SEATTLE — ASHRAE has dropped mention of a “moderate amount of smoking” from its standard on ventilation for acceptable indoor air quality. The society also is drafting design guidance for ventilating areas where smoking occurs.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) deleted the smoking phrase through the approval of an addendum in January. An appeal to reverse approval of that addendum was denied by an ASHRAE appeals panel and by the board at the its annual meeting here.

Next, that addendum and three other addenda will be sent to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for approval.

“Since ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62-1989 was published, a number of prominent health organizations have identified environmental tobacco smoke as a significant health risk,” said Andrew Persily, newly appointed chairman of the Standard 62 committee.

“When they make pronouncements like that, ASHRAE has to listen.”

Also, guidelines for separating nonsmoking spaces from spaces where smoking is allowed were approved for public review by the Standard Committee, with addenda setting minimum requirements for filtering particles from air and outlining requirements for outdoor air cleaning.

During a forum on IAQ needs in bars and lounges, ASHRAE members debated how to keep tobacco smoke from contaminating all the indoor air.

“There is a widespread difference of opinions on how to provide IAQ in these places,” said one engineer. “The more I read on this, the more con-

fusing it gets. There can sometimes be 180-degrees difference in design or ventilation. . . . It is a major issue in the gaming industry.”

“This is not a filtration issue,” another participant said. “This is an economic issue. Bars and restaurants are not going to do it [provide proper ventilation and IAQ] because it is just so expensive.”

Still To Come

The committee will review comments from a third set of addenda later this year. Those addenda:

• Refine requirements for determining design ventilation rates;

• Revise the IAQ procedure and clarify when to use it;

• Describe how the standard applies to new buildings and to additions and modifications of existing buildings;

• Add content on operations and maintenance; and

• Replace the performance requirement for natural ventilation systems with a requirement similar to model building codes.

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62-1989 is under continuous maintenance, which allows ASHRAE to update it on an ongoing basis through the addition of addenda that have completed ASHRAE’s public review and consensus procedures.

This standard, with the approved addenda, may be purchased for $52 from ASHRAE Customer Service at 800-527-4723 (U.S. and Canada) or 404-636-8400 (worldwide); 404- 321-5478 (fax); orders@ ashrae.org (e-mail); or www. ashrae.org (website).

Purchasers receive any new addenda or interpretations for one year from the time they buy the standard.