Experts Discuss Pest-Proof Building Ideas

DALLAS – “Green buildings” might be good at keeping out cold air in the winter and heat during the summer, but they’re often open to bugs and other pests year-round, said experts with Texas AgriLife Extension.

“We’re finding that most buildings, even green ones, can be better designed to keep pests out,” said Dr. Mike Merchant, an AgriLife Extension entomologist based in Dallas.

Pest control is often ignored by architects who design green buildings – those certified under the Leadership in Energy Environmental Design rating system, Merchant said. But it shouldn’t.

As interest in green architecture grows, architects should consider including pest management features in their plans, said Michael Kawecki, chair emeritus with the U.S. Green Building Council North Texas Chapter, the group that certifies green buildings.

“Integrating pest management ideas into the design of green buildings makes sense,” Kawecki said.

Some experts in pest management, architecture and engineering agreed at a three-day seminar recently hosted by AgriLife Extension in Dallas.

About 40 of them met to share ideas on designing pest-proof public and commercial buildings. They discussed how integrated pest management concepts could be blended with green-building designs.

They came up with dozens of ideas, and their suggestions will eventually be refined in a list prepared by AgriLife Extension for architects, engineers and builders, Merchant said.

Some ideas included screening weep holes, sealing utility conduits and installing small window ledges to deter birds, they said. Standard garbage dumpsters, a magnet for pests, could be replaced by sealed trash compactors.

“We are especially interested in how these ideas might be used to protect school kids from pests and unnecessary pesticide use,” said Janet Hurley, an AgriLife Extension program specialist in school pest management. “But many of the suggestions could eventually be applied to all kinds of buildings.”

During a break in the meetings, participants toured Hector Garcia Middle School, a certified green building in the Dallas school district. Garcia’s principal, Gary Auld, acknowledged that mice have been a problem.

It was clear to the group how the rodents got in.

“See that mouse doorway and welcome mat?” Merchant said while pointing out a tiny space between the bases of two glass doors. “It only takes a ¼-inch gap under a door for a rodent to slip in.”

Pest-resistant features are seldom considered when a building is being designed, said James McClure, president of Estes, McClure and Associates, an engineering and consulting firm in Tyler.

“We need to bring all parties together during the planning phase,” McClure said. “Architects, engineers, plumbers, construction administrators and pest management experts should be working together at a round table.”

The meeting’s expenses were covered by an $18,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State, Research, Education and Extension Service, Merchant said. Experts in integrated pest management and architecture traveled from as far as Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.