ATLANTA - Providing design guidance on how to achieve good IAQ is the aim of a proposed guideline from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) now open for public comment.

Guideline 24P, Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is the companion guideline to ASHRAE Standard 62.2, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The guideline currently is open for public comment until Oct. 29, 2007.

The proposed guideline would provide information on envelope and system design, material selection, commissioning and installation, and operation and maintenance.

The guideline goes beyond the requirements contained in Standard 62.2 by providing explanatory and educational material that would be inappropriate in the code-intended standard. Topics addressed in the guideline but not covered in the standard include carbon monoxide alarms, air distribution, better air filtration, and unvented combustion appliances.

“While both Standard 62.2 and Guideline 24P seek to provide acceptable indoor air quality, the guideline goes beyond by providing additional information for achieving good indoor air quality,” said Steve Emmerich, chair of the committee writing the guideline. “The guideline also provides information on topics such as verification of ventilation equipment performance and operations and maintenance, which, though important, are not easily addressed in a code-intended standard.”

A draft of proposed Guideline 24P is available during the public review period. To read the guideline or to comment, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.

Publication date:10/15/2007