standard

DVC is a new energy saving technology, buildings that use a DVC strategy use CO2 sensors that measure and regulate the amount of outdoor air supplied to the space.Standards and local building codes have been slow to adopt it.Available data suggests that DVC reduces ventilation, heating and cooling load by 10 to 30 %.

The technical literature very often refers to the international standard ISO 7730. That reference seems to have been accepted too quickly several years ago, without consulting the experts of the profession and without a real critical examination.Now we are facing a difficult situation because the profession recommends (and it is right) temperatures that are lower of several degrees to the ones advised by the standard. Furthermore, an important number of concrete researches demonstrate the very big uncertainties of the data the standard relies on. A serious warning is necessary.

Today the term of comfort includes the different aspects of indoor air quality, thermal, acoustical and visual comfort.Standardisation working groups have already worked in those different fields, and some standards already exist but it will certainly take several years to adapt them according to the countries and continents. Anyway environmental quality is a subjective perception and depends on many interactions. The aim is to insure comfort to the majority of people, but a personal adaptation of the user will always be necessary.

Thermal comfort variables were measured in Singapore mechanically ventilated classrooms. In parallel the cccupants filled questionnaires on their perception of the indoor climate. The results showed that ASHRAE Standard 55 was not applicable in free-running buildings in the tropics. The study showed that generally cool thermal sensations were more readily accepted by the classroom occupants than warm thermal sensations.

This paper is a report on humidity control in schools mainly located in hot and humid climates : according to the US Department of Energy's investigation, most of them, use packaged cooling equipments that are not able to manage space humidity effectively when delivering a high percentage of outdoor air. Those schools don't respect the requirements of the ANSI/ASHRAE standard 62-1999.
By using the dedicated outdoor system (DOAS) approach, ventilation effectiveness and humidity control can be improved and meet the recommendations of the ASHRAE 62-1999 standard.

A new Adaptive Comfort Standard is included in the recently accepted revisions to Ashrae standard 55. That ACS permits warmer indoor temperatures for naturally ventilated buildings during summer and in warmer climate zones. It is based on the analysis of 21,000 sets of raw data compiled from field studies in 160 buildings located in different climatic zones on the 4 continents.

This article presents how ventilation and air quality in smoking spaces are being treated by ANSI/ASHRAE standard 62, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. Historical information is given about environmental tobacco smoke and ventilation requirements in the standard since its first issue in 1973. The status of the 31 addenda to the 1999 version of the standard, some of them being included in the 2001 version, others still being in discussion or in the process to be adopted, is explained. Among them are four smoking-related addenda : 62e, 62g, 62o and 62ag.

The current design standard BS EN ISO 7730 is based upon the work of Fanger dated 1995, dealing with a steady-state human heat balance model that leads to a prediction of the sensation of human thermal comfort for a given set of thermal conditions. That model was then developed for "conventional" environments. But is the current standard still applicable to more sophisticated environments such as offices with chilled ceiling, in combination with displacement ventilation ? This paper presents findings from a study that sought to answer that question.

Current approach for design and installation of mechanical ventilation systems in houses is described in the framework of Canadian building codes and standards, which contain requirements about air change rates, air distribution, sound level, interference with other systems or building envelope.

Comments about the project of the new french standard NF S 90-351 "Clean rooms and related controlled environments in medical establishments" and the consequences on the design approach of clean rooms to master airborne contamination are given.