When Brand Standards Collide with Good Practice
Florida-based Liberty Building Forensics Group (Liberty), a leading building forensics firm that has solved some of the world's largest and most complex building moisture and mold problems, has a warning for unsuspecting hotel design and construction teams.
Rigid adherence to brand standards without factoring in specific regional and climatic conditions can result in significant mold and moisture issues in new hotel construction.
This is an all-too-common scenario: A design and construction team is awarded a new hotel project. The brand standards are passed onto the team. The team adheres exactly to the requirements of wall design and HVAC system design only to discover during final stages of construction that the actual performance of the design is vastly different than what the team expected would be the case.
The theory behind brand design and construction standards is to provide assurances that the hotel is built to requirements that meet the brand's expectation for aesthetic, operational, and building performance. Brand standards portray themselves as a repository of lessons learned and of what should be done (and, by implication, what should not be done) to make the hotel work.
Why is theory so contrary to practice in this case? The problem is that design standards are developed on a global basis, not taking into consideration specific needs and limitations of regional climates. In fact, it has been found that brand standards often don't comply with recommended building practices for certain climates at all. These violations in design standards have been shown repeatedly to result in extensive and costly mold and moisture problems in hotels.
The inherent flaw in the situation is that brands claim their standards are only guidelines. They believe the designer or contractor on site is ultimately responsible for interpreting how the regional climate might impact brand standards.
Ideally, the design and construction teams who are responsible for making sure how everything works should be able to know which elements are at risk in certain climates. In reality, however, brand standards are so specific and tied so closely to the economics of the project, plus the brand has such influence in the way it conducts peer reviews, that design and construction teams typically migrate to brand standards adherence, even if it is contrary to best practice for that climate.
Liberty Vice President George DuBose explained that, with the recent emergence of new hotel construction, his firm is seeing a recurrence of mold and moisture problems.
"A vacuum appears to exist in the institutional memory of design firms, construction firms, ownership groups, and brands that are currently flooding the marketplace," he said. "What we knew to work so well in the 1990s has been forgotten in today's hotel design and construction. This poses a significant risk of new hotel failures that could mirror what we experienced in the 1980s and 1990s in warm, humid climates."
DuBose believes Liberty serves as an excellent institutional memory for those who don't have the benefit of over 30 years of experience in the industry.
"We learned about the predictable cycles of hotel failure in the 80s. We wrote a book about it in the 90s," he said, referring to the popular mold and moisture manual Preventing Moisture and Mold Problems: Design and Construction Guidelines which the firm's Odom and DuBose produced along with the Disney Development Company. "We can bring that expertise to today's design and construction process, working to help hotel owners avoid building failures or remediate existing mold and moisture problems as quickly and affordably as possible."
For example, Liberty recently assisted in the remediation of a three-star hotel in Austin, Texas. The hotel ultimately experienced north of $7 million in damage, even though the design and construction teams had adhered to the brand's recommended standards for the wall and HVAC design and construction. Because of climatic challenges, the combination of the bathroom exhaust system, interior finish (vinyl wall covering), and building envelope issues resulted in the development of negative air pressure and costly repairs.
The solution to the clash between brand standards and regional best practices is threefold: - Design professionals and contractors need to assert that specific requirements for hotels in certain climates cannot be violated if hotels are to avoid mold and moisture problems.
- The brand must accept that certain architectural and HVAC choices need to be determined based on climate.
- Hotel ownership groups must realize that the economics of a project will likely change when a discrepancy is found between brand standards and best practices for a particular climate.
If you are part of a hotel ownership group or a design/construction team involved in hotel construction, it is imperative that you understand that your determination of an interior finish, how outside air is put in and building pressurization is achieved, and how bathrooms are exhausted will directly impact your risk of mold and moisture problems - especially if you pay attention only to brand standards rather than understanding climatic limitations.
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