Page 11 - NY Cooperator November 2019

COOPERATOR.COM THE COOPERATOR — NOVEMBER 2019 11 Providing Practical Legal Advice and Representation to Cooperative and Condominium Associations for More Than Forty Years • General Counsel • Residential and Commercial Real Estate and Leasing • Real Estate and Commercial Litigation • Mortgage Financing • Commercial, Corporate and Business Law • Comme • Mitchell-Lama Housing • Transfer Agent Services • Construction Law and Gas Conversions Jack Lepper: jlepper@kll-law.com Ronald Gold: rgold@kll-law.com Adam Finkelstein: afinkelstein@kll-law.com Fran Lawless: flawless@kll-law.com Fran L attorneys lawgapc.com @ www.lawgapc.com NORTHERN NEW JERSEY 973-366-1188 CENTRAL NEW JERSEY 732-514-6601 SOUTHERN SO NEW JERSEY 856-533-2379 NEW YORK 212-374-9790 PENNSYLVANIA 973-366-1188 ATTORNEYS AT LAW ▶ Wills, Trusts and Estate Law ▶ Municipal Law ▶ General Litigation ▶ Commercial Law ▶ Business Startups ▶ Community Association Law ▶ Landlord Tenant Law ▶ Land Use and Zoning Law ▶ Disability Law ▶ Real Estate Law and Closings Experienced attorneys providing the right moves towards achieving your endgame STRONG ADVOCATES LISTEN ATTENTIVELY WORK RELENTLESSLY RESOLVE CONFLICT cumulated debris and allow the air system New York City and in Florida. “And only to circulate improved indoor air.” Begone, Stink Of course, like a lot of things, stinkiness air.” is subjective. What causes one person to gag may not even register with someone the chemicals used in cleaning and build- else. Fortunately, the professionals who ing maintenance. “Make sure that all the specialize in handling problem odors have material safety data sheets are on hand,” tools to help find, suppress, or eliminate adds Weinstein. “They outline the uses for them – including air-sampling equipment chemicals and show what kind of ventila- like respirable dust monitors and photo tion is necessary.” ionization detectors to measure airborne irritants and allergens, and field olfactom- eters that measure the relative strength of building equipment and systems are cru- odors. They can also quantitatively deter- mine if a smell qualifies as a nuisance, as- signing a number value to the odor based systems – as well as outdoor air intakes on a set of standard metrics. When an odor – should be looked at four times a year to is bad enough to be considered a nuisance, check that components like fans, belts, and it can also become a legal matter – so this so forth are operating properly. “With air is good information to have! When Vizzi’s company is engaged to ment,” says Weinstein. “Make sure the investigate the cause of stale air or linger- ing odors in a building, they will first put working optimally. Do a periodic cleaning a camera down into the ductwork to see if of the ventilation shafts. Put it on a regular there is a blockage or obstruction. Some- times they find interesting things like con- struction debris left over from a resident’s renovation project or other items that have says, “It doesn’t get as much attention be- tumbled accidentally into the system. Sometimes it’s the renovation work it- self that’s causing the problem. Vizzi says education. People need to understand that she’s seen situations in which her team’s when they have stuff coming out of the cameras have revealed walls where there grate in their kitchen, that’s not normal. should be nothing but open airspace. “Re- spect the ducts!” Vizzi says. “There’s not still have stuff coming through that vent.” always a good understanding of why the Regular cleaning is the best and easiest duct is there in the kitchen or bathroom. way to make sure that something like that But it impacts that apartment and every- one on that line. It’s important to be con- scientious of your neighbors.” Drozdov agrees, adding that a full in- door air quality assessment is needed to doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed fresher, see the whole picture of your building’s air cleaner indoor air. “With prewar build- quality, “including testing for humidity, ings, you actually have better ventilation air flow, mold, and volatile organic com- pounds, or VOCs.” VOCs can be found in control it,” says Vizzi. “You have more con- paints, varnishes, wax, fuels, and house- hold products and can be released both air.” With the more airtight construction when they are in use and, to a lesser de- gree, when they are stored. According to Drozdov, air quality as- sessment is not really a do-it-yourself kind ing. If it’s not breathing properly, we have of job. “We recommend that this testing a problem.” be done by professionals,” he adds, “only to prevent misinterpretations of data that nior Project Manager for The Falcon could lead to wrong decisions.” Because construction projects – either based in New Jersey with offices in New on site or nearby – can have such a huge York City and around the country, “People impact on air quality, it is imperative that typically get professionals involved only those projects be properly monitored and when there’s a problem. They don’t realize any caustic or otherwise irritating mate- rials and products be used correctly. For quality of life. If your building is over 10 example, “Work with your construction years old and no one has addressed ven- team to make sure they’re using products tilation in the last decade, it should be with the least amount of VOCs,” says Doug looked at.” Weinstein, Vice President of Project Man- agement Group Inc., which has offices in use water-based polyurethane for floors. Otherwise, VOCs can get released into the The same caution should be applied to All indoor environment pros agree that regular inspections and maintenance of cial. The general consensus is that ven- tilation and other air-related equipment quality, a lot of it is cleanliness of equip- filters are changed and the machines are schedule.” Keep It Moving When it comes to ductwork, Vizzi cause people can’t see it. What you don’t see, though, can hurt you. It’s a matter of You can have a $5 million apartment and does not happen. And interestingly, just because you live in a newly constructed high-rise rather than a century-old converted tenement because you can open the windows and trol over the environment and transfer of of post-war residential buildings, “the air is more stagnant,” she says. “The building’s ventilation acts as the lungs of the build- According to Casey Birmingham, Se- Group, an engineering and consulting firm the opportunities for energy savings and For cooling and dehumidifying equip- continued on page 12