Atlanta, GA - GREENGUARD Environmental Institute, using a ranking model created by American Risk Management Resources, has published its rankings of states most likely to have mold contamination in commercial and residential buildings. The most surprising result: climate is not the best gauge. Top 10 Numbers are Relative Hazard Mold Ranking)

Texas--2.95 Florida--2.50 Oklahoma--2.45 South Carolina--1.91 Nevada--1.90 Arizona--1.90 California--1.73 South Dakota--1.47 Tennessee--1.33 Kansas--1.25

Bottom 5 (Numbers are Relative Hazard Mold Ranking)

Wisconsin--.06 West Virginia--.07 Alabama--.13 Massachusetts--.18 Minnesota--.19

The rankings were determined by comparing mold losses on insurance claims with premiums paid on property and liability coverage in each of the 50 states. (Rankings do not yet reflect claims for 2005 hurricanes.)

The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) is an industry independent, non-profit organization that oversees the GREENGUARD Certification Program. As an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer, the GEI establishes acceptable indoor air standards for indoor products, environments and buildings.

GEI recently announced a mold risk reduction program, based on a compilation of best practices that GEI has proposed as an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard. The proposed standard has been preliminarily reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and piloted with several building owners. Building consultancies review and assess properties based on the standard; once this is successfully completed, property owners can apply to GEI for certification under the GREENGUARD Mold Protection Program. Once a property is certified, it can be promoted to lenders, insurers and prospective tenants.

For more information, go to www.greenguard.org

Source: PRNewswire