ASHRAE Journal - December 2020 - 4

COMMENTARY
COMMENTARY

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Phone: 404-636-8400
Fax: 404-321-5478 | www.ashrae.org
DIRECTOR OF ASHRAE PUBLICATIONS & EDUCATION
Mark S. Owen
EDITORIAL
Editor
Sarah Foster
sfoster@ashrae.org
Managing Editor
Mary Kate McGowan
mmcgowan@ashrae.org
Assistant Managing Editor
Jeri Alger
jalger@ashrae.org
Associate Editor
Rebecca Matyasovski
rmatyasovski@ashrae.org
Associate Editor
Tani Palefski
tpalefski@ashrae.org
Associate Editor
Courtney Carroll
cpayne@ashrae.org
PUBLISHING SERVICES
Publishing Services Manager
David Soltis
Production
Jayne Jackson
ADVERTISING
Associate Publisher,
ASHRAE Media Advertising
Greg Martin
gmartin@ashrae.org
Senior Coordinator-Advertising
Production and Operations
Vanessa Johnson
vjohnson@ashrae.org
Coordinator-Circulation Development
Austin Brafford
abrafford@ashrae.org
ASHRAE OFFICERS
President
Charles E. Gulledge III, P.E.
President-Elect
Michael Schwedler, P.E.
Treasurer
Farooq Mehboob, P.E.
Vice Presidents
Donald L. Brandt
K. William Dean, P.Eng.
William F. McQuade, P.E.
Tim McGinn, P.E.
Secretary & Executive Vice President
Jeff H. Littleton
POLICY GROUP
2020 - 21 Chair
Publications Committee
Hugh D. McMillan III, P.E.

Taking the Mystery Out of 52.2
Minimum efﬁciency reporting value (MERV) has been a
topic of discussion in 2020 as building owners struggle
with mitigating the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Even
the mainstream media has been discussing MERV on a
regular basis. But there is a lot to know about the standard test method that gave rise to MERV.
In " What You Can and Can't Do With ASHRAE Standard 52.2, " authors
Kathleen Owen, Fellow ASHRAE, and Carolyn (Gemma) Kerr, Ph.D., Life
Member ASHRAE, begin with a bit of history of the standard. Then, they
clarify the misconception that there has ever been a MERV higher than
16 and explore why some ﬁlters increase efﬁciency with time while others decrease. Finally, they explain the very recently added particulate
matter (PM52.2) efﬁciency calculation.
A next step for Standard 52.2 is a research project to evaluate how
changes implemented to the standard over the past 15 years have
improved its precision. The article begins on page 18.
WE'VE MADE IT to the end of 2020, which is a year that most of us
won't look back on with much fondness. We have seen a lot of changes at
ASHRAE Journal, but not all are pandemic related.
For instance, we had a changing of the guard of the columnists who
write the Engineer's Notebook column. This year they have taken on topics from laboratory exhaust systems to mixing boxes. This month's column is on learning the vocabulary of acoustics fundamentals (page 52).
The ASHRAE Journal newsletter began expanding on content featured
in our print magazine and includes more technical articles, particularly news about the latest ASHRAE research. Look for an interview with
Owen and Kerr in the December 8 issue.
We've added an online survey for every issue. The surveys never close,
so you can always go back and comment on an article. Thanks to all of the
readers who have done so this year.
LOOKING AHEAD to 2021, we will continue our coverage on Industry
4.0 technologies and COVID-19 in our print edition and newsletter. We
are also planning roundtables to spark discussion on the most relevant
topics of the day.
If there is anything you'd like to see covered in the next year, send me
an email at sfoster@ashrae.org.
Sarah Foster, ASHRAE Journal Editor

Washington Ofﬁce
washdc@ashrae.org

Mission Statement: ASHRAE Journal reviews current HVAC&R technology of broad interest through publication of applicationoriented articles. ASHRAE Journal's editorial content ranges from back-to-basics features to reviews of emerging technologies,
covering the entire spectrum of professional interest from design and construction practices to commissioning and the service life
of HVAC&R environmental systems.

ASHRAE JOURNAL

ashrae.org

D ECEM BER 2020

CELEBRATING

125
YEARS

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ASHRAE Journal - December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - December 2020