State-of-the-art radon training lab at Rutgers.
Rutgers recently redesigned and constructed a cutting-edge radon training lab for hands-on learning.
For over 25 years, the Eastern Regional Radon Training Center (ERRTC) at Rutgers University has been providing professionals throughout the country with training in radon measurement and mitigation. To offer students an even better learning experience, the ERRTC opened a brand-new, state-of-the-art training facility on Cook Campus in July 2015.
“Watching the new radon training facility being built from the ground up has been really interesting,” said Program Coordinator Pamela Springard-Mayer. The new facility was used for the first time by students attending a Radon Mitigation class this summer.
In the past, the hands-on portions of the Rutgers three-day Radon Mitigation Proficiency Course were taught at Rutgers’ Environmental Health and Safety Building in Piscataway, affectionately known as the “slab.” For many years, the mock crawl space and attic at the slab did a great job of mimicking the conditions of real-world vapor intrusion situations; however, the building was getting dingy and dusty with age. Regardless of its interesting military history, the slab needed a face-lift.
Bill Brodhead, a radon expert with 30 years of experience, designed Rutgers’ cutting-edge training “slab.”
A New Design by Radon Expert Bill Brodhead
To freshen up the Radon Measurement and Mitigation Series, which the ERRTC offers several times a year, Rutgers hired President of WPB Enterprises Inc., Bill Brodhead, to design a new hands-on radon mitigation training center on Cook Campus. A radon expert for over 30 years, Bill Brodhead has been conducting EPA-sponsored radon research since 1986 and served as one of the key players in the development of the ERRTC’s radon courses, which he continues to teach to this day. Bill has also been involved in the development of regulations regarding radon resistant construction for homes and schools in New Jersey. Brodhead is optimistic that this newly constructed radon mitigation training center is going to offer an incredible teaching tool for future students.
The new radon mitigation hands-on training slab is located within the former New Jersey Museum of Agriculture on Cook Campus in New Brunswick, NJ. For twenty years, the 30,000-square-foot facility housed a collection of historic farming equipment, including tools, machinery, scientific instruments, farm vehicles and early electrical appliances. Other displays told the story of important agricultural crops in New Jersey, including apples, cranberries, tomatoes, blueberries, corn and potatoes. Today, classrooms and hands-on training spaces are used for various professional development courses offered by the Rutgers Office of Continuing Professional Education.
An additional benefit of the new hands-on mitigation training slab is its convenient location. Both the classroom based lectures and the hands-on training portions of the mitigation course will now be offered within the same building. The farmhouse in which students have the opportunity to see an actual, working radon mitigation system is a short walk down the block. And it is all located right off of Route 1, just a mile off of exit 9 of the New Jersey Turnpike.
Overall, Springard-Mayer and the ERRTC, “are thrilled to freshen up the Radon Program with this new and improved training facility.”
To learn more about radon measurement or mitigation, visit the Radon Certification & Continuing Education course offerings.
