Residential and commercial buildings, especially mid and high rise buildings in metropolitan areas, face a common threat to their habitability and longevity in the form of penetrating water leaks that sometimes flow through a seemingly infinite number of floors, and the resulting mold that grows if expensive remediation measures are not promptly initiated. The sheer number of potential leak sources in a single building from hoses, drains, and valves for toilets, sinks, appliances, and HVAC units, are in the thousands - making it extremely costly and nearly impossible to effectively monitor and prevent water damage using manual inspection techniques. In a typical leak scenario, building staff must then go door to door searching for the leak source, often not even knowing what floor the leak is originating from, because leaks are usually only discovered when spotting appears on a ceiling - after it has already leaked through at least one floor.
Today, available technology solutions provide 24/7 real-time and precise monitoring, alerting, and building control capabilities through a mobile app or any web browser. Smart building and leak detection systems completely remedy the problem of detecting leaks throughout an entire building, allowing immediate response and maximum damage prevention. The latest systems can manage thousands of devices, and represent them graphically in a fast and easy-to-understand format based on status colors and actual floor plans from the building, rather than just thousands of lines of text.
The problem of leaks and mold
Water can cause damage to buildings in sometimes unpredictable and unpreventable ways, such as when a sprinkler pipe bursts. However, severe water damage can come from less obvious, but very common and preventable sources that are overlooked and neglected, such as HVAC units, and appliances like dishwashers, refrigerators and laundry machines.
Appliances are connected to water supplies with hoses that degrade and eventually fail, and because they are in hard to reach, rarely checked and out of sight locations, like under kitchen cabinets, these leaks go unnoticed until they eventually leak into someone’s apartment below. When it comes to HVAC units in buildings, they cause even more damage because modern buildings rely on cycling chilled water for HVAC units located in individual apartments to operate. This is why when an HVAC unit starts to leak because of something like a clogged drain pipe, massive amounts of water flow out creating a leak that continues until the HVAC unit is shut off. Many times, people are home when these leaks are occurring, but because of the placement of HVAC closets away from living areas, they go unnoticed until they leak through one or more floors.
Neglect of even small things like $30 valves found everywhere from sinks to laundry machines, have ultimately led to catastrophic consequences if they fail or burst. Many do not realize that typical valves have average lifespans between 5-15 years and eventually need to be replaced. The rubber seals in these valves and hoses degrade over time, especially in cities like Miami that have hard water, which accelerates rubber degradation.
How do water leaks cause mold?
Mold spores travel through the air and settle on damp surfaces, where they can quickly proliferate. According to the EPA, porous and cellulose-based materials in buildings should be thoroughly dried within 24 to 48 hours of getting wet, otherwise, mold will start to grow and spread.
Mold can also cause adverse health effects, such as headaches, lightheadedness, coughing, and irritation of the eyes, nose, and/or throat. Symptoms may sometimes be severe but usually go away after the person is removed from a polluted environment.
Water leak problems in real-life situations
Mold and water leaks are major problems that impact buildings all over the United States, posing a considerable risk to health and to the value of properties.
About 70% of homes in the United States have some degree of mold, making it a common problem. This extensive distribution emphasizes how typical mold issues are in residential buildings. Given that 28% of Americans have a mold allergy, the health effects are also substantial. There is a severe public health concern because mold exposure has been related to many health concerns, including allergic reactions and respiratory disorders.
Public structures are susceptible to mold growth as much as private residences. Research indicates that there is mold in 26% of hospitals and 18% of school buildings, highlighting the serious consequences for public spaces. Mold-related illnesses have a significant financial impact, the estimated yearly cost is $3.7 billion. This figure includes healthcare expenses associated with mold exposure and the resulting health conditions.
The financial impact of mold remediation and water damage is significant. Mold remediation costs can go into the tens of thousands of dollars for a single 2,000 square foot apartment.
A property's value might drop by 20% to 37% when it has a history of mold problems, in addition to the costs of cleanup. Homeowners who try to sell their residences may suffer significant financial losses as a result of this decline in value. Water damage restoration costs also differ greatly. More significant repairs, especially those that involve mold removal, may cost more than $30,000.
In multi-family buildings, water leaks and mold pose serious problems that can cause serious structural damage, health hazards, and financial hardships. Unaddressed water leaks are responsible for 80% of structural damage in multi-unit houses, indicating the worrying prevalence of these concerns. The fact that 14,000 or more Americans encounter a water damage emergency at home or business every day highlights how common this issue is. Up to 250 gallons of water can be lost due to even modest problems, such as a tiny 1/8-inch crack in a pipe, demonstrating the potential for considerable damage even from seemingly unimportant sources. Some EPA data suggests that annually, minor leaks in apartments account for up to 1 trillion gallons of water per year in the United States. Not only can repairing these leaks save water, but they can also save money by reducing water bills by up to 10%.
Roomsys smart building solution against leaks and mold
The Roomsys smart building system is a cutting-edge smart building solution created especially to protect high-rise buildings from expensive water leaks and mold problems. It provides building managers the ability to identify, manage, and react to various alerts in real-time from thousands of sensors and devices with a single centralized solution.
Building conditions like humidity, temperature, air quality, as well as water leaks can all be monitored and controlled remotely with the Roomsys system. The system uses a network of wireless sensors to continuously monitor for leaks. The system's ability to detect water leaks immediately reduces damage and the chances of mold growth.
A smartphone app, SMS, phone calls, emails, and WhatsApp are just a few of the ways the system notifies building management and in real-time when it notices an anomaly, such as a water leak or rising humidity levels. The prompt notification system facilitates quick responses to alerts.
Apart from its monitoring features, Roomsys offers centralized management of essential building systems. This includes controlling door access, adjusting thermostat settings, and remotely turning off water valves from a single interface. Residents can now monitor and control the environment and security of their apartments from their cell phones thanks to the Roomsys mobile app.
Roomsys is made with easy scalability in mind, and low cost of set up. With LoraWAN technology, as the demands of the building change, more sensors and devices can be easily added to the solution. With a user-friendly interface and customizable access permissions, building staff and residents can get alerts and controls based on their roles.
Conclusion
In summary, mold and water leaks can have serious consequences for buildings, causing extensive damage, and depreciating the value of the building. Mold can also lower indoor air quality and seriously harm tenants' health.
Roomsys offers a centralized smart building system that monitors, detects, and handles possible risks in real-time, delivering an innovative solution to water leak and mold problems in buildings. Get in touch with us to keep mold and water leaks off your property.