ASHRAE has proposed an alternate compliance path for existing buildings in its indoor air quality standard, in a move that recognizes that the ventilation rate procedure may be difficult to apply in these facilities.
Proposed addendum b is one of six addenda to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2013, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, open for public comment through Oct. 5, 2014.
Responding to increasing interest in sustainability in existing buildings, Standard 62.1 is cited frequently as a criterion for evaluating ventilation systems in existing buildings. Examples include LEED-EBOM, Energy Star and bEQ. Some building categories, such as K-12 schools and office buildings, are frequently renovated and often have multiple zone systems that provide HVAC to similar space types.
ASHRAE says Section 6 (including the ventilation rate procedure) of the standard was developed as a design standard. As such, Section 6 and Normative Appendix A have the complexity to allow for many complex system designs and airflow pathways. The scope of the standard states in part “the provisions of this standard are not intended to be applied retroactively when the standard is used as a mandatory regulation or code.”
Proposed addendum b provides an alternate path of compliance that is needed by the marketplace for those situations where information required to determine system performance is unavailable or for smaller facilities with straightforward multiple zone applications, according to ASHRAE.
Also open for public comment is proposed addendum c, which would revise the current definition of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) to include emissions from electronic smoking devices and from smoking of cannabis, now allowed by some jurisdictions. The existing requirements for separation of ETS-free spaces from ETS spaces remain unchanged. The proposed addendum also would clarify that provision of acceptable indoor air quality is incompatible with the presence of ETS, including cannabis smoke and e-cigarette emissions.
Last month ASHRAE, the International Code Council, the American Institute of Architects, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and the US Green Building Council signed a memorandum to collaborate on the development of Standard 189.1, the International Green Construction Code and the LEED green building program.
