Posted on

How is Stability Related to ASHRAE 62.1 Standards?

ASHRAE 62.1 Standard for Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality provides recommendations for minimum ventilation rates and other parameters to ensure good indoor air quality (IAQ). Keeping the IAQ at a safe level will help to minimize any adverse health effects caused by air quality factors. 

The 62.1 standard is intended for both new building and building addition projects. It can also be used as a guide for the improvement of IAQ in existing buildings.

In order to properly conform to the ASHRAE 62.1 standard, it is necessary for sensors to be both stable and accurate. Continue reading “How is Stability Related to ASHRAE 62.1 Standards?”

Posted on

What is Stability and Why is it Important?

Stability is defined as a change (or lack of change) in accuracy over a period of time.

Drift is commonly used as a specification to illustrate the stability, or change in accuracy over a period of time, commonly shown as X%/year where X = a number; i.e. 0.25%/year. In this scenario, a device with a ±1% accuracy, would be expected to have an accuracy of ±1.25% (1%+0.25%) after a period of one year. Depending on the design, brand, and range of the sensing instrument, the stability can vary widely. Continue reading “What is Stability and Why is it Important?”

Posted on

Energy Savings from On-Demand Ventilation

Most local regulations for indoor air quality are designed around ASHRAE Standard 62. This standard specifies the minimum amount of outdoor air flow into an occupied space to be between 15 to 60 CFM per person, but more commonly building regulations require 15 to 20 CFM per person. Besides actually measuring the air flow, ASHRAE also defines indoor air quality using the concentration of carbon dioxide gas in the air. Carbon dioxide is recommended to be less than 1000 PPM. When sizing the air handling unit for a building, engineers will make the design exceed the maximum occupancy in the building or space to ensure that they will always be able to meet the minimum air requirements. In most cases, buildings or mix used spaces rarely are occupied at these maximum levels, thus the amount of conditioned air supplied is usually much greater than what is required. As building owners aim to reduce energy costs and operate buildings more efficiently, wasted energy of conditioning unneeded outside air has been a good place to start. Continue reading “Energy Savings from On-Demand Ventilation”

Posted on

Ensuring HVAC System Safety for Reopening Schools & Office Buildings

The current COVID-19 pandemic spread and breadth is unprecedented. Because of this, it is important that precautions are taken when reopening schools and office buildings. The question we find ourselves asking as professionals in the HVAC trade is this:

How do you return the HVAC system back to normal operations (and continued operations) during this pandemic?  Continue reading “Ensuring HVAC System Safety for Reopening Schools & Office Buildings”