Report Takes a Fresh Look at IAQ and ASHRAE Standards
ITASCA, Ill. — A new whitepaper from Fellowes, a developer of air-purification equipment, highlights what the company says is a critical gap between current ventilation standards and emerging requirements for infection control, while also outlining a path to compliance that prioritizes savings, contaminant control, and building occupant health.
The whitepaper, “Achieving ASHRAE 62.1 and 241 Compliance: How In-Room Air Cleaners Complement HVAC Systems,” examines how the introduction of ASHRAE Standard 241 is reshaping how buildings approach indoor air system designs. While ASHRAE 62.1 has long served as the foundation for acceptable IAQ through adequate ventilation rates, ASHRAE 241 introduces higher clean air requirements focused on reducing the spread of airborne infectious aerosols, a press release from Fellowes said. The result is a growing divide between the IAQ buildings are designed to deliver with their HVAC systems and what emerging standards require, the press release said.
Key findings in the report, the company said, are:
• Clean air requirements under ASHRAE 241 can be four to six times higher than those in ASHRAE 62.1, creating a compliance challenge for engineers and facility managers.
• Traditional ventilation-based approaches, including the traditionally used Ventilation Rate Procedure (VRP), rely on increasing outdoor air intake and may be costly, energy intensive, and difficult to scale with existing infrastructure. They often require significant HVAC upgrades, ductwork modifications, and increased energy consumption to condition additional outdoor air.
• Performance-based strategies, such as the Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP), can reduce reliance on increased outdoor air to optimize energy use while meeting evolving IAQ standards.
• In real-world applications, such as in classrooms and offices, existing HVAC systems often fall hundreds of cfm short of ASHRAE 241 targets, requiring supplemental solutions to close the gap.
“Traditional ventilation strategies are built on the idea that outdoor air is always better than indoor air, but that assumption isn’t always the case,” said Jason Jones, director of air quality management at Fellowes. “Increasing outdoor air alone can introduce pollutants, strain HVAC systems, and significantly increase energy costs, particularly in extreme climates. With ASHRAE 241, the focus shifts to delivering and verifying clean air based on occupant density and risk, not just air volume.
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"This is where supplemental air cleaning becomes a critical part of the solution," Jones continued. "High-efficiency air cleaners can measurably reduce airborne contaminants, enhance equivalent clean air delivery, and help buildings achieve target clean air rates without over-reliance on outdoor ventilation."
The whitepaper, the Fellowes press release said, provides guidance for building owners and engineers, outlining how approaches like IAQP, paired with air-cleaning technologies, can offer a flexible, resilient, and cost-effective pathway to compliance while supporting IAQ.
To download the full whitepaper, visit the Fellowes website.
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