Thread by @joeyfox85

IMPROVING SCHOOL VENTILATION MOVING FORWARD

In my mind, there are 3 different issues at play:
1. New construction/Renovation - I'm not concerned about this. There will be a lot more research on air quality and health and there is now public awareness about its importance.

1/9

I have confidence that ASHRAE will update the guidelines based on our new societal values and we can make new designs better moving forward.

2. Under-ventilated buildings - many buildings built in the 50s-80s don't have proper mechanical ventilation.

2/9

How do we deal with this? Do we mandate filtration or UVGI? Do we have to demolish and rebuild a significant percentage of our buildings? Do we continue on as in the past? Heat recovery ventilators can be used sometimes, but not always.

3/9

3. Building Monitoring & Operations - This is where the biggest problem with ventilation occurs. It's designed one way and works for a couple of years. There is no oversight for HVAC mechanics/maintenance technicians. People operating buildings take their word.

4/9

I checked out a school in August 2020. There were 16 rooftop units. 11 had broken dampers - no fresh air. The maintenance company hired was incompetent. They were trying to sell the school bipolar ionization and didn't realize all the dampers were broken.

5/9

Unless people who actually care are doing frequent visual inspections, monitoring CO2 or monitoring the building automation system (my specialty), no one will notice. ASHRAE has guidelines for maintaining equipment, but this isn't legally enforced.

6/9

Engineers are the ones that design, program and commission these systems. Engineers aren't usually responsible for the day-to-day operations of these systems. Trusting people to maintain these systems has failed us. This needs better oversight moving forward.

7/9

One more issue is resources - maintenance teams are woefully understaffed. It's physically impossible to keep up with the work. Administrators need to be responsible for ensuring staffing levels. This isn't happening and equipment remains broken.

8/9

Significant changes are needed, but trying to overturn a massive industry overnight will not be easy.

Ignoring broken damper actuators is easy - no extra work, no extra cost, lower energy bills because no fresh air and no one will notice...but it's also immoral.

9/9