Full production of UFAS,
IAQ-compliant models underway, first units expected in time for 2008 hurricane
season
Release Date: April 11, 2008
Release Number: HQ-08-056
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- All future temporary housing
units purchased by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must meet
strict new procurement specifications for indoor air quality, including a
requirement that formaldehyde emission levels must be significantly reduced
inside the units. Each unit must test below .016 parts per million (ppm). This
requirement means that the units will be comparable to conventional U.S. homes,
where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say indoor air
concentrations of formaldehyde typically range from .010 to .030 ppm.
The primary methodology for lowering formaldehyde
levels in temporary housing units involves removing products that release
elevated levels of formaldehyde and other chemicals called Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOCs). This means that products containing formaldehyde or VOCs, such
as Medium Density Fiber products, all vinyl gypsum board, all urea formaldehyde
emitting materials and high formaldehyde emitting insulation products must not
be present in the units. Also, to ensure proper air circulation, FEMA is
requiring that all newly purchased housing units comply with HUD's 35 percent
minimum air exchange rate per hour for manufactured housing.
The new procurement specifications will be part
of a request for proposals that FEMA will post on the
FedBizOpps.gov Web site for the design
and production of an initial 500 manufactured homes and 100 park models. The
contract will be in place for three years and allow FEMA to purchase up to
1,400 manufactured homes and 1,900 regular park models for use in future
disasters.
"There is no national standard for
formaldehyde levels in American homes; not conventional stick-built homes, not
manufactured homes," FEMA Administrator David Paulison, said. "Until
such a time as there is a consensus standard, we will take extraordinary
precautions and require that all new-production units that FEMA purchases test
below the lowest existing 'standard' and below the midpoint of the range that
CDC calls 'typical' for conventional homes."
FEMA has been working with the Recreational Park
Trailer Industry Association (RPTIA), the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) and the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Health
Affairs (DHS/OHA) since last August to develop this new set of procurement
specifications for manufactured housing. Temporary housing units always are a
last resort and are used only in the aftermath of disaster events in which
rental resources are limited or nonexistent.
A prototype two-bedroom model, built to these new
indoor air quality requirements, already has been evaluated and found to meet
these specifications by a third-party industrial hygienist expert in indoor air
quality. Full production is under way and delivery of the first units is
expected to begin within eight weeks.
All the new units, whether park models or
manufactured housing (mobile homes), are to be designed and constructed with a
superior grade quality of workmanship and, at a minimum, meet the construction
material requirements and air exchange rates established for manufactured
housing in HUD's Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards (Title
24 of the Code of Federal Regulations 3280).
Procurement specifications differ for units
depending on whether they are intended to be used in warmer U.S. climates or colder
U.S. climates. Additionally, construction and outfitting standards identify
minimum square footage of living space, floor plan configuration, finishes,
furnishing and environmental living conditions necessary to provide emergency
housing for disaster relief operations. All units accepted by FEMA will emit
'limited or no detectable levels of formaldehyde.' Testing will be conducted
for each unit at the manufacturing plant before the unit leaves the plant.
FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in
preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of responding to, and
recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including
acts of terror.
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=43180
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Pure Air Control Services
800-422-7873
