November 2022 - Abatement Technologies®

Winterization checklist: How to prepare your building for winter

Winterization checklist: How to prepare your building for winter

Avoid property damage with these quick tips

Winters in Canada and the northern U.S. are notoriously harsh. Each year, piled-up snow and ice damages roofs, and frozen pipes burst to wreak havoc on structures of all shapes and sizes. While winter storms are outside your control, preparing for them is not.

Here are some quick tips to prepare your building for winter.

Prevent Plumbing and Pipe Problems

One of the main threats that cold weather poses to buildings is frozen pipes. When pipes freeze, they burst, and the ensuing water damage can lead to mold growth, structural damage, and significant repair costs. Here’s what you can do to prepare:

Keep inside temperature above 55F/12C to prevent freezing
Check pipes for any air leaks
If pipes are in non-insulated or non-heated areas, consider wrapping pipes in insulation to prevent freezing

Additionally, it’s best to expect the unexpected and prepare for the worst. In this case, that means having equipment on hand to handle flooding. When a pipe bursts and water spills into your building, the clock immediately begins ticking. Mold can form in just 24-72 hours. If you don’t have equipment on hand, you’ll be asking how to get rid of mold rather than how to prevent it.

Here are some items you’ll want to have around in the case of a burst pipe:

Air movers, such as the RAPTOR® RAM1000 Centrifugal Air Mover
Dehumidifiers, such as the AQUATRAP® AT150RS LGR Dehumidifier

When flooding occurs, use air movers to dry the building and dehumidifiers to capture and remove the moisture in the air.

Secure your Structure

Though snow may look light and fluffy when it’s falling, anyone who has shoveled snow knows that fluffy snowflakes accumulate into dense snow packs. While snow piling on your driveway may be little more than an annual inconvenience, snow piling on roofs can cause severe structural damage.

The most dramatic example of structural damage from snow is roofs caving in. But this isn’t the only, or the most common, way that snow and ice on roofs can cause damage. The more common threat to structures from snow buildup is water damage. Snowmelt on roofs can leak into attics and cause mold growth. This can happen when shingles are missing or broken on the roofs, allowing water to seep through.

Additionally, ice dams forming around gutters are a major concern. Like caved-in roofs, falling icicles causing serious injury or death to passersby are a dramatic example. More commonly, these icicles grow in size and weight, putting strain on gutters and causing them to break. When this happens, the falling gutters and ice can damage the rest of your structure and make exposed portions of the structure liable to water damage.

Here’s what you can do to protect your roof from snow and ice:

Clean the gutters, removing any leaves, debris, snow, or ice
Inspect the roof, looking for missing or broken shingles
Install heated cabling to warm your roof and prevent snow buildup

Have your HVAC’s Back

Your HVAC system has your back all year, keeping you cool in the summer and cozy in the winter. The least you can do is ensure it’s set up for success going into winter. As you put more strain on your HVAC system to heat your building throughout the cold winter months, here are a few things you can do to have its back:

Change the filters
Empty condensation traps
Inspect the system for any blockages

Win with Winterization

At times, winter can feel like a primal battle between you and the elements. You never know what winter will throw at you, but by preparing for the worst, you set yourself up for success no matter what winter holds. This winter, be ready for anything with Abatement Technologies equipment at your disposal and win the battle against winter.

Meet Dylan Head – Accounts Receivable Specialist

Meet Dylan Head - Accounts Receivable Specialist

Following the first round of his Master's Degree, Dylan found himself in need of an employment opportunity. When he expanded his reach to Fort Erie, Ontario he joined Abatement Technologies as an Accounts Receivable Specialist.

New Skills Create New Roles

Head became an Aire Guardian in 2020 and has been a finance team member since. Though he was unfamiliar with our industries of work, he was willing to apply his background however possible. The interview process had been an interesting one. Head had originally applied for an administrative role to secure employment when the application process took a special turn.

“Thankfully, Kayla the CFO saw my resume and my accounting background. I came in, really liked the people, the office was nice, and I had a good time overall, I was just really hoping to come back for an interview. Keith in HR called and gave me the news saying I didn't get the job - I knew he couldn’t be calling just for that - He followed up by saying they had created a new accounting-related position for me. Which I was super stoked about”

As Abatement navigated the obstacles brought forward by COVID Dylan found himself focused on material ordering volumes for the better part of a year - when he was also able to incorporate a flexible schedule to continue his education.

“The amount of flexibility I was given by Abatement to ensure that I was able to finish my education I was just astounded with. I honestly think that if I worked for almost any other company, my expectations wouldn't have been nearly as high as they ended up being fulfilled.”

Leaving by Good Graces

What makes Dylan's career story unique is that completing this educational journey is still critical, which means he will move on from Abatement and work towards receiving his CPA designation.

“I don't think I'll forget about Abatement anytime soon. The transition to the new job is a move out of necessity not out of want. If I could stay with Abatement I definitely would. Probably the best company I've ever worked for, I have never felt so cared about.”

A Company Big Enough to Know and Small Enough to Care

When asked what makes Abatement Technologies the company it is today, Dylan was quick to share that it’s the people.

“What they grant their employees, the flexibility, you just can't get that from a stale corporate structure or a big company. When I passed my accounting exam, Kayla the CFO wanted to be the first one to know - she was in a meeting with Andrew Harber the CEO and I figured she’d see my message, do a silent fist pump and come out afterwards... Nope, she immediately jumped out of the meeting, Andrew with her, and proceeded to give me high fives and congratulations.”

Known for a strong reputation of job creation within our community and across Canada, Abatement is always proud to be expanding our team, talents, and in-house abilities.

“From thinking I'm just some guy on the finance team. And they’re just pulling out all the stops for me. Small gestures in the long scheme but just unbelievable kindness that I would never expect from a company. A family company that actually cares in my opinion.”

Are you interested in starting a career with Abatement Technologies? Learn more here.

What to do When Flooding Occurs in a Hospital

What to do When Flooding Occurs in a Hospital

Hospitals, like all buildings, are subject to maintenance, repair, and restoration needs, sometimes at a moment's notice. Few building emergencies are worse than flooding. Whether it’s natural disasters flooding from heavy rain and hurricanes, or floods from equipment failure like burst pipes, floods are an emergency that can keep building managers up at night. This is perhaps more so in hospitals where increased regulations and patient safety concerns are cause for special precautions.

Protecting Patients

When flooding occurs in a hospital and remediation is required, the number one priority is to protect patients throughout the process. After all, patients come to hospitals to be cured, not put in harm's way. In the case of hospital construction, maintenance, or restoration, one of the first steps is to construct containment walls around the affected area. Like isolating a patient, construction areas need isolation, too. With flooding, contractors need to contain the affected area to stop the spread of mold into adjacent spaces. In many cases, poly sheeting will be used to create a containment space. In high risk environments and larger disaster areas, drywall may be required.

Once the containment is in place contractors create a negative pressure environment using HEPA-filtered negative air machines or portable air scrubbers. Creating a negative pressure environment helps ensure that unfiltered air inside the containment area does not leak out. The HEPA-filtered negative air machines and portable air scrubbers draw contaminated air in, filter the air, and then exhaust the filtered air out of the containment area through ductwork. Federal, state, provincial, local, and facility regulations will determine whether HEPA air can be discharged inside or whether it needs to be directed outside.

Acting Fast

In cases of flooding, acting fast is imperative. Mold grows in 24-72 hours, and the longer a building stays wet, the longer mold has to grow. Once mold grows, it becomes much more difficult to get rid of and can be a health risk. Therefore, remediation teams must act fast. However, constructing traditional walls can take days. That’s where the SHIELD WALL® comes in. Unlike traditional walls, these lightweight polycarbonate walls are easy to transport and can be set up by a small team in a matter of hours, not days, allowing remediation teams to quickly get to work.

Reducing Waste

In an emergency, it’s a natural human instinct to get the job done as quickly as possible. One might choose to use whatever materials are readily available, which might not be the most financially conscious or sustainable route. Using single-use solutions only adds more to the financial burden. When hospitals construct temporary drywall walls to contain construction and remediation areas, the walls are discarded afterward. With skyrocketing lumber prices, this is an excess cost that adds up over time. With reusable containment walls, like the SHIELD WALL® System, companies can reuse the same containment walls for years in a row, saving money and promoting more sustainable business practices.

Hospital Flood Abatement: A Case Study

Curious about what this looks like in real life? Request a case study below to learn how Northern Manitoba Regional Health protected patients, acted fast, and reduced waste by using the SHIELD WALL® System when a pipe burst overnight, dumping 70,000 gallons of water into a mechanical room and operating room.

REQUEST CASE STUDY

Meet Taby Jones – Technical Process Specialist

Taby utilizes her education in statistics, research and methods planning to thrive in her role as the Technical Processes Specialist at Abatement Technologies. Every day is different, says Jones, but getting to visit the production team and physically interact with the products she tracks the processes, issues and other information for is the exciting part.

“I like getting to go down and play with things and see what the products are that I've been writing paperwork on - those are my fun days”

Becoming an AIRE GUARDIAN

Jones has been an Aire Guardian since 2021 and continues to help our research and development team grow in data management and process tracking.

“I started creating processes and tracking things, it was easy to see what kind of niches I would fill and places I could fit. It turned into, okay, this is definitely the kind of stuff that I need to be doing. And now we're finding other areas that could really use processes, tracking and documentation.”

With her high attention to detail, scheduling and organizational skills, Taby has been able to help structure the creative mindsets of the research and development team and create processes and procedures that support projects from the time they’re started through to completion.

“Getting to be with the research and development team, I get to see them play with things and try to break things just to see if they'll break. it's like being in kindergarten all over again, but for grownups, so I'm kind of on board.”

A future of growth

Abatement Technologies as a company has grown a lot within the past few years, one thing that hasn’t changed, is the way we come together as a team.

“My role is very much about helping different teams communicate with one another. So I get to talk to everyone across the whole company and everyone's very helpful. They know I'm new, they're willing to help me figure out and learn whatever it is I need to, but they're also willing to help me learn how to do it myself. So I just think having an environment like that really fosters growth and you know, it makes me wanna stick around”

With the current expansion of the Abatement Technologies Headquarters underway, the future is looking bright for the research and development team who will move to a new state-of-the-art facility and continue to create and innovate. When asked about the expansion Taby shared her enthusiasm.

“Oh, I'm super excited. I drive by it every day. So I've watched it go from the ground up and it's exciting to be back together, communicating on a daily basis. I think that'll be fun and who doesn't wanna move into a shiny new building”

Are you interested in starting a career with Abatement Technologies? Learn more here.

5 Years Later – How Abatement Technologies Aided Hurricane Maria

September is historically the time of year with the most optimal conditions for the formation of hurricanes in the mid-Atlantic region. Because of the high amounts of humidity and warm air in the Caribbean, its geographical location houses the perfect conditions for catastrophic hurricanes. In fact, this year marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria, the deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017.

As a result of Hurricane Maria, the island of Puerto Rico lost most of its essential services’ infrastructure, communities were leveled, many were displaced, and thousands of lives were lost. Five years after the disaster, the reconstruction and restoration efforts on the island are still ongoing. Following the immediate devastation in 2017, Abatement Technologies customer and restoration expert, Pat Dooley, was contracted to fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to do an assessment of the flood damage in the Mall of San Juan, a 1,580,000 square-foot shopping mall that first opened its doors in 2015. Upon initial assessment, Pat and his team discovered that nearly 18 inches of water had flooded the mall.

As a result of the hurricane, there were travel and equipment delays that prohibited Pat and his team from arriving in Puerto Rico until 14 days after the hurricane had already passed. Because mold incubates from a spore for 12 to 24 hours, and starts showing visual signs of growth in 48 to 72 hours, the team was challenged upon arrival with remediating severe mold growth. When remediating mold, it’s important to remove every spore to prevent regrowth. Because of this, workers had to cut and remove drywall and other materials, which lead to dust and other potentially harmful particles in the air.

In order to safely contain the mold, Pat and his team decided to bring in 100 of Abatement Technologies’ air filtration devices. These devices were situated throughout the mall to help remove any harmful particulates, bioaerosols and volatile organic compounds that were released into the air during the project. By leveraging this equipment, the team was able to help protect the short and long-term health of those involved and helped ensure that they were breathing the cleanest air possible.

As a remediation and restoration expert, Pat is an IICRC Instructor and is the founder of what is known today as the Applied Structural Drying Course. Leveraging his education and experiences, like the project in Puerto Rico, Pat has carried out water restoration projects with a total value of nearly $14.7 million and has participated in numerous natural disaster restoration projects. With a passion for helping and protecting people, Abatement Technologies is proud to work with remediation and restoration experts, like Pat, to deliver the best solutions available in the market.

Contact our team today to learn more about our air filtration devices and other restoration and remediation products!

IAQ is Creating Big Opportunities for Service Contractors

Indoor air quality is creating big opportunities for service contractors

Residential and commercial air duct cleaning is one of the most lucrative business opportunities in the booming indoor air quality field, with excellent annual growth rates. Industry analysts expect this growth rate to continue through increased customer concern about IAQ in their homes and businesses.

Whether you’re already offering contracted services or you’re interested in getting into the indoor air quality market for the first time - we have a list of considerations to help you in the decision-making process.

Cashing in on indoor air quality

Air duct cleaning services allow contractors to increase profits in an ever-growing market. A number of factors make air duct cleaning an attractive business opportunity, such as the following:

- Great return on investment

- Diverse business opportunities

- DUCT-PRO® equipment leasing programs

- Be in control of your earnings and profit

- Provide significant add-on revenues with existing customers

- Generate new customers for other products and services

As the industry leader since 1990, Abatement Technologies® has helped thousands of companies develop and grow successful air duct cleaning businesses. High-performance DUCT-PRO® and HEPA-AIRE® equipment has helped professionals clean HVAC systems in millions of homes and commercial buildings.

What is source removal and capture duct cleaning?

Studies have shown that even a small amount of dirt buildup on HVAC system components can significantly reduce HVAC efficiency and increase energy consumption. Complete removal of dirt, debris, and other contaminants from the air duct system is the most effective and acceptable cleaning and decontamination method for ductwork in both homes and commercial buildings.

Abatement Technologies' duct cleaning method goes a step further by combining effective source removal with source capture. Here's how we do it:

- A specially designed compressor equipped with special agitation tools is used to loosen or dislodge dirt, debris and other contaminants from inner ductwork surfaces.

- A HEPA-AIRE® portable vacuum system is taken right into the home or building and plugged into a standard 115 V wall outlet. It combines the power needed to place the ductwork under negative pressure and pull out the contaminants, with a stage 3 filtration system, that has the efficiency and capacity needed to capture them.

Because the HEPA-filtered air exhausted back into the indoor environment from the vacuum is cleaner than many hospital operating rooms, there is no need to pull huge amounts of heated or cooled air out of the building and exhaust it outside, as must be done with gasoline or diesel-powered equipment.

Click here to learn more about Abatements Technologies' duct cleaning process.

Give your company a competitive advantage with high-performance duct cleaning equipment

Abatement Technologies offers affordable startup packages of high-performance air duct cleaning equipment and tools designed to deliver superior results in both residential and commercial HVAC ductwork. Key components of Abatements turnkey equipment packages include:

- HEPA-AIRE® portable power vacuums

- AIRE-SWEEP® portable air compressors and tools

- DUCT-PRO® video inspection system

- Specialty tools and accessories

Affordable start-up packages of air duct cleaning equipment, tools, and professional marketing materials to get your business up and running start around $6,000.00. Contractors often find that Abatement Technologies duct cleaning systems deliver one of the best investment returns of any capital purchase. Many contractors have been able to recoup their entire initial investment within the first few months of operation. For those who want to spread the cost over time, we offer special equipment leasing programs.

Click here to learn more about starting a duct cleaning business with DUCT-PRO® equipment. Our knowledgeable sales consultants are ready to help you!