NIBS urges a middle path for asbestos abatement
DEPARTMENTS
Dispatches
The National Institute of Building Sciences did a little math in regard to asbestos. The numbers on its calculator weren’t encouraging.
The NIBS estimates it would cost $7 billion to remove asbestos from every building in the United States where it exists. That’s based on an average $100,000 cost for each of the approximately 750,000 buildings that contain the material.
NIBS maintains the cost is beyond the resources of both the public and private sectors. Furthermore, the institute says, it’s unnecessary; NIBS’s public position is that the hazards of asbestos should be abated, but not always by removing it.
“In perhaps 80 percent of the cases,” says David A. Harris, NIBS vice president for technology, “a comprehensive maintenance and repair program could better serve the needs of the building owner and the public.” Instead, Harris adds, most of the abatement projects under way involve removing the asbestos, which disturbs the material and releases the fibers. which have been linked to lung cancer and other diseases.
“In most cases,” says Harris, “maintenance and repair can safely permit postponing removal until a building is altered, renovated, or demolished, when many of the removal costs become part of a larger demolition or renovation contract.”
Removal of the asbestos is necessary, according to Harris, when buildings with the material are extensively damaged or severely deteriorated.
Whether the asbestos is removed or merely maintained and repaired, Harris says two things are imperative. One is that competent contractors, using properly trained workers, handle the abatement job. The other is that the work be properly planned and carried out in accordance with the details of comprehensive documents drawn up for that purpose.
The NIBS has published “Model Guide Specifications, Asbestos Abatement in Buildings,” a handbook for those qualified to handle asbestos abatement.
