Development of a Design Guide to Improve Building IAQ

Published

August 17, 2008

Author(s)

Andrew K. Persily, Martha Hewett, Jude Anders, Lynn Bellenger, Ronald Burton, John Girman, Eli HowardI, Eric Werling

Abstract

Building owners and developers, and the designers and contractors they employ, are faced with a variety of requirements related to building function, regulations, and environmental impacts. These professionals often address indoor air quality through compliance with minimum code requirements that are based on consensus standards such as ASHRAE Standard 62.1. Other building professionals attempt to provide improved IAQ through measures such as increased outdoor air ventilation rates or specification of low emitting materials, but often without a consistent technical basis for the individual measures. However, a variety of techniques are available to achieve improved indoor air quality without incurring excessive first costs or operating costs and without employing practices that are beyond the current capabilities of the building professions. Based on these motivations, several leading organizations in the building industry are collaborating to develop an Indoor Air Quality Guide for commercial and institutional buildings. The goals of this effort are as follows: delineate best practices for IAQ, recognizing the constraints of design and construction costs and processes as well as trends towards increasing energy costs; simplify adoption of these practices by providing tools (e.g., sample detail drawings and specifications) that designers can and will use; and, identify integrated design processes and techniques that can lead to enhanced IAQ. The primary users of the guide are expected to be the architects, design engineers, product specifiers and contractors who will apply the guidance to specific projects. Building owners, developers and other decision makers are also expected to use the guide to direct the work of these professionals. Organizations with sustainable building rating programs may use it as they revise and enhance their programs. This paper presents the intended scope and content of the guide.

Conference Dates

August 17-22, 2008

Conference Location

Denmark, UK

Conference Title

Indoor Air 2008

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

Standards, guidelines and regulations, building codes

Citation

Persily, A. , Hewett, M. , Anders, J. , Bellenger, L. , Burton, R. , Girman, J. , HowardI, E. and Werling, E. (2008), Development of a Design Guide to Improve Building IAQ, Indoor Air 2008, Denmark, UK, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=861503 (Accessed October 13, 2025)