ASHRAE announces 2016 IAQ standard

Both standards of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) focused on ventilation system design and acceptable Indoor Air Quality have undergone changes. Standard 62.1, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, sets minimum ventilation rates and other requirements in order to minimize adverse health effects by assuring indoor air quality acceptable to human occupants. Hoy Bohanon, chair of the standard, explained the content of the changes affecting „high rise residential spaces, the indoor air quality procedure, laboratory exhaust and demand control ventilation“. Further changes involve a major shift in the scope of the standard by which residential occupancies are moved from Standard 62.1 to Standard 62.2. All multifamily living spaces are now included in Standard 62.2, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Residential Buildings. Spaces located outside the dwelling space, such as corridors or lobbies, still remain under the scope of standard 62.1. The standard does not apply to transient housing. Other modifications involve the revision of the definition of environmental tobacco smoke and operations and maintenance requirements.