Defining Indoor Air Quality

The first ASHRAE IAQ conference in 1986 was held “to review the latest research in indoor air pollution and provide missing current data for Standard 62” with the understanding that, “the indoor environment should minimize any impact on health and should be free of any impact on comfort, and control should minimize the use of energy.”1 Implicit in this statement is the belief that the performance measures needed to realize this goal could be defined in practical terms.

Thirty years later, 174 delegates from 21 countries met in Alexandria, Va., in September 2016 for the 18th ASHRAE IAQ conference, co-organized with the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC) as its 37th annual meeting. The Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) and Indoor Environmental Quality Global Alliance (IEQ-GA) were partner organizations. Participants included members of the scientific commu­nity, representatives from government agencies, design­ers, and IAQ practitioners. Meetings of the ASHRAE Environmental Health Committee, IEQ-GA, the AIVC board of directors, and an ASHRAE residential stake­holder workshop were coordinated with the conference.

The conference theme, “Defining Indoor Air Quality: Policy, Standards, and Best Practices,” reflected the recognition that definitions and measures of indoor environmental quality remain elusive. The geographi­cally and professionally diverse participation in the conference created a unique opportunity to consider the current status of IAQ laws, consensus standards, and IAQ best practices, specifically those of high performance building designers. The program was further broadened by an emphasis on residential buildings and developing economies, both current strategic focuses of ASHRAE.

Invited keynote addresses served to highlight major issues addressed at the conference.

©ASHRAE, www.ashrae.org. Used with permission from ASHRAE Journal, May 2017. This material may not be copied nor distributed in either paper or digital form without ASHRAE’s permission.