Radon Monitoring in Alberta Government Owned and Supported Buildings Colin Wildgrube (ROHT, CET) Manager, Building Environment Unit Alberta Infrastructure April 24, 2017 1
ALBERTA INFRASTRUCTURE- BUILDING ENVIRONMENT UNIT- (EDMONTON) Colin Wildgrube (780) - 422-7472 Victor Hikmet (780) - 422-7600 Andrew Brooks (780) - 422-7440 Brian Oakley Director Facility Planning and Architecture Section (780) - 422-0623 2
WHAT DO WE DO? Alberta Infrastructure constructs, renovates and maintains government buildings across Alberta. Approximately 4500 buildings. Focus on new schools. Building Environment Unit responds to concerns relating to hazardous materials, indoor air quality, mould and radon. 3
Radon Mitigation Rough-In Process October, 2015: Alberta Municipal Affairs clarified the radon requirements in the Alberta Building Code 2014. Alberta Infrastructure is to mandate the radon rough-in with the qualification that Alberta Infrastructure be open to proposed alternative solutions by the engineer/designer. The radon rough-in should be considered the benchmark November, 2015: Infrastructure s Executives asked to approve radon mitigation rough-in systems in new GOA owned or supported permanent buildings. February, 2016: Approved. 4
Radon Mitigation Rough-In Specification Development of a radon mitigation rough-in standard specification in consultation with Alberta Radon Consultants. Specification to be revised based on current projects and Radon Consultant input. 5
Radon Mitigation Rough-In Inspection and Testing Criteria 6
Radon Mitigation Rough-In Specification and Inspection/Testing Criteria Specification and Inspection/Testing criteria is not perfect!! Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it. Salvador Dali Some possible revisions include: 1. Design/Inspection/Testing is to be done by a Canadian National Radon Proficiency Program (C-NRPP)- Certified Mitigation Professional. This can be a Professional Engineer or Technologist. 2. Using smoke testing with positive pressure of the membrane to determine leakage. 3. Alternatives to the clean coarse aggregate gas venting layer. 4. Aggregate size and void space testing. 5. Alternatives to the polyolefin membrane system. 6. Alternatives to membrane sealing. 7. Rough-in extension to roof/wall. 8. Radon consultant to chair pre-install meeting 9. Installer training. 10. Increased inspections to cover each phase of construction. 11. Radon consultant to coordinate rough-in locations with Prime Consultant, Structural Engineer, Geotechnical Engineer. 7
Radon Mitigation Rough-In: Preferred Installation Method 8
Radon Mitigation Rough-In Projects 104 new school or post secondary projects under construction or proposed. 22 Edmonton and 25 Calgary new school projects. 9
Radon Mitigation Rough-In- Inspection/Testing Photos 10
Previous Radon Measurement in Existing Buildings Radon testing in selected Alberta Government Buildings was initially done in 2007 and 2008. 41 buildings tested in 2007 by the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada- (6 in Medicine Hat, 9 in Lethbridge, 14 in Red Deer, 4 in Fort McMurray and 8 in Grande Prairie). 28 buildings tested in 2008 by C5 Plus Ltd.- (18 in Calgary and 10 in Edmonton). All test results were well below the Health Canada Guideline of 200 Bq/m3, except in two Calgary buildings which have since been mitigated and re-tested. 11
Previous Radon Measurement Reports for Existing Buildings 12
New Radon Measurement in Existing Buildings (2016) Prioritization of buildings for radon testing based on: 1) Probability of high radon levels given geographic location (based on CAREX map). 2) Probability of occupant exposure to radon due to building type. 3) Size of the building. 4) 135 existing Government of Alberta to be tested. 5) 11 buildings tested using E-Perms in 2016 following Health Canada radon testing guidelines. 6) Buildings tested were in Peace River (1), High Prairie (1), Hinton (2), Jasper (1), Red Deer (2), Calgary (1), Pincher Creek (1), Bonnyville (1) and Edmonton (1). 7) All test results acceptable. E-Perms analysed by Alberta Centre for Toxicology- University of Calgary. 13
New Radon Measurement Photos in Existing Buildings (2016) Due to government budget restraints, 2016 radon measurements were done by our group. Our group has taken radon measurement training through Biomation- Canada. Future deployments to be done by Radon Consultants. 14
- Radon Future 1. Radon mitigation rough-in systems will continue to be installed in new permanent Government of Alberta (GOA) owned or supported permanent buildings. 2. Further Alberta radon mapping will be reviewed to fine-tune rough-in installations. 3. Radon measurements will continue in existing GOA buildings. 4. Ongoing changes to Alberta Infrastructure radon standard specification and inspection/testing criteria, based on industry input. 5. Continual radon industry consultation. Open to alternative solutions proposed by the C-NRPP Certified Mitigation Professional and installation Contractors. 15
QUESTIONS? 16