Momentum is building for the performance-based ventilation design method, ASHRAE’s IAQ Procedure
2023 was?the hottest year on record, continuing a steep global climb in temperatures that shows no sign of abating as our climate changes. According to my colleague Karthik Radhakrishnan , the combined effect of rising temperatures and increasing electricity costs have resulted in a?29-72% increase in ventilation cooling costs?from 2013 to 2022. The need to offset these cost increases in one reason why interest in the more cost effective and energy efficient Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP) ventilation design method is growing, as evidenced by a growing number of requests for presentations by enVerid on the IAQP.?
Another reason for the growing interest in the IAQP is the need to simultaneously address good indoor air quality, energy efficiency, and resiliency from outdoor pollution including wildfires. According to former ASHRAE President Bill Bahnfleth,?the key to achieving all three of these goals is looking at alternatives to outdoor air, which is often expensive to condition and may be polluted. These alternatives include high efficiency filtration for particulates, sorption technologies like Sorbent Ventilation Technology? (SVT?) for gases, and technologies like germicidal UV for pathogens. The good news, as William Bahnfleth pointed out, is that we don’t have to wait for a new silver bullet to realize all three goals because updated standards from ASHRAE and technologies available today like enVerid’s SVT can help us realize these goals now.?The updated standards include:
- Three addendums to?Standard 62.1?between February 2022 and October 2023 that simplify and clarify the IAQP and better define requirements for air cleaning systems;?
- The publication of the new?Standard 241?Control of Infectious Aerosols that is based on the concept of equivalent clean air and the use of air cleaning; and??
- The new?Guideline 44P?that ASHRAE is finalizing to define strategies to make buildings resilient to wildfire smoke.
Indeed, there is no need to wait to save money while improving indoor air quality and resiliency. ASHRAE recently published a paper by my colleagues?Dr. Marwa Zaatari and Joe Maser?that examines the cost implications of different ventilation strategies that comply with Standards 62.1 and 241 and Guideline 44P. The paper’s conclusion is that, in many cases,?the most cost effective, energy efficient way to achieve all three goals described by Bill is by providing the minimum pre-requisite outside air using the IAQP with air cleaning and/or disinfection to reduce the concentrations of pathogens, particles, and gases rather than only depending on outdoor air for dilution using the Ventilation Rate Procedure. We couldn’t agree more.??
Continue reading to learn more about these exciting updates that are driving the growing interest in the IAQP and Sorbent Ventilation Technology.?
Thanks for joining us on this journey.?
Christian Weeks, CEO, enVerid Systems
P.S. Please follow enVerid Systems on LinkedIn for our latest news as it happens.
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From the Blog
Cost Implications of Different Ventilation Strategies to Simultaneously Achieve Energy, IAQ, and Resiliency Goals
Published 02/29/2024 By Christian Weeks
For my last?Ask the Experts blog post, I caught up with Dr. Bill Bahnfleth to discuss COVID, climate change, and carbon emissions and how ventilation and IAQ standards are evolving to keep up with market needs. One of the insights Bill shared is that the days of trading off energy and IAQ in how we design and operate ventilation systems are over. According to Bill, we need to embrace a new paradigm that simultaneously deals with energy, IAQ, and resiliency goals.??
Bill went on to discuss three recent updates from ASHRAE that enable these three goals:?
- Three addendums to?Standard 62.1?between February 2022 and October 2023 that simplify and clarify the IAQ Procedure (IAQP) and better define requirements for air cleaning systems;?
- The publication of the new?Standard 241?Control of Infectious Aerosols that is based on the concept of equivalent clean air and the use of air cleaning; and??
- The new?Guideline 44?that ASHRAE is finalizing to define strategies to make buildings resilient to wildfire smoke.?
Since my interview with Bill, ASHRAE published a paper by my colleagues Marwa Zaatari and Joe Maser that examines the cost implications of different ventilation strategies to simultaneously achieve energy/carbon reduction goals and new IAQ and resiliency benchmarks defined in Standard 241 and the proposed Guideline 44. The paper’s conclusion, which is based on extensive energy modeling, aligns nicely with another key point that Bill made: “The key to achieving this new paradigm is looking at alternatives to outdoor air, which is often expensive to condition and may be polluted.� Read more on our blog.
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Ask the Experts: Dr. Bill Bahnfleth, PSU Professor and ASHRAE Fellow
Published 11/28/2023 By Christian Weeks
In this installment of enVerid’s Ask the Experts blog series, I catch up with Dr. Bill Bahnfleth, professor in the Department of Architectural Engineering at ç¾Žå›½å®¾å¤•æ³•å°¼äºšå·žç«‹å¤§å¦ and Fellow of ASHRAE, ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) , and the International Society for IAQ and Climate.
Bill’s research activities over the past 25 years have focused on indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy efficient HVAC systems. Bill is also active in ASHRAE having served as Society President in 2013-2014, chair of the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force during COVID, and now chair of the committee that developed the recently published Standard 241 Control of Infectious Aerosols.
Bill and I caught up to talk about COVID, climate change, and carbon emissions and how IAQ and ventilation standards are evolving to keep up with market needs.
CW:?You recently gave a talk where you discussed the need for a new IAQ paradigm. What did you mean by that?
BB:?The days of optimizing building design and operation for energy efficiency with minimum air quality as a constraint are over. We need to embrace a new paradigm that simultaneously deals with wellness and sustainability as well as resiliency. The key to achieving this new paradigm is looking at alternatives to outdoor air, which is often expensive to condition and may be polluted. These alternatives include high efficiency filtration for particulates, sorption technologies for gases, and technologies like germicidal UV for pathogens.
The good news is that we don’t have to wait for a new silver bullet to realize this new paradigm. Updated standards and technology available today can help us realize this new paradigm now.
CW:?Moving away from the paradigm where “dilution is the solution to pollution†is a big shift. Why do we need to make this shift?
BB:?The only way we are going to have better IAQ without blowing our energy budgets is to use alternatives to outdoor air, which requires a lot of energy to condition relative to other air quality control technologies.
The other issue with the dilution ventilation approach is that outdoor air is often not fresh air. This has been true for a long time in some urban areas but can happen almost anywhere as wildfires become more common. According to the American Lung Association , 36% of Americans live in places with failing grades for outdoor air quality based on their PM2.5,PM10?and ozone levels.
CW:?If dilution is no longer the best solution, how should we design buildings to simultaneously achieve wellness, sustainability, and resiliency goals?
BB:?An approach that utilizes filtration and air cleaning to limit the necessary flow rate of outdoor air is the way forward. You’ve called this the “clean first†approach in your?Sustainable IAQ white paper. Designing a building to use air cleaning and energy recovery on a reduced volume of outside air to achieve IAQ goals is far superior from an energy and IAQ standpoint to designing to higher ventilation rates to achieve IAQ goals with limited or no air cleaning... Read more on our blog.
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In the face of rising cooling costs, ASHRAE’s IAQ Procedure and sorbent air cleaning offer relief
Published 10/17/2023 By Karthik Radhakrishnan
The summer of 2023 turned out to be one of the hottest on record for North America. The European Union Climate Monitor said July 2023 was?earth’s warmest month on record,?and 2023 will end up displacing 2016 as?the hottest year since records began in 1850. According to?the latest data from NOAA, the average surface temperature across the contiguous 48 states has risen at an average rate of 0.17° F per decade since 1901, and more than twice as fast since 1981.
These rising temperatures, coupled with increasing electricity rates, have material impacts for building owners and operators in terms of the cost to maintain comfortable indoor environments. Based on my analysis, the combined effect of rising temperatures and increasing electricity costs have resulted in a?29-72% increase in ventilation cooling costs?from 2013 to 2022 for six major cities on the east coast of U.S. And these numbers will only increase as temperatures and electricity costs continue to rise.
The good news is that there are energy efficient ways to maintain comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ) in buildings that can offset much of this cost increase. One such way is to clean and recycle a portion of the already-conditioned air in a building so that the same or better IAQ can be achieved with less conditioning of hot and sometimes polluted outside air. I estimate that?up to?80% of total ventilation cooling costs can be offset using this approach... Read more on our blog.
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ASHRAE Winter Conference and AHR Expo
In January, we attended both the ASHRAE Winter Conference, where we presented, and the AHR Expo , where we exhibited. Here are some photos from this important annual event. We hope to see you there in the future!
ASHRAE Standard 241: Control of Infectious Aerosols
Together with enVerid advisor Marwa Zaatari , enVerid's own Joe Maser (shown here) presented on the new ASHRAE Standard 241: Control of Infectious Aerosols. Their presentation was based on their peer-reviewed paper (which ASHRAE members may access here). ?
In the Media
State of the Transition 2023 (featuring enVerid)
Our investor Breakthrough Energy highlighted enVerid in its recent State of the Transition Report – look for enVerid in the building decarbonization section (on page 78 of the downloadable pdf). ?
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How Contractors Can Help Improve IAQ in Schools
Contractors have to assist schools in knowing how to solve poor IAQ issues
ACHR NEWS ran a story on How Contractors Can Help Improve IAQ in Schools featuring quotes from several industry experts, including enVerid CEO Christian Weeks.
Christian Weeks is quoted as saying: “Improving filtration is more energy-efficient than bringing in more outside air when it is hot or cold outside because conditioning outside air for comfort is energy-intensive,†Weeks said. “Improving filtration can be done at the central HVAC system, if one exists, by upgrading to MERV 13 or higher-efficiency particle filters or by deploying HEPA filters directly in the space.†?
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