Changes Related to ETS and Ventilation Proposed for ASHRAE 62.1
ATLANTA – Ventilation for smoking areas
returns to center stage through a proposed addendum to ASHRAE’s Standard 62.1.
Proposed addendum i will be open for public comment until Nov. 6. To read the
proposed addendum and comment, visit
www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.
ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2004, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air
Quality, specifies minimum ventilation rates and indoor air quality requirements
for commercial and institutional buildings.
The proposed addendum removes the existing requirement for an increase to the
ventilation rates prescribed in Table 6-1 (and/or an increase in air cleaning)
for smoking areas. It also strikes informative language explaining why specific
rates for smoking areas cannot be prescribed, adds a reference to Section 5.18
smoking-related separation requirements, and strikes a requirement in Table 6-1,
Note 2, to determine smoking-permitted area rates using means other than the
table.
"The proposed changes, based in part on recent position statements issued by
World Health Organization and the U.S. Surgeon General, reflect the opinion of
cognizant authorities that no safe level of environmental tobacco smoke exists,"
Dennis Stanke, chair of the 62.1 committee, said. "Whether the proposed changes
also reflect the opinions of Standard 62.1 stakeholders will be determined
during the public review process. The eventual content of the standard depends
on the valuable participation of all interested parties."
Infiltration Credit in ASHRAE Standard 62.2 Open for Comment
ATLANTA – The role of an existing
infiltration credit in ASHRAE’s residential ventilation standard is open for
public comment.
ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2004, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality
in Low-Rise Residential Buildings, provides the minimum requirements necessary
to achieve acceptable indoor air quality for dwellings.
Proposed addendum j would eliminate the section describing the infiltration
assumptions that are present in the standard.
"This proposed addendum illustrates why public comment is so important to the
standards development process," David Grimsrud, chair of the Standard 62.2
committee, said. "We have strong opinions on both sides of the fence regarding
this addendum. Working to reach common ground will help build a stronger
standard."
Some feel that the section is often misinterpreted by code officials who use
it to require more mechanical ventilation than is currently required in the
standard in new housing, Grimsrud said. Also, the requirement could imply that
new houses are as tight as they ever will be and that new housing should be
leaky enough to provide the amount of infiltration suggested.
On the flip side, removing the credit could significantly reduce the
recommended ventilation rate in new housing, thereby increasing steady-state
pollutant concentrations, according to Grimsrud.
Still others suggest that weatherization agencies that use the standard in
assessing strategies for tightening existing homes and/or adding mechanical
ventilation will be left without guidance, he said.
Also open for public comment is proposed addendum k, developed in response to
recent studies of window opening patterns in California. The study was done in
the region included in an existing exception of the standard. The study has
shown that household residents open windows much less than expected.
So window opening, which is assumed to provide the ventilation required in
the exception, should not be an acceptable alternative to the ventilation
requirements, according to Grimsrud. The proposed addendum would remove the
exception that whole-building mechanical systems are not required in that
specific region.
Proposed addenda j and k will be open for public comment until Nov. 6. To
read the proposed addenda and comment, visit
www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.
ASHRAE/ACCA Inspection, Maintenance Standard Open for Review
ATLANTA – A proposed standard currently
open for public review will be the first to deal exclusively with inspection and
maintenance of HVAC systems in buildings where the public is exposed to the
indoor environment.
ASHRAE/ACCA Standard 180P, Standard Practice for Inspection and Maintenance
of Commercial Building HVAC Systems, would establish minimum HVAC inspection and
maintenance requirements that aid a system’s ability to achieve acceptable
thermal comfort, energy efficiency and indoor air quality in commercial
buildings.
The standard is being developed by the American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Air Conditioning
Contractors of America (ACCA).
"Inconsistent practices in inspection and maintenance of HVAC systems is
common in the building industry," Bob Baker, chair of the committee writing the
standard, said. "As a result, systems frequently operate outside optimum
performance, without providing the energy efficiency, thermal comfort and indoor
air quality they were designed to provide."
Baker notes that a standard practice would benefit occupants and also ensure
that indoor environmental conditions are maintained as energy efficiently and
cost effectively as possible.
Highlights of the proposed standard include:
•
Responsibility for compliance with the standard is
clearly on the building owner; a common reason given for lack of maintenance is
lack of sufficient resources available to maintenance personnel.
•
Each building must have a written plan that addresses
57 inspection/maintenance items required if those components are present in the
building (for example, if a building has cooling towers, items dealing with
cooling towers are mandated as part of the plan).
•
An additional list of 563 optional inspection and
maintenance items that building owners/operators may wish to consider when
preparing their individual plans is included. "This listing assembled by 24 of
the most knowledgeable persons about HVAC system maintenance in the industry is
an incredible resource that has never before been available to those planning
and managing maintenance activities," Baker said.
•
The standard especially concentrates on those factors
that impact thermal comfort, energy efficiency and indoor air quality so as to
promote sustainability.
The proposed standard is open for public comment until Nov. 6. To read a
draft of the standard or to comment, visit
www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.
ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of 55,000 persons.
ASHRAE fulfills its mission of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning
and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through
research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education.
ACCA is the nationwide association of heating, ventilation, air conditioning,
and refrigeration contractors, representing members in every state. For over 40
years ACCA has served the educational, policy, and technical interests of the
small businesses who design, install, and maintain indoor environmental systems.
ASHRAE Research Provides Comparison Data for Unitary Equipment
ATLANTA – New research from ASHRAE will
lead to better understanding of humidity control and energy cost when comparing
unitary equipment.
ASHRAE Research Project-1254, Evaluating the Ability of Unitary Equipment to
Maintain Adequate Space Humidity Levels, Phase II was funded in part by the
Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Institute.
"The results will help designers better understand the humidity control and
energy cost impacts of the unitary equipment options compared in this project,"
said lead researcher Michael J. Witte, Ph.D., GARD Analytics. "Many of these
options are in limited use so actual performance experience is not available for
a broad range of building types or climates. What performs well on a restaurant
in Orlando may not be effective on a retail store in Atlanta. This comparison of
18 system types across seven building types in 10 climates provides additional
equipment selection information."
The project provides designers with:
•
Comprehensive analysis of humidity control
performance of a wide range of DX system configurations, including sub-cool
reheat, wrap-around heat pipes, dual-path systems, enthalpy heat recovery and
desiccant dehumidifiers.
•
Significant advancement in whole building energy
simulation capabilities for modeling DX equipment by adding new capabilities to
EnergyPlus. This provides designers and analysts with access to study specific
applications and extend the results of this analysis, according to Witte.
•
Identification of key issues for further exploration
to better understand some of the key drivers and possibly develop some simple
new system configurations that can efficiently control humidity.
The final report can be purchased from "research results" at
www.ashrae.org/research.
The cost is $30 ($24 ASHRAE members).
ASHRAE Proposes New Moisture Control Standard
ATLANTA – In recent years, moisture
problems such as mold growth have become big issues for building owners and
operators.
Computer simulation tools have been developed to predict thermal and moisture
conditions in buildings, but the results can vary greatly with the assumptions
for indoor and outdoor conditions
To help combat this issue, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and
Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is proposing a standard that formulates
design assumptions for moisture design analysis and criteria for acceptable
performance. ASHRAE’s proposed Standard 160P, Design Criteria for Moisture
Control in Buildings, is open for public comment until November 6, 2006. The
proposed standard goes beyond prescriptive recommendations for moisture control
in buildings that are currently in the ASHRAE Handbook and in building codes.
"Standard 160 gives us a methodology for the first time to make consistent
design recommendations, such as the need, type and placement of vapor barriers,
in any climate," says Anton TenWolde, chair of the committee that drafted the
standard. "The standard requires the designer to think about the interior
conditions that will be maintained in the building and the effect that may have
on the building envelope."
A draft of the proposed standard is available only during the public review
period. To obtain an electronic draft version of Standard 160P during the
comment period, log on to ASHRAE.org at
www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.
Visit the Society web page at