Re: [AspergillusSupport] ASHARAE's Guidelines/IAQ, Open for Public Comment

[Guest guest]

hi all--i wonder if there's a site (other than this one?) to find other

people (to compare symptoms) as related to toxic mold exposures? i'd sure

like to talk to someone else afflicted as badly as me....

thanks,

v.

[AspergillusSupport] ASHARAE's Guidelines/IAQ, Open for Public

Comment

> Taken from a post on the IEQuality Board by Hal Levin:

>

> ASHRAE has just announced the 45-day public review of the first draft of

> Guideline 10P, " Criteria for Achieving Acceptable Indoor Environments. "

> The

> document can be downloaded and comments are invited from all interested

> parties.

>

> Creating acceptable indoor environmental conditions can be more complex

> than

> simply meeting each of the separate standards and guidelines.

> Interactions

> between various factors in the indoor environment can make an otherwise

> apparently acceptable building environment less acceptable to a

> substantial

> fraction of the occupants. The Public Review Draft of Guideline 10P calls

> attention to many interactions that designers might not have previously

> recognized or understood. These interactions can strongly influence

> occupant

> reactions to and perceptions of the quality of the indoor environment.

>

> Guideline 10 will be most helpful to designers who want to understand the

> interactions between the thermal conditions and indoor air quality. While

> the

> two are addressed separately in ASHRAE Standards 55 and 62, their

> important

> interactions are not addressed there.

>

> Guideline 10P PR tells us, for example, that the warmer the air, the

> poorer

> and

> stuffier the air quality is perceived by occupants. This suggests that

> while

> the

> thermal comfort range spans several degrees, the lower end of the range

> should

> be preferred when there are known to be sources of pollutants.

> Concomitantly,

> when the thermal conditions are expected be at the higher end of the

> thermal

> comfort range, extra care must be taken to reduce indoor air pollutant

> sources

> or increase dilution with outdoor air. By carefully selecting the

> materials

> that

> are used in construction and furnishings, designers will be able to

> reduce

> the

> likelihood that occupants will find the air quality unacceptable, even at

> the

> upper end of the thermal comfort range. When pollutant sources are known

> to

> be

> present or are unavoidable, designing buildings to maintain temperatures

> at

> the

> lower end of the thermal comfort range will decrease the likelihood of

> complaints and reports of sick building symptoms.

>

> You don't have to be an ASHRAE member to comment on the draft guideline.

> You

> can

> learn more by point your web browser at

> http://www.ashrae.org/content/ASHRAE/ASHRAE/ArticleAltFormat/200556115849_347.

> pd

> f or by copying the url into your web browser.

>

> You can download the draft and make comments during the public review by

> clicking on

> http://www.ashrae.org/template/TechnologyLinkLanding/category/1634

> or by copying this url into your web browser.

>

> Hal Levin

> Building Ecology Research Group

> hal.levin@...

>

>

>