Climate Shift and Cockroach Infestation Risk for U.S. Facilities

Facility managers in the U.S. may not have expected the impact of climate shifts, but they are here now, not just a theoretical concern for the future. They are now part of the USD 150 billion a year we all pay to adapt to them. With global warming and fluctuating moisture cycles, cockroach infestations are flourishing in commercial world that was once well-controlled.

It's not simply an issue with the breakroom. The recent explosion of roaches is a direct threat to compliance and consumer confidence in the retail, medical, and food industries.

It's a stark equation. With rising winter temperatures, there are fewer "die-offs", which let more survive the winter.

Add to that urban heat island effect, as concrete and tarmac absorb more heat, and you have a 24/7 breeding ground for pests. Now these gardens and parks are seeing the "off-season" disappear.

Thermal Threshold and Infrastructure Risk

Cockroaches are cold-blooded animals (ectotherms) and their growth and reproduction are controlled by the temperature. Globally, there are 1.4 billion insects for every human being and in high-use areas during "peak surge years, densities are greater. Elevated external temperatures, even a couple of degrees above historical averages, will cause the growth rate of a population of German cockroaches to increase by almost 30 percent.

This places tremendous stresses on envelopes. As conditions outside the building envelope become more unfavorable (due to heat or flooding), pests move inside to the thermal comfort of your facility.

They are not only looking for food or water but stable climate. Contemporary heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and electrical conduits are the expressway to their journey, and individual facilities lose conventional edge-of-building perimeter protection as these pests settle in high-value areas of machinery or patient rooms.

The changes are especially problematic for commercial buildings in the Southeast. Insufficient pest control measures, including the latest in integrated pest management services to rid facilities of pests like cockroaches caused by a roach exterminator Carolinas residents trust, can lead to a disaster in terms of health violations or reputation damage. Humidity of the coastal plains and The Piedmont also create a multiplier of infestation.

Hardening the Facility Envelope

Passive defense is the first line of the modern mitigation playbook. You can't pharmacologically cure your way to more efficient operations. If you have worn-out seals on your docks or that your floor drains are not screened properly, you're asking for a "bio-invasion".

Increasing sanitation KPIs from "visual clean" to "biologically safe" in high-risk areas is critical. This means a change in attitude for facility teams. A bit of grease behind a commercial fryer or a wet mop head in a dim closet can harbor a colony for weeks.

Innovative facilities are taking this issue by the horns in three steps

• Replacing mercury bulbs with LED lights that are not luminous or attractive to nocturnal insects.
• Replacing organic caulking with inorganic, silicon-based
• Using computerized drain foaming to rid the building of biofilm in inaccessible sub-flooring

Avoiding chemical treatments. The more of them you exhaust and the smaller the space you make, the more of them move to other parts of the building, where you can see (and deal with) them. Making it a hostile place for them.

Smart Monitoring and Data-Driven Exclusion

No more "spray and pray" monthly service calls. Smart monitoring is underway in high-compliance industries like pharmaceuticals and food processing. Seamless networks of traps inform managers when an insect is found, along with the date and time of the occurrence.

This makes it possible to pinpoint instead of blanket treatments. If during a 3:00 AM infestation, the North warehouse sensor is tripped, you know where the problem is. You can compare the weather that night (maybe a big rainstorm forced pests from the storm drains) to your physical barriers and make adjustments.

Surge in commercial pest demand are on the rise because the cost of an infestation now includes "the media". One video depicting a cockroach in a grocery store or hospital waiting area can go viral within hours, and bring a company down for years. Pest control should become an arm of facility managers' risk management teams.

Strengthening Internal Compliance Protocols

Improving Internal Compliance Program

The last part of the equation is people. Staff should be aware of the pests' life cycle and identification, and spot signs, such as oothecae (egg cases) or bloodstains in corners. Once employees understand that pest control forms part of the safety procedure, the facility will be almost impregnable.

Audit should be a continuous process rather than a panic every few years. You can incorporate pest information points into your asset management system. If you notice an increase in activity for one tenant or area, you can correct the problem (usually poor sanitation or a structural issue) before it becomes apparent.

The world will get warmer and the pests will keep on evolving. The facilities that will thrive will be those that think of pest data as a type of applied physics rather than a simple sanitation issue. Hang around on our site for more great content on the topics affecting industries, and the data behind those trends.