The survey is expected to focus on local sources of pollution-such as vehicular traffic-as well as other potential pollutant sources on adjacent properties such as boiler exhaust, process exhaust discharges, cooling tower discharges, and generator exhausts.

The survey is an important, and an often overlooked, aspect of the outdoor air quality. The standard requires two key pieces of information to perform the ventilation system design-demonstration of regional compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards and the completion of a local survey of the specific project site. Given the general approach within the standard of “dilution is the solution to pollution,” having good outdoor air quality is a very important premise when outdoor air is used as the “fresh” source to dilute the polluted indoor air. The other major areas that are not covered are the requirements for ventilation of industrial, laboratory, or other specific process driven ventilation requirements. Likewise in 2010 ventilation requirements for healthcare facilities were removed so that they could be solely referenced in ASHRAE Standard 170: Ventilation for Health Care Facilities. The standard also does not cover air quality in smoking areas, a change to the standard made in the 2010 update. Standard 62.1 does not cover low-rise residential buildings and single-family dwellings-those are covered under the companion Standard 62.2. The key aspects of building design that it covers are: outdoor air quality, envelope design and construction, HVAC system construction, concept of air classes, the ventilation rate procedure, the IAQ procedure, the natural ventilation procedure, and operations and maintenance.īefore getting into what the standard covers in detail, it is important to also understand what the standard does not cover. However, the standard covers many other aspects of building design that are less well known and understood. The standard is best known for its regulation of the amount of ventilation air delivered to each space by HVAC systems through its ventilation rate procedure approach to system design. ASHRAE Standard 62.1 either forms the basis for most mechanical codes or is directly referenced by the codes themselves. In the United States, ASHRAE Standard 62.1: Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality is the most commonly referenced standard to quantify acceptable conditions and appropriate HVAC system design. IAQ has direct effects on our health as well as the perception of an acceptable indoor environment. Indoor air quality (IAQ) is probably the most commonly discussed aspect of building indoor environmental quality (IEQ).

Ashrae standard 62.1