ATLANTA — Health care HVAC systems serve facilities in which the population is highly vulnerable and exposed to elevated risks of health, fire, and safety hazards, notes ASHRAE. These regulated facilities undergo continuous maintenance, verification, inspection, and recertification, typically operate 24/7, and are owner occupied for long life. A new manual from ASHRAE provides guidance in addressing these issues for mechanical and consulting engineers, designers, architects, facility managers, infection control personnel, maintenance staff, contractors, developers, and code accreditation and licensure officials.

According to ASHRAE, the second edition of HVAC Design Manual for Hospitals and Clinics provides in-depth design recommendations based on best practices, and presents proven, cost effective, and reliable solutions that result in low maintenance cost and high reliability with systems providing desired performance and efficiency. The book, a complete rewrite of the first edition, focuses specifically on HVAC system design for health care facilities, omitting general system descriptions that are available in other ASHRAE publications.

“The manual presents a unified and comprehensive summary of engineering background on the standard, how to meet it, and alternatives for best engineering practices beyond the minimum requirements,” said Daniel Koenigshofer, P.E., editor of the manual. “A principle objective of the manual is to present what is different about designing HVAC systems for hospitals and health care facilities.”