Healthy Indoors Magazine
Issue link: https://hi.healthyindoors.com/i/1455789
Healthy Indoors | 27 Carl Grimes Carl Grimes, HHS CIEC, has direct experience consulting with those who experience complaints indoors and as a leader in the industry in- tended to fix those causes. Because he also originally experienced the harm in his personal life, he has a unique perspective and approach for understanding and communicating the complications and confusions between them. He is past president of IAQA, vice president of practice of ISIAQ, and chaired the IAQA Healthy Home committee that wrote the Healthy Home Assessment Principles course. He has served on com- mittees writing the original S520 mold remediation standard, medical practice parameters for allergists, official policy position statements for ASHRAE, plus several peer reviewed and published papers. He's currently director of healthy homes for the Hayward Healthy Home Institute and Hayward Score in Denver, Colorado; and vice chair of ASHRAE TC1.12 on building dampness, and chair of ASHRAE's SGPC10 committee Interac- tions Affecting the Achievement of Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. You can reach him by email at grimes@haywardscore.com. tion caused by COVID kill the desire and the increasingly critical need for broaden- ing the exploration and the implementa- tion of healthy buildings and the people who occupy them. In the meantime, there is no need to wait. Actively Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice has always been important. The urgency has accelerated with the combination of COVID-19 and climate change. We can individually begin now. Field practitioners need the latest sci- and practitioners, that part just didn't occur. I want to emphasize that I'm not criticizing ISIAQ or CIRI for this failure. This approach is impossible virtually. It requires face-to-face attendance and per- sonal interaction in the hallways between sessions, at lunch and conference dinners, plus structured sessions designed for collaboration. These events cannot occur with everyone sitting in front of their computer in their own offices scattered all over the world. It just can't. I was initially excited about the prospect of seeing what might happen by bringing together research, practice, and field responders. I had hopes of each being curious of the other, proactively learning from and sharing information. But what I experienced as I listened to the presentations was researchers talking to their familiar colleagues, and practitioners talking to the same small group of famil- iars. I exited the final day of the confer- ence disappointed and depressed. So, this is where I express my sincere hope that when the pandemic is over and in-person conferences are again possible, whether by ISIAQ or other organizations, that they intentionally and enthusiastically embrace the goal of HB2021-America to Bridge the Gap Between Research & Practice. That they don't let the destruc- ence to comprehend the new challenges, manage uncertainties of their clients, and better perform their job. Researchers need to know what the challenges are outside of the lab so they can better determine research agendas and seek appropriate funding sources. As a first step in moving forward to- gether, I encourage everyone to proactively seek the information and experts that you are least familiar with — and start your own conversations.