Fw: ASHRAE Group Addresses Extraordinary Incidents

[Guest guest]

sorry I forgot to forward this earlier. ----- Original Message ----- From: environment@... Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2001 4:10 PM bldg_list@... Subject: ASHRAE Group Addresses "Extraordinary Incidents" Welcome to CutterEdge Buildings, the weekly e-mail servicefrom Cutter Information Corp.ASHRAE GROUP STUDYING HOW TO POSSIBLY CREATEGREATER SAFETY FOR BUILDING OCCUPANTSIN EVENT OF "EXTRAORDINARY INCIDENTS"An American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-ConditioningEngineers (ASHRAE) study group will soon recommend how buildingengineers, owners, and managers can make their structures saferfrom terrorists.The recently appointed group, which includes scientists and engineers,will study attacks from:* High-impact explosives* Incendiary missiles* Internal incendiary devices* Chemical, biological, and radiation contaminationThe group will focus on ways to bolster heating, ventilation, andair-conditioning (HVAC) systems, but its comprehensive review willstrive to ensure viability of other building systems, such as plumbing,to better protect occupants from attacks. Officially named thePresidential Study Group on Health and Safety Under ExtraordinaryIncidents, the ASHRAE group will not address building structuralintegrity or security.An ASHRAE news release specifies that the study group will assessthe health and safety aspects of buildings in terms of:* Building materials* Egress* Extinguishing fires* Removing smoke* HVAC filtration* Maintaining comfort and air quality* The ways contaminants enter buildings* Building envelopes* How to protect buildings and occupants from chemical, biological, and radiological attacksASHRAE President Bill Coad says this is the first study to examineall these facets of safety and health in buildings. He says the studygroup will guide ASHRAE to take whatever steps are possible to makeUS buildings safer."In my opinion, this threat probably is the most serious situationwe have faced in my lifetime, and I think engineers who are in aposition to help should do so," Coad says. "During World War II, weknew who and where our enemies were, and they were not attacking ourhomeland, with the exception of Pearl Harbor, which was a militarytarget. At the ASHRAE Winter Meeting, we hope to publicly presentour study committee's findings about what people can do to makebuilding occupants safer from possible terrorist attacks." ThoseASHRAE meetings are scheduled for January 12-16, 2002, inAtlantic City, New Jersey.For information about attending the ASHRAE Winter Meeting in January,visit http://www.ashrae.org , and click "News and Events."+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++AN EASY-TO-USE GUIDETO CONTROLLING VOCsIn the past few decades, volatile organic compound(VOC) concentrations in indoor environments have risendramatically, to the point where they could beimpacting human health and comfort.Ironically, VOCs remain a mystery to many in theindoor air quality field. Indoor air and health specialistsknow that VOCs are serious contaminants of indoor air,but until recently little information was availableon the nature of VOCs, let alone how to deal with them.*Volatile Organic Compounds in Indoor Environments*,the only practical, comprehensive study of its kind,demystifies VOCs. In 400+ pages, Dr. Dagmar SchmidtEtkin presents the results of worldwide research onVOCs: their sources, health effects, and strategiesfor reducing their concentrations in indoor air.Order *Volatile Organic Compounds in IndoorEnvironments* today!For more information, or to reserve your copy,call +1 800 964 5118 or +1 781 648 8700, sende-mail to sales@..., or visithttp://cutter.com/energy/reports/vocs.htm .+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++© 2001 Cutter Information Corp. All rights reserved. Unauthorizedreproduction in any form, including forwarding, photocopying, faxing,and image scanning, is against the law.