Air quality issues and problems with heating and air conditioning systems inside Park Ridge City Hall and the police station have been documented in a new report.
Park Ridge-based Priority Energy Solutions conducted an “energy audit” of the buildings, which was released by the city this month. The audit recommends a number of improvements to the heating and air conditioning system to “improve comfort, energy efficiency and indoor air quality,” the document says.
City Manager Shawn Hamilton said the study was conducted following “some failures” in the system, particularly within the council meeting room, last summer.
“In the past, council has asked, particularly in the police department area, to make sure we’ve got air quality reports before we do infrastructure improvements,” Hamilton told the City Council on Feb. 10.
The proposed city budget’s 2016-17 capital plan includes $85,000 set aside for heating and air conditioning upgrades, which Hamilton said will address the recommendations from the audit, including those related to the police station in the lower level of the building.
“As the finances of the city have improved in recent years, this project has risen to a top property for correction in 2016,” Hamilton wrote in a City Council memo.
Hamilton said the council will discuss the capital budget list again on March 23, prior to the adoption of the 2016-17 budget.
Robert Schildgen, owner of Priority Energy Solutions, said the study found “a lot of indoor air quality issues that need to be addressed” within the police station. This echoes statements made by Park Ridge Police Chief Frank Kaminski who cited mold problems in the past and has requested funding for ventilation upgrades as part of other remodeling work, but has seen the money cut from the city budget, as recently as last fall.
“They have severe humidity control problems in the summer there,” Schildgen said of the police station. “The spaces are getting damp and they run the risk of growing mold. They also have improper ventilation.”
Schildgen there is “so much humidity in the building that literally, the floors will get wet,” which increases the chance for mold to grow and impact the air that employees are breathing.
Fixing existing equipment and adding new equipment can address this, Schildgen said.
Kaminski described Priority Energy’s findings as “nothing new.”
“I hope they take a look at the report,” he said of the City Council. “We’ve been talking about this and this [report] is more evidence to support what we’re saying.”
Aldermen on Feb. 10 did not discuss the report, which was mentioned briefly by Hamilton toward the end of the nearly three-and-a-half-hour council meeting.
In the rest of City Hall, Schildgen noted that the energy audit found aging mechanical equipment, some equipment that is too large, and over-ventilation, which can make the building very dry in the winter.
“Bacteria, cold viruses and the flu will survive longer in cooler, drier air than properly humidified air,” Schildgen said.
City Hall is also using more energy than it needs to, he added, and new equipment would reduce this.
Twitter: @Jen_Pioneer
