HVAC Resources

The Truth About Mold - Healthy Air. Healthy Buildings. Healthy People!

What Is Mold?
Mold is a natural byproduct of the fungi family that thrives when nutrients (primarily organic substances and water) are found in the right conditions. These organic substances include materials commonly found in buildings: soil, dead plants, carpets, drywall, fiberboard, wood, paper, dust, lint, and etc.
Mold thrives when moisture and nutrients are present. Reducing either mitigates mold growth.

Heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) mechanical systems don't generate mold. Their metallic surfaces do not provide the organic matter mold needs to grow.

However, systems that are insufficiently maintained could harbor such matter and support mold growth. Education, identification, remediation, and innovative solutions are required to minimize mold growth in our indoor environments.

Good Mold and Bad Mold?
Yes, there is such a thing as "good" mold! Molds are the "bleu" in bleu cheese and Roquefort. Molds improve our wine. They produce penicillin and antibiotics and are used widely in the food and beverage industry. Without mold and mold's decaying mechanism, the natural environment would be overwhelmed with large amounts of dead organic matter.

Despite many harmless and beneficial molds, some molds can be toxic and pose very serious health threats to humans. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cautions that all molds can cause health problems under certain conditions.

Often reported as a toxic mold is Stachybotrys Chartarum, a greenish-black mold, which can grow on high cellulose, low nitrogen materials such as fiberboard, drywall, paper, dust and lint in the presence of moisture.