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Household Mold and Moisture Prevention

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Drop by to see us when you're in Washington, DC for the
annual Association for Public Policy Analysis and
Management (APPAM) Research Conference, November 3-5.
You'll find us at the HUD USER exhibit table with some of
our recent publications and periodicals. We'd like to
hear about the latest housing issues in your community
and learn how we might help you.

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"Controlling and Preventing Household Mold and Moisture
Problems: Lessons Learned and Strategies for
Disseminating Best Practices" is a report prepared for
Congress that describes current residential mold and
moisture research sponsored by HUD. Collectively, the
Department's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard
Control, Office of Policy Development and Research, and
the Office of Public and Indian Housing address a wide
range of mold and moisture issues.

These activities include demonstrations and evaluations
of interventions aimed at mold and moisture problems.
Highlights of results from two such projects in urban
areas, completed under grants to Cuyahoga County, OH and
the Illinois Department of Public Health, are given in
this report. Research activity also includes technical
studies of new and improved technologies for identifying
damp areas in buildings, measuring the overall wetness of
indoor spaces, quantifying loads of fungal spores in dust
and air, and determining normal concentrations of fungi
in homes that seem to be problem-free. A housing
inspection manual with related software and training
materials designed for environmental health specialists
and code inspectors was developed, as well as a
culturally-specific asthma training program for the
Native American community. Other projects include
publishing papers, conducting workshops, and developing
performance criteria for proper moisture control in
residential buildings. Guidebooks have been written for
designers, builders, and remodelers on resistance to
moisture intrusion, performance of construction materials
when subjected to flooding, and moisture problems and
control in manufactured homes, especially in hot, humid
climates. This report also identifies the factors that
make Native American housing more susceptible to mold and
moisture problems, for which guides and training programs
on mold prevention and detection have been developed,
specifically for Native American audiences.

The document also discusses a variety of lessons learned
through all of this activity.
It is available online and can be downloaded for free at
https://archives.hud.gov/local/id/research/report040105.pdf

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HUD USER
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