ARLINGTON, Va. - The Air Conditioning Contractors of America Educational Institute (ACCA-EI) has announced that two proposed standards are currently open for public review and comment, one on HVACR system cleanliness and one on commercial maintenance.

The proposed standard on system cleanliness was developed to establish minimum criteria for the cleaning of HVAC systems that require cleaning activities beyond those performed in normal HVAC mechanical maintenance and servicing. This proposed standard also outlines the procedures to control contaminants which may be released during or after the cleaning process, and to provide methods to verify system cleanliness.

As part of the official American National Standards Institute (ANSI) process, the proposed standard is open for public comment until April 23, 2007. The document may be downloaded at www.acca.org/tech/ansi/. Address comments and questions to Dick Shaw by e-mail at dick.shaw@acca.org.

The proposed standard on commercial maintenance was developed jointly by ACCA-EI and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). This is the proposed standard's second ANSI review. The purpose of the standard is to establish minimum HVAC inspection and maintenance requirements that preserve a system's ability to achieve acceptable thermal comfort, energy efficiency, and indoor air quality in commercial buildings. It provides minimum requirements and identifies inspection/maintenance tasks for a variety of commercial HVAC systems.

All commercial HVAC contractors are strongly encouraged to review the proposed standard to ensure that it meets the needs of the commercial HVAC sector. All comments and improvements to the standard need to be provided directly to ASHRAE by April 30, 2007. The proposed commercial maintenance standard can be downloaded from ASHRAE's Website at www.ashrae.org/technology/page/331.

Publication date: 04/02/2007