The new 2007 ventilation standard published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) contains key changes impacting ventilation system designers and their designs.
ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2007, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, sets minimum ventilation rates and other requirements for commercial and institutional buildings.
The new standard includes requirements for the separation of areas with environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) from areas without ETS in the same building. Although some local building and health codes prohibit smoking indoors in many buildings and locations, other codes allow smoking in designated areas. In buildings that allow smoking in designated areas, effective separation of ETS areas ensures ETS-free areas contain little or no ETS-related contaminants. The new separation requirements help designers ensure effective separation, Stanke says.
Another change clarifies of how designers must analyze mechanical cooling systems to help limit space relative humidity. Many buildings suffer from air quality problems related to dampness, including mold and other microbial growth. In the past, the standard required a design analysis at specified load conditions, in an effort to demonstrate that a given design approach in a given climate could successfully limit space relative humidity to 65 percent or less.
To order the standard, call (800) 527-4723 or visit www.ashrae.org .
