Mold free living
Preventative care
By Carol Park
It's invasive, it can grow in 24 hours, often times it goes unseen and unchecked; mold is the silent indoor air quality killer that impacts you and your family's health, decreases property value and costs you thousands of dollars in ongoing health issues, maintenance and repairs.
Palm Springs-based Environmental Service Professionals Inc. offers a program that will help prevent mold growth and give building and home owners peace of mind.
ESP's Certified Environmental Home Inspector program taps a team of inspectors certified in traditional home inspections, moisture inspection, annual mold and moisture maintenance, environmental testing, allergen screening, neighborhood environmental reports, energy inspections known as a home energy tune-up and radon testing.
The CEHI program not only helps to ensure mold free living for owners, it also mitigates risks for the builder, insurance company and the mortgage lender.
"Builders are accountable for 10 years worth of defects (In California) on a home, they are liable," ESP Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ed Torres said. "A house is really only ever inspected during a transaction. What we propose is that every year the home is inspected so that when a problem arises, the cost of repairs is reduced and the risk is mitigated down to a 12 month cycle. That report would go to the builder, to the insurance company, the consumer and the mortgage lender annually. Thus allowing the builder to reduce its builder's risk insurance over a 10-year period because now they have a home being inspected by a third party every year to detect problems in the earliest stages possible and then correct them."
Ed Torres, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ESP, Inc.
Once a home is assigned a CEHI inspector it never loses that person. Even if the home is sold or repossessed, the same inspector will stay with it. That inspector through ESP database keeps records and reports on any changes, updates and repairs done on the home.
An inspection paper trail reduces risk for the builder who might otherwise pay for a repair he is not responsible for, Torres said. For example, a homeowner might replace a toilet in the house using a local plumber. The replacement is noted by the CEHI inspector with photographs. Down the road, should something go wrong with that toilet and mold should grow, the builder knows that he is not responsible for repairs because he knows that the homeowner used a local plumber to replace the toilet.
CEHI home inspector
CEHI annual standardized inspections (cover over 57 points of the home) and reports reduce liability for the builder because there's full disclosure, Torres added.
Homeowners can purchase the CEHI program for $250-a-year on a 10-year contract or for $275 without.
The investment is well worth it, Torres said. The program consolidates inspections into one and uses one certified person to do the job which cuts costs and saves time for both the owner and the inspector.
Silently harmful
Preventing mold from growing can save families from mold-related health problems that include hay fever-like symptoms, difficulty breathing and for people with immune suppression, infection from molds.
About 37 million Americans suffer from chronic sinusitis, an inflammation of the membranes of the nose and sinus cavity. Most of those cases are caused by fungus, according to a Mayo Clinic report. The clinic is a non-profit medical practice and group.
Mold is a type of fungi. Molds produce and release millions of spores small enough to be air-, water-, or insect-borne. Molds grow best in warm, damp, and humid conditions. Mold spores can survive harsh environmental conditions, such as dry conditions, that do not support normal mold growth. Molds can also produce toxic agents known as mycotoxins.
Mycotoxins can cause disease and death in humans and animals.
People at greatest risk for mold-related health problems are individuals with allergies, asthma, sinusitis, or other respiratory conditions, as well as infants and children, elderly people, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Mold has also been linked to Organic Dust Toxic Syndrome, a flu-like illness caused by high levels of exposure to glucans which are small pieces of the cell walls of molds, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Glucans can cause inflammatory lung and airway reactions and can affect the immune system when inhaled.
People sensitive to mold may experience symptoms that include a stuffy nose, irritated eyes, wheezing or skin irritation. Mold can also cause allergic reactions.
Molds can be found almost anywhere; they can grow on virtually any substance, providing moisture is present. There are molds that can grow on wood, paper, carpet, and foods, according to the EPA.
The health risk list goes on-and-on.
"Preventing mold growth is like getting an oil change for your car or getting a physical exam," Torres said. "We do it to maintain our cars and keep our health so we can prevent something from happening. We spend at least nine hours a-day in our homes and we never question the air that we breathe or ask how it could affect our families."
Preventative measures
Mold is often caused by condensation of moisture on surfaces because of excess humidity, lack of ventilation, or low temperature. It is also caused by water leakage and infiltration of water from outside sources such as sprinklers.
These are mold indicators that are not only prevalent in the desert, but also across America.
The EPA suggests ways to prevent mold is to reduce indoor humidity to 30%-60%, vent bathrooms, dryers and other moisture-generating sources to the outside. Use air conditioners and de-humidifiers, increase ventilation and use exhaust fans for cooking, dishwashing and cleaning.
The EPA also suggests that mold is cleaned with detergent and immediately dried. Any wet surfaces or furnishings should also be thoroughly dried within 24-48 hours.
"We live in an environment of mold," Torres said. "Most molds are not visible because they are behind the wall so you have to look anywhere there is moisture; underneath your sink, behind your washer and dryer, air ducts, showers, sinks, toilets, sprinklers and other places. If you have smells or odors, if you notice there are stains, you likely have a moisture, mold and air quality problem."
With the CEHI program, inspectors check all those places and then some. The inspector provides homeowners with an easy-to-read report that includes recommendations for areas of concern. Should environmental testing be required, CEHI inspectors are certified to collect samples.
ESP's CEHI program is endorsed by the National Association for Moisture Management.
Controlling moisture in your home is the most critical factor for preventing mold growth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The center suggests that homeowners clean up mold if found and fix any water problem such as leaks in walls, the roof or plumbing.
Insurance companies paid out about $3 billion for mold related claims in 2002 and the problem is growing. ESP hopes to offset that cost with its inspector program.
The CEHI program ensures that a home maintains a higher value because it is being inspected annually. Those inspections mean mold growth is caught within one year and taken care of.
"Most importantly the consumer can have peace of mind for their family, health and home knowing that there is no type of air quality issue that would be affecting their family in a health related situation," Torres added.
Mastering inspection
ESP Inc. (OCTCBB: EVSP) is the first publicly-traded company established to consolidate the highly-fragmented home inspection industry and to specialize in environmental inspections.
Environmental Service Professionals, Inc. (ESP) through its subsidiaries has offered environmental inspection services that include mold and moisture intrusion since 1994. These services identify issues that can have an acute or chronic negative impact on the indoor air quality of commercial and residential buildings. The Company has established national protocol standards developed in consensus with industry leaders to certify current home and environmental inspectors. The branding of this Program is ESP's Certified Environmental Home Inspector ("CEHI") and will be operated under the Environmental Safeguard Professionals Business Unit, to meet the emerging demands required throughout North America
ESP is the first company of its kind to support a pro-active comprehensive annual inspection called the Mold and Moisture Management Program.
ESP utilizes accredited laboratories
Torres was appointed to the growing company in 2006 after he sold his holdings in a company he Co-Founded and headed; Contempo Homes.
He has more than 25-years of business development experience. Torres lived most of his life in Los Angeles before he moved to Palm Springs in 2001.
Torres participated in the formation of the Joint Employers Group, a professional employer organization in 1996. He oversaw the organizations marketing and sales division and was instrumental in increasing its revenue from $100,000 in 1995 to $65 million in 2001. Then he arranged for the sale of the organization to ITEC, a publicly traded company in the human resources industry.
Since joining ESP, Torres has headed the company's efforts to expand and capture and integrate the fragmented home inspection industry.
So far, ESP has acquired National Professional Services, Allstate Home Inspection and the International Association of Managers in its consolidation endeavor.
ESP's division, Environmental Safeguard Professionals Inc. handles the inspection side of the business, Torres said.
The goal of the CEHI program is to consolidate the existing (approximately 40,000) independent home and environmental inspectors in the United States and approve them to deliver Certified Environmental Home Inspectors (CEHI) services under the ESP brand, he continued.
"We cover 42 states right now, by the end of the year we will cover all 50 states," he said. "ESP will be at $300 million in five years and those are pretty conservative numbers."
ESP expects its CEHI program will generate $915,315 in revenue by the end of the year, up from $7,826 in January.
Inspectors who sign on with ESP will be covered by the company in liability (E&O Insurance) and will work as independent contractors under the ESP name. ESP will also provide group health benefits, centralized scheduling, standardized reports, computerized field systems, database maintenance, bare minimum of paperwork, a certified hygienist staff and national marketing programs.
"We take care of our inspectors," he added. "They use our propriety software, we have a national call center at their disposal and we do all the paperwork. We provide them with all the support structure. It's better than a franchise."
Then, if an inspector wants to retire or leave the business, he has an annuity of homes that he inspected. That book of business, Torres said, is worth a great deal of money.
Meanwhile, ESP launched an ad campaign to create awareness of in-home mold related issues. The campaign will ask one simple question:
"Do you know if your home is healthy for you, your children and your family?"
The campaign includes 1,500 news spots on broadcast and cable networks.
ESP works with realtors, mortgage lenders and insurance companies to offer the CEHI program. But finding these stake holders of a home wasn't an easy task, Torres said.
"It was difficult to identify who the stake holders are," he recalled. "We first had to identify them and then find out the common ground and common issue between them all. We realized it was risk and found out where it was coming from and thus was born the CEHI program. Our job now is to mitigate risk; we are in the business of mitigating risk."
Torres hopes to encourage the mortgage industry to offer an incentive to homebuyers, in the form of a discount, to enroll in the CEHI program. That discount, Torres said, would pay for the cost of a 10-year, $250 CEHI contract.
Offering such an incentive "allows the mortgage banker to carry paper on an asset that stays valuable because it's being maintained by a third party inspector," Torres said.
"All ESP's CEHIs are Certified Moisture Management Professionals [that] protect the insurance, lending, real estate and building industries from liability and the consumer against unhealthy living conditions," said National Association for Moisture Management President Rick LaPierre. "NAMM's 'Partnership for Prevention' with ESP will be one more positive step in preventing, protecting and promoting for all stakeholders in this very important issue."
The next step was to create a software program for CEHI program members that would ask the right questions of the inspector. ESP had to create a software system that would incorporate not just one inspection but all the inspections. With the software, the CEHI program incorporates home, energy and mold inspections into one report. The inspector only has to fill out one form, not three, Torres said.
With all those components put together, ESP is positioned to grow exponentially.
"I see ESP becoming the leader of a national inspection standard process and capturing at least 25% of the market share of inspecting transactions," Torres said. "My goal is for ESP to do 3 million home inspections a year. I know that this is going to catch on because people are becoming more-and-more aware of the issue."
To learn more about ESP Inc. visit www.espusa.net or www.evsp.com.
June 2008 Issue