well water enters only of there is a hole in the top of the tank that would allow water to drain into, oil usage you only notice sudden drops in liquid, which is not the norm for a tank leak.  To be fair commercial tanks have expensive electronic leak detection systems, residential tanks do not.  To think you have a grip on how much oil your using, it giving yourself a little too much credit.

 

Some advice for knowing if your tank is at risk of leaking.

• Is the tank under warranty?
• Was the roof replaced?  If so the tank should have been replaced?
• Are you placing anything in the tank to prevent corrosion from the inside?
• Do you get the tank leak tested every year?

A no to any of these questions means you should replace the tank.  You can install a new Aboveground Tank that has a 30 or 40 year warranty, yes they cost money, but less than having to remediate a tank leak.  Tank leaks cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Call the experts   888-301-1050

Rust never sleeps, your above ground oil tank, either in your basement or outside will corrode not just on the outside, but from the inside out.  Nothing lasts forever and it is estimated that over 80% of aboveground heating oil tanks are beyond their designed life expectancy.   Those that are storing oil in vessels, will likely have that vessel fail without notice.  Your smoke alarm will chirp when the battery is low, your oil tank will leak without such notification.

The photo below is from a crawlspace tank that leaked, the oil ran to the crawlspace sub pump where it was discharged to the backyard.  The red you see is oil, heating oil is dyed red for identification.  This oil leaked from an interior AST, oil ran to a sub pump which pumped oil and water outside, about $50,000 to cleanup.

What does an Aboveground Tank Leak?

Water damage and condensation are two of the most common reasons that cause a tank to rust.  Outside, your tank is exposed to rain, snow and ice. That can pile up on the tank during winter and can mean your aboveground tank stays in constant contact with water for months.   In a basement, humidity (which also allows mold to grow) can corrode the tank shell, and moisture inside the tank will allows sludge to form that is acid and corrode the tank from the inside out.   Yep, your oil tank is not lubricated on the inside. 

This is the inside of an oil tank, all the rust-colored metal, its rust people inside the tank rust.

Winter is the most popular time for an oil tank to fail.   It is common when the weather changes that metal expands and contracts, opening up corrosion points in the tank shell and oil leaks. This is very common in the Northeastern United States from January through Spring.   You see the metal of the tank contracts in winter with the cold, warm days allows the metal to expand.  This contraction and expansion happens on the liquid in the tank as well as on the tank shell.  In areas where the metal has rusted (think layers of an onion) this movement can allow the integrity of the tank to be breached.   We see this every winter, some tanks are in use so hundreds of gallons of oil putting pressure against the shell of the tank further stresses the corrosion of the tank.   Fortunately sometimes these leaks start as a slow drip, other times as a steady stream of oil, as more and more oil moves through the corrosion holes, the holes get bigger.

 

Free Consultation

 

888-301-1050

 

The extreme temperatures that occur during the winter can also cause problems. Over time, rapid heating and cooling can cause cracks to form in the equipment, leading to leaks. Combined with moisture damage, one bad winter could mean you have to replace your tank, even if it’s still new.

How do you Know if Your Aboveground Tank is Leaking?

A leak in an above ground storage tank, or AST, can be determined in a few different ways.  First, do you smell oil?   Any home with oil heat can have a faint smell of oil (faint), but a strong oil odor, well that means fresh oil is leaking from the tank hence the strong odor.   Even a small cap full of fuel oil has an extremely pungent odor.  Discoloration of the floor below the tank is another easy cue that the tank has a leak.  If you open your refrigerator and see milk on the shelf, its a safe bet to say the milk container is leaking.    Outside your home if the grass is brown or dead by the tank, that s a sign oil has leaked.    You can also do your own tank leak test.   Simple DIY heating oil AST leak test, take a paper towel and run it along the bottom of the tank like you were polishing the tank.  If you get any oil on the towel, well its leaking oil should be on the inside of the tank not the outside.

Now if the tank is like the one below, you will have a rough time wiping the tank due to all the rust.  Well, this is a trick question because if you feel the corrosion, you should know the tank is rusting away and time to replace the tank.

 

Have tank Questions?

Want to remove a tank?

Call the experts

888-301-1050

 

Buy a home, you are a home owner you are also a property manager, unfortunately the home didn't come with an instruction manual.  Don't you wish a baby came with an instruction manual?

Your first or fifth home all hold similar responsibilities in property management and I have seen all sorts of mismanagement by new and veteran homeowners, simple because no one was trained on how to manage a home.   case in point maybe your neighbors yard looks better than yours, not because it is professionally done but rather your neighbor has more knowledge regarding lawn and yard care, hey its not rocket science but there is some science to it and when was the last time you took a science class?

Raise your Homeownership Property IQ

Chemical Storage  (Cleaners, paints, fuels, chemicals, pesticides, etc.)

Yes you own a home, so you own chemicals, more so than when you and I am not 100% talking about cleaning compounds, although Lysol and anything that kills Covid has an EPA registration number meaning there is some hazard.  You know that left over paint can with the dried paint?   Yes the paint can is not 100% air tight and will slowly release compounds in the air, as will many other chemical storage container.  (Had a guy getting sick in his basement office because it had 27 cans of paint, some mold as well but more about that later.  I am going to use chemical as a broad term to refer to anything you are not eating or using to do laundry, leaves a long list of things doesn't it.

Simple chemical storage solution  store chemicals together away from living area, garage or shed is best, this way you are not breathing anything that can off gas from the containers (gas cans should be stored outside the footprint of the home).  90% of homes we inspect do not follow this rule.

Take an inventory of your chemicals, including partially used paint cans, if you no longer use the color, get rid f it.  (latex paint cans can be opened and left to dry and disposed of by most municipal trash collection), household hazardous waste days are common and will accept most all chemicals homeowners want to disposal.  Longer you live in a home more chemical you collect, buy a home, well prior owner will leave a slew of items they didn't want but thought you would, go through it and get rid of what you don't need.    And yes most everything can have an expiration date so that pesticide you maybe saving has likely lost efficacy (the ability to produce a desired or intended result), dispose of it properly.

Water Management aka Preventing Mold

Mold can grow anywhere in your house if water is present and 60 to 70% of home we perform mold inspections at have mold, so how can you be the mold police?

On a rainy day (I mean a rain event of an hour or more), go outside and walk around your house.  If you see water pooling within a few feet or even next o the dwelling foundation you must adjust the outside grade because you don't want water by your foundation.    Water saturated soil can freeze in winter causing soils to heave and can crack your foundation (we see this all the time).   Also any water near your foundation can enter your home, which can burn out your sump pump, damage finished area and cause mold.  Know this a mold problem is a water problem.  Remember I said go outside after its been raining an hour?  Well if you see water by the foundation imagine what happens if it rains for 8 hours?

Take note of your gutters, if water is pouring out of the lengths, you likely have a clog or the gutter are undersized and can't mange the water, this is a situation where size does matter bigger is better.  I have seen new $850,000 homes with undersized gutters because the builder saw a way to save money and aside from us, most people don't look at gutters.

Exhaust Fans

100% of the time they must exhaust to the outside.  Cooking adds moisture to the air increasing humidity which can foster mold growth, many kitchen exhausts only recirculate air.   Bathroom fans if people use them often are exhausted to the attic fueling mold.   

Did you know you can install a humidistat controlled switch for your bathroom fan, click it on after you shower and it turns off when humidity drops, you will never get that naked chill again.

Pro Tip:

Turn on your bathroom fan and hold a paper towel up to it, if it clings to the fan, good fan, if it doesn't the fan sucks and not in the good way.  Yes bigger bathroom needs a bigger fan, 1 CFM per square foot of room. So a 50-79 sq. ft. bathroom would need a fan with a 50 to 80 CFM rating.

Attic:

Regarding mold, attics are one of the top three areas we find mold growth.    After we remediate (Average cost to remediate an attics is about $3,000.00 plus or minus, gain size matters) the remedy to prevent further growth is better air (humidity management).  Aside from venting the bathroom exhaust outside, ridge vents on the roof, humidistat controlled exhaust fans are huge lines of defense.  Even insulating the hatch to the attic helps because warm air during the heating season can migrate to the attic (heat rises) mixing with cold winter air which drops out moisture, fueling mold.

Do I need a humidifier?

If you have  basement, yes.    Because the soils outside your foundation hold moisture and moisture goes where it isn't.  Even if you have a finished basement with heating and cooling the area will never be the same temperature as upstairs.  Also basements without dehumidifiers invariably have mold.

Pro Tip:

Buy a dehumidifier that is sufficient for size of the room and use the supplied hose to drain it to a sump or sink.

*Remember there is a dust filter on the front of every dehumidifier, which you should remove and wash every 3 months.

HVAC The Lungs of the Home  aka how do I make my home healthier

Everyone is concerned about health, but no one thinks much about the HVAC system in a home.  The HVAC is managing the air you breath in the home and most HVAC systems are sub par in adding any real health benefits.  This topic could cover a whole article so I am just going to provide an overview.

1. Filters should be replaced every 3 to 6 months depending on the MERV rating.  No one remembers, so you should always write the date of last filter change on the filter and think about changing the filter when you pay your property taxes.
2. Operating a whole house humidifier on the HVAC System (forced hot air only) keeps optimal humidity in winter, viruses thrive in low humidity environments.
3. Increase the efficiency of your HVAC filter, most 1" filter catch the golf ball size particulate, look into having a MERV 16 filter installed.  What is MERV 16, think of it as installing an N95 Mask to your HVAC system.  Think about what that filters.

Home Energy Efficiency

You own a home, and your utility bill is likely higher than where you lived before.  Statistically we use less electricity today than 10 years ago due to lower energy demand of newer electronics and the availability of energy efficient products.  So lets start with the low lying fruit of home energy efficiency.

1. Replace high use lighting with LED which can be 80% more efficient that historic lighting.  What is high use areas?  Kitchen, front door light, primary bath lighting, bedrooms, home office, hallways.  All these are common left on when no one is in the room or home, so consider that when replacing bulbs.  really most every bulb could be replaced.
2. Smart Thermostats, they can save 10% annually on heating and cooling.
3. Water Heater Blanket, if your water heater does not have an extra insulation layer, you are losing energy

Pro Tip:

Consider an on demand hot water heater, they have come down significantly in price and consume less space than traditionally water heaters.  Think about it does your hot water need to be hot at 2 am, likely not so why spend money to heat it at that time of day 365 days out of the year.

*Go look on the serial number plate of your hot water heater, it will tell you year it was manufactured.  Know they last about 16 years on average, you may need t replace before you need to, plumbers make their money on emergency service and lack of hot water is an emergency. 

 

In real estate you have a three step process when evaluating environmental concerns during a property  transaction.  The three steps are summarized as follows:

Phase I:  Historical research

Phase II Testing for suspect issues found from the Phase II

Phase III, commonly called remediation or corrective action.

Between Phase I, II & II, phase II is the most commonly misunderstood part and many people think you can combine a Phase I & II, which you can't.  The reason being is you need to do the Phase I to draft a road map (navigate) more or less of issues with the property that you use the Phase II to actually quantify (quantitative data).

Let's have an example of a Phase II.

Phase I is performed of what the casual person would consider low risk.  Multi story building with retain on first floor and residential units on higher floor.  The Phase I review historical research (it is surprising what databases you can pull from for a property.  A Phase I historical research includes evaluating Sanborn historic fire insurance maps (if available for a site).  In a snippet from a Sandborn map for this site, the designation GT was noted.  GT = Gasoline Tank.

So you now compare the map with an overlay or aerial photographs to evaluate the location.

The Phase I consists of a walking inspection of a property, which you should not perform before you obtain and review your historical research.  So in this scenario you would have reviewed the Sanborn map band noted the historic gasoline tank.    Clearly when you do your walking inspection you evaluate this area as you have noted it through historical and current imagery.

You can see from the photo of the area that there are still visual clues of the gas tank being present.

You are now moving forward with the Phase II as the gas tank may still be present or removed, it could be either.  Bear in mind the current owner has been interviewed and has no knowledge of a gas tank.

A common Phase II task is completed a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR Survey). Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical technology that uses radar pulses to image below grade (subsurface) objects. It is a non-intrusive and nondestructive method to look below the surface, so to speak. By using electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band, signals are sent into the ground and when the radar encounters a solid object (buried objects), the signal is reflected back to the antenna and interpreted.

The photo below shows a GPR unit accessing the area of the suspect tank.  

The image interpreted by the unit shows the reflection of a tank.

In this scenario, a mostly residential site had a Phase I performed, because performing a Phase I is SOP for commercial sites (the uninformed would believe a Phase I is not necessary).    No one was aware a gas tank was present.  The Phase I research pointed to a gas tank being present at one time.  Property owner believed if a tank was present it was removed, I mean why leave the tank in the ground.  A Phase II was performed (and no you don't commonly carry geophysical equipment when you walk a property doing a Phase I) and low and behold a gas tank was found.

 

To summarize, you do a Phase I to look for potential environmental issue.  You do a Phase II to see if potential issues in the Phase I are issues.  In this case the Phase II found a gas tank which will lead to a Phase III which would be tank removal.

 

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