ASHRAE Journal - July 2011 - 139

predecessor organization ASHVE was involved in efforts to study and recommend ventilation rates in classrooms and other spaces in the early part of the 20th century.5 That work evolved into ASHRAE Standard 62, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, published in 1973 as the first national ventilation and IAQ standard and the basis of requirements in many building codes and regulations. More recently ASHRAE ventilation and IAQ standards have also been developed for low-rise residential buildings (62.2), aircraft cabins (161) and health-care facilities (170), all of which are motivated by the need to provide healthful indoor environments for the occupants of these spaces. In 2009, ASHRAE published Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings, the first national consensus standard on sustainable buildings. This standard covers a range of building performance issues (e.g., energy, water use, and site impacts), including a section on IEQ that goes beyond the minimum requirements in Standard 62.1. That same year, ASHRAE published the Indoor Air Quality Guide: Best Practices for Design, Construction and Commissioning, which contains practical information on a range of IAQ issues to support good IAQ in commercial and institutional buildings. ASHRAE has also published a series of position documents addressing health-related issues including airborne infectious disease, environmental tobacco smoke, legionellosis, and mold growth and moisture management in buildings, and of course IAQ (www.tinyurl.com/5umovfv). These documents are approved by the ASHRAE Board of Directors and express the views of the Society on specific topics pertaining to public policy. These activities clearly demonstrate that ASHRAE has been and continues to be a key player in the arena of IEQ. The individuals and committees that support these activities are a tremendous resource in advancing the arts and sciences of HVAC&R. Those participating in other Society activities that have the potential to impact IEQ should be aware of this expertise and use it to their advantage. In particular, as we move forward in our efforts to reduce energy consumption in buildings, we need to use our internal resources to avoid negative impacts on indoor environmental conditions. Most of this discussion has focused on indoor environments, but EH also includes the outdoor environment, both as it impacts building occupants and based on the environmental impacts of buildings. These impacts include air and water pollution, waste disposal, resource depletion, and habitat destruction, all of which are important stressors on the ecosystem and human health. The key home for ASHRAE’s IEQ and EH expertise is the Environmental Health Committee (EHC), a standing committee of the Society that reports to Technology Council. This committee was created in 1985 in part due to the growing awareness of IAQ issues that followed the 1970s energy crisis. EHC’s stated scope and purpose include the following responsibilities: “identifying major environmental health trends impacting the practice of HVAC&R, informing the ASHRAE leadership and membership of these trends and their potential impacts, and making recommendations on new activities and policies in
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response to these trends. In addition, this committee shall serve as a resource to the Society on activities and issues that relate to environmental health impacts of building environmental control technologies including but not limited to ventilation, and thermal conditioning.” In practical terms, if a TC is developing a research project with a health connection and needs some expertise to support their efforts, EHC can provide expertise to support the development of work statements and to serve on project monitoring subcommittees. If a TC or some other body is planning a program with an EH link and needs speakers to address health-specific issues, again, EHC is the Society’s resource. More information on the Environmental Health Committee can be found at www. tinyurl.com/ASHRAEEHC. In addition to EHC, many other committees in ASHRAE address EH issues, including but not limited to the following: • Standards 55 (thermal comfort), 62.1, 62.2, 161, 170, 188P (Prevention of Legionellosis Associated with Building Water Systems) and 189.1; • Guidelines 10 and 12 (Minimizing the Risk of Legionellosis Associated with Building Water Systems); • Technical Committees 2.1 (Physiology and Human Environment), 2.3 (Gaseous Air Contaminants and Gas Contaminant Removal Equipment), 2.4 (Particulate Air Contaminants and Particulate Contaminant Removal Equipment), 2.6 (Sound and Vibration Control), 2.8 (Building Environmental Impacts and Sustainability), 2.9 (Ultraviolet Air and Surface Treatment), 4.3 (Ventilation Requirements and Infiltration), and 4.10 (Indoor Environmental Modeling); and • Steering committees for the ASHRAE IAQ Conferences that take place every three years. If you’re looking for help or if you have something to contribute, these committees have a lot to offer and are always looking for hard working volunteers. Information on getting involved in these and other ASHRAE committees can be found at www. tinyurl.com/2x2vtm. ASHRAE’s responsibilities in the area of health imply that we need to consider indoor environmental quality as we strive to reduce building energy use, as well as the overall environmental impacts of buildings as they affect human health.

References
1. Wo r l d H e a l t h O rg a n i z a t i o n . w w w. wh o . i n t / t o p i c s / environmental_health/en/. 2. 2009 ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals, Chapter 10, Indoor Environmental Health. 3. ASHRAE Guideline 10-2011, Interactions Affecting the Achievement of Acceptable Indoor Environments. 4. Ad Hoc Committee on Health Effects. 2005. Final report to the ASHRAE Board of Directors. 5. Janssen, J. 1999. “The History of Ventilation and Temperature Control.” ASHRAE Journal. 41 (10):47–52.

Andrew K. Persily, Ph.D., is group leader at the Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md.
ASHRAE Journal 139

ASHRAE Journal - July 2011

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