ASHRAE Journal - December 2021 - 6

INDUSTRY NEWS
Predicting What's to
Come for HVAC in 2022
BY MARY KATE MCGOWAN, MANAGING EDITOR
ATLANTA-What the HVAC&R industry could experience
in 2022 could be similar to what it has been facing
throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including indoor
environmental quality (IEQ) concerns. Other consistent
challenges will continue, such as the shift to lowering
carbon use.
But there are always surprises.
Several industry leaders discussed what they predict to
be significant trends, topics and technologies that could
captivate the HVAC&R industry in the new year.
The Persistence of IAQ
Indoor air quality (IAQ) has been top of mind since the
onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Madison Schultz,
P.E., Member ASHRAE predicts that will continue into
the new year.
In her 15-year career, not many building owners have
asked Schultz about IAQ-until the start of the COVID-19
pandemic. Before, Schultz said, building owners did not
want to spend money on IAQ technologies, and sometimes
they had never heard of it.
" This year, about half of my clients have asked something
about indoor air quality, about air cleaning, about
virus transmission, about [having] better healthy air
inside. I think that trend is going to continue, " she said,
adding that she predicts the industry will see owners
requesting air quality, air cleaning or other related
technologies.
Building owners are vital in another trend predicted by
2021-22 ASHRAE President Mick Schwedler, P.E., Fellow
ASHRAE-resiliency. " I think engineers are trying to
work with the building owners to look forward and say,
'What can be done moving forward to make the buildings
more occupiable quickly to allow them to respond
more quickly to reopen when we need to and when we
want to?' "
Erin McConahey, P.E. HBDP, Fellow ASHRAE,
said she thinks the public will probably talk about
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ASHRAE JOURNAL ashrae.o rg D ECEM BER 2 0 2 1
COVID-mitigation
measures a bit
less now that vaccines
are in place,
but ASHRAE
should continue
with research to
establish modifications
to ANSI/
ASHRAE Standard
62.1, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, that
acknowledges infection control as an aspect of IAQ for
non-health care buildings more explicitly.
Schwedler also discussed the importance of ASHRAE
research, in particular the need for independent
research on air cleaning technologies.
" For almost 105 years, we've been funding our own
research. That allows us to be both practical and also
independent in the results of our research, " he said.
Madison Schultz, P.E.,
Member ASHRAE
Mick Schwedler, P.E.,
Fellow ASHRAE
Moving On From MERV 13?
Resiliency expands beyond COVID-19 mitigation and
virus concerns to other challenges, such as wildfires and
air filtration technologies. " COVID and wildfire events
have led to a big focus on better air filtration, " said Mike
Gallagher, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE. " For a variety of reasons,
MERV 13 has become the 'go-to' efficiency level
for many purposes. The filter industry was caught flatfooted
when the COVID era began; they could not meet
demand. "
Manufacturing capacity has still not increased commensurate
with the increase in demand, said Gallagher,
adding that part of the reason for this is a concern that
as COVID-19 fades from being the highest priority social
concern, the market will return to using cheap filters,
such as MERV 8.
" The manufacturers are worried that the massive
amounts of money that would have to be committed to
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ASHRAE Journal - December 2021

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