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HAIP (Hospital Airborne Infection Prevention) Espoo Researcher Receives Distinguished Fellow Award
Future Direction Dear Colleagues, As the incoming President of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ) I write to share with you some observations on the Society, and on the challenges and opportunities that we now face. Before doing so let me underline how honored I am by the opportunity to serve as ISIAQ President and by the level of trust that you have placed in me. I plan to do my best to ensure that it has been well placed. I first participated in an ISIAQ activity in 1991 and my involvement with the Society has grown constantly, since. As my own interest has grown I have had an opportunity first hand to witness the level of commitment and volunteer work done by ISIAQ’ members. We are a very special organization whose members truly take responsibility for their Society’s life. I believe principles do not change much over time because they express basic values. That is, times change, but values remain. I fully intend to respect and follow the values set forth by ISIAQ’s founding members as I continue to serve this Society and I expect our Board of Directors (BoD) will do so as well. In the past few years, we all have observed and participated in the Society going through financial and administrative restructuring and becoming stronger and more technologically in tune with today’s way of operating. We have seen new Chapters established, new policies developed, new task forces formed, and new alliances forged. Surely, the tools to implement our shared principles are ready. For this, we must acknowledge the excellent work done by my predecessors and colleagues serving on the previous BoDs and thank them for leaving us a Society in such good standing. During the 3 years of my term I propose to focus on building an even more vigorous network of relationships with private and public institutions, while continuing to establish new alliances with those who share our principles and our interests in the indoor environment. By doing so I hope to make ISIAQ into an even more visible player in our areas of interest. Beyond this broad aspiration, I can outline a number of specific initiatives that I believe merit Board and broader Society consideration. First, I would like to suggest that we develop a form of organizational-governance that engages more fully the talents of all of our BoD members. I hope to work with the Board to exercise a higher degree of responsibility within policy, research and practice. I would like the Board to work closely too with Chapters’ chairs and Task Force’ leaders where appropriate to craft and to oversee specific initiatives. I fully support the essential scientific character of ISIAQ as the foundation on which we should develop an additional array of professional and outreach programs aimed at strengthening our financial stability. The Society’s scientific foundations continue to be strong and one visible sign of that fact is the growing impact factor of our journal. In my view, we would be advantaged particularly by developing an even closer relationship with the International Academy of Indoor Air Sciences. Second, I think we should continue to seek, develop and, strengthen our relationships with professional organizations such as the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), directly as international body, and through our local Chapters. I believe that our various Task Force’ reports and the work of the National Chapters is crucial in translating our scientific knowledge into practical knowledge in the various national contexts we serve. I fully support the translation of such reports into appropriate national languages in culturally appropriate ways. Perhaps, in the near future, ISIAQ will be ready to start a practice-oriented periodical to complement the Indoor Air Journal. Third, ISIAQ has done well in its traditional activities of soliciting the organization of the HB’ xx conferences, co-organizing the Indoor Air’ xx conferences and presenting our perspective at other scientific events. However, I hope that our Society can achieve a still more visible presence by having regional/local and ad hoc events to state more prominently our authority in the field. Such activities should help us develop our memberships as well. The changing global context calls for a higher level of ethical, social and health responsibility, and ISIAQ is well positioned to be an active player as it pertains to our scientific domain (e.g., promoting the exercising of the Human Right to Healthy Indoor Air). I hope actively to seek a growing number of opportunities for ISIAQ to collaborate officially with government and international agencies, such as the World Health Organization, in defining indoor environment strategies and efforts in different regions of the world (e.g., ISIAQ network is positioned well to develop an educational agenda for a variety of audiences worldwide). My hope is to work to develop a more effective communication system to share ISIAQ’s position on urgent-contemporary matters (e.g., “mold”) with relevant audiences. This step will strengthen our effectiveness in promoting ISIAQ’s mission. How much difference this BoD can make and how fast is, of course, not entirely in our hands. We shall move forward within a context bounded by our continuing need to keep ISIAQ finances stable, to secure funds to sustain a professional and efficient Secretariat, to continue develop our membership, and to continue to ensure that we pursue our activities via a lean and up to date modus operandi. These are my general thoughts for the 2003-2006 term. I see these observations as the beginning of a process to structure a conversation with the other BoD members and with the General Assembly as we develop a strategic plan together for the term. I will share the outcomes of this planning process in the next few months as we come together to develop a shared vision. This is quite a task! I look forward to meet each and every one at our 2003 General Assembly in Singapore in the capable hands of our hosts and organizers of Healthy Buildings 2003 International Conference. In my native language: grazie per l’attenzione (Thank you for your attention). Nadia Boschi
HAIP (Hospital Airborne Infection Prevention) May 2000 a Norwegian group started to develop a new concept for control of air movement in isolates, operating theatres and other risk areas in hospitals. Hospitals are complex environments which require ventilation for comfort and to control hazardous emissions for patients, personnel and visitors. The HAIP project focuses on air movement as a whole – not only through the ventilation system. During rehabilitation of a new hospital building in 1999 we discovered extensive uncontrolled air movements above suspended ceilings. In fact the outdoor conditions (weather, wind etc.) decided the degree of transportation of air and contamination from room to room – from façade to façade. A result was vibration in the suspended ceiling and a sprinkle of mineral wool particles, cement, gypsum and other particulate contamination to the occupational areas. Due to thermal forces bacteria and viruses can move from the rooms and up to the space above the suspended ceilings. This space can therefore become a pathway for transportation of both contamination and infections. The HAIP project has the strictest demands regarding functionality and security. We do not talk about over/underpressure, but use the expression “direction of air movements”. The reason is experience from other isolates, where they have not succeded in solving the problem of dissemination of airborne infections. Through HAIP we have developed a system for total control of air movement – in and outside the ventilation system, above and below the suspended ceilings and through doors and other openings in walls. ISIAQ decided in Milan in 1992 to follow my suggestion of a Task Force on Hospital Ventilation. At that time I was Vice President Practice in ISIAQ. A committee of 8 was appointed, with Pentti Kalliokoski as chairman. The Task Force has now finished its work. In 2000 we searched in their internet report to see what we could find about airborne infections, and this formed some of the basis for the foundation of the HAIP group. A co-operation was established between the HAIP-group, SINTEF in Trondheim and 3 different hospitals in Norway (Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo, St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim and SiR (Central Hospital) in Stavanger). For more than 2 1/2 years the HAIP group has been working with the development of a protection isolate that really functions as an isolate for airborne infections. Bon Aer A/S has in co-operation with YIT (ABB) Building Systems developed an isolate that can be used in different connections:
The first container solution was ready before Easter 2002, and the plan was to install it on a roof at SiR. But then all maintenance grants were suddenly stopped, and we had to find other solutions. Lovisenberg Diakonale Hospital in Oslo was the first hospital that wanted to try our project, and we started the rehabilitation of two isolates in March 2003. On behalf of the HAIP group I have the responsibility for providing information about our concept to other possible interested parties. However, I have been a little cautious until now, because we did not want to contribute to the “try-and-miss” method – not in this field either. We wanted documentation, and this responsibility had been left to Dr. Hans Martin Mathisen at SINTEF. The documentation from SINTEF was ready July 25. 2003, and shows that the two first isolates at Lovisenberg Diakonale Hospital in Oslo is functioning to our – and the hospital’s – full satisfaction. Information material will be prepared in the nearest future. We would be glad to invite members of ISIAQ to an orientation about the HAIP project, and would be happy to arrange a visit to Lovisenberg Hospital in Oslo. Sincerely, Gaute Flatheim
Espoo Researcher Receives Distinguished Fellow Award Olli Seppänen, Fellow ASHRAE, received the Louise and Bill Holladay Distinguished Fellow Award from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) at its 2003 Annual Meeting held here June 28-July 2. This annual award is given to a Fellow ASHRAE for continuous preeminence in engineering or research work. The honor was initiated in 1979 by Presidential Member Bill Holladay. Seppänen is the head of the Institute of Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning at Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland. Considered an authority on the indoor environment, ventilation and energy efficiency, one of Seppänen’s most recognized contributions to the field is a series of studies relating the indoor environment to human productivity. In the series, he analyzed this impact and the potential economic benefits of improving air quality in today’s buildings. This relationship has been frequently cited worldwide. Other studies include his experiments on the impact of air quality of each component in air-handling systems and his contributions to improve energy efficiency of HVAC systems. He has served as president of the Finnish Federation of Heating, Piping and Air Conditioning Societies (FINVAC), an ASHRAE associate society, since 1995. He also is vice president of the Federation of European HVAC Associations (REHVA), also an associate society. He is the founder of the International Academy of Indoor Air Sciences and International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate Finnish Society of Air Quality and Climate. He was president of the Sixth International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate and the Fourth Healthy Buildings Conference, both of which were co-sponsored by ASHRAE. He has served on the Environmental Health Committee and the International Committee. He has published some 200 articles, 40 papers and 10 books, including papers and articles for ASHRAE Transactions and ASHRAE Journal. Seppänen was elevated to the grade of Fellow in 1996 and received a best paper award from ASHRAE in 1972. ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of 55,000 persons. Its sole objective is to advance through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve the evolving needs of the public.
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