Living in the city, you encounter a wide variety of pollutants, smells, and vapors outside. When you enter your school, indoor air pollution is the last thing you want. Examining the state of your indoor air quality is essential for the health and safety of your students and staff. Let’s take a look at the standards in place (ASHRAE standards) defining what constitutes safe air and some of the factors that impact it.
What Are ASHRAE Guidelines?
ASHRAE stands for American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. This professional organization focuses on healthy and sustainable practices within the HVAC industry. An ASHRAE certification denotes a high level of specialized knowledge, ability, and competency with these methods.
As defined on their website, “ASHRAE standards and guidelines include uniform methods of testing for rating purposes, describe recommended practices in designing and installing equipment and provide other information to guide the industry.”
What Is IAQ in HVAC?
IAQ means Indoor Air Quality. Used this way, it denotes the quality of the breathable air in and around a building, focusing on both comfort and any possible health impacts that IAQ may cause. Bringing in an air quality tester for an indoor air quality assessment is your quickest route to determining the IAQ of your building.
The EPA notes a variety of short-term and long-term effects that poor quality air can have, as well as the most commonly encountered issues and pollutants. A few examples of indoor air pollutants include:
- Tobacco smoke
- Fumes from combustion fuel-burning appliances
- Excessive moisture
- Asbestos
- Radon
- Pesticides
- Fumes and residue from building materials, cleaning products, etc.
What Is the ASHRAE Standard for Indoor Air Quality?
Determining quality in any field requires measurements and standards that can serve as a benchmark for comparison. In terms of indoor air quality (IAQ), ANSI/ASHRAE Standards 62.1 and 62.2 provide those benchmarks for the design and maintenance of HVAC design and in determining indoor air quality levels. If you wish to dig into deeper detail on the subject, ASHRAE’s Indoor Air Quality Guide: Best Practices for Design, Construction and Commissioning is available as a free download.
What Is IAQ Ventilation?
Ventilation plays a major part in IAQ it directly impacts two important factors: airborne contaminants and humidity. The National Center for Healthy Housing looks at both of those factors in detail. With the proper ventilation solution, many IAQ issues can be fixed or reduced in severity.
Henick-Lane Provides Commercial HVAC IAQ Testing and Solutions
The experienced team at Henick-Lane are authorities on IAQ and ASHRAE standards, bringing to the table more than 55 years of experience with all facets of commercial HVAC systems. Contact us now for an indoor air quality assessment. Our team will collaborate with you to develop the perfect air quality solution for your educational facility.
Reach out to us online to request a consultation, call 718-768-7277, or contact us via email, at info@henick-lane.com. We look forward to hearing from you!