ASHRAE Journal - February 2023 - 6

LETTERS
IAQ Standards:
Reflecting on
A White House
Summit
As I type, I have an air quality
monitor on my desk. Actually, I
have two. Combined, they cost less
than my wife and I spent on dinner
last night. CO2 in my room is
1,350 ppm. PM1 is 10 ug/m3. PM10 is
20 ug/m3. PM2.5 is 15 ug/m3. TVOCs
are 0.004 ug/m3. It's 68°F, and the
RH is 60%. Now, that means this
room doesn't meet the 2021 WHO
guidelines mentioned in your
[Brandon J. Burley Ph.D.'s] column,
" Indoor Air Quality Standards:
Reflecting on a White House
Summit, " in the December 2022
issue of ASHRAE Journal.
But, the more important thing is
the technology. I can diagnose my
air quality directly, cost-effectively,
and in its native units.
The gap in ASHRAE's air quality
tools is they breeze past this vital
step of measurement. We're all engineers.
We've all heard " You don't
know what you don't measure, "
" You can't control what you don't
measure, " " In God we trust; all others
must bring data, " and the like.
Engineers usually love measuring
things. So, why is the measurement
of air quality so rare?
You and I know ASHRAE's tools
were born a generation ago. They
evolved in an era when measuring
air quality was expensive and
impractical. In 1995, or 2005, I
couldn't have afforded sevenvariables
of air quality monitoring.
It would have cost more than a car!
But, today, the cost of my personal
6
ASHRAE JOURNAL ashrae.o rg
air quality monitoring is less than
the cost of a dinner date.
Hey, don't take my word. Go to
your web browser, to your favorite
search engine, and type in " air
quality monitor shopping. " Look at
what's available. Look at the prices!
While you're looking at the options,
think back 25 years.
There's been a huge technological
change. It is, in my opinion, a complete
game-changer.
Now that air quality measurement
is vastly more affordable and
available, it should become commonplace
among engineers. During
initial commissioning, continuous
commissioning and retro-commissioning,
air quality experts should
measure air quality. (It sounds so
simple when you say it.) But, imagine
this possible future: in 2030, if
ASHRAE's tools still skip the measurement
step and rely primarily
on ventilation rates, filter efficiency
prescriptions and equipment checklists,
they'll hardly be the tools of air
quality expertise.
The WHO, OSHA and other agencies
already publish performance
standards. In time, they'll become
more and more easily measurable.
People like me will have monitors on
their desks. It'll be easier for users
and enforcers to measure air than
refer to HVAC guidelines, standards,
checklists. (I bought $45 desktop
air quality displays for all my staff,
and for my brother, as holiday gifts!
They're quite cute.)
Right now, ASHRAE's air quality
tools rarely, if ever, tell us to
measure air quality. We frequently
breeze past the topic. Just for fun:
look at how PM2.5 is handled in
ASHRAE's Indoor Air Quality Guide
(2009). The guide warns us about
F E B R U A RY 2023
the dangers of particulates and discusses
resuspension. There's talk
about emissions from photocopiers
and computers.
It tells us to investigate regional
air quality, specify filters, check for
leakage, minimize thermal bridging,
etcetera, etcetera. What it never says
is: " Buy a PM2.5 meter and measure
PM2.5 in the spaces. " It's too bad it
never says that. Today, in 2022, the
simplest, most direct, cost effective,
time effective, and repeatable thing
to do is " buy a PM2.5 meter and measure
PM2.5 in the spaces. "
Side note-be cautious of placing
too much stock in commissioning.
There are two disclaimers commissioning
buyers need beware.
First, many commissioning efforts
fall short of success. I can show
you a stack of commissioning
reports with lists of issues the team
couldn't achieve or solve. " The
systems didn't work as intended, "
they seem to say, " but at least we've
documented it! " Documentation of
issues is great, but it isn't the same
as success.
Second, any commissioning
process is only as good as its goals. If
there aren't air quality goals, there
won't be air quality commissioning.
If achieving PM2.5 below 10 ug/
m3 isn't a design goal, it won't a
commissioning goal. If it isn't a
commissioning goal, it won't be
measured. And, if it isn't measured,
it isn't assured.
Your conclusion, therefore-I'll
paraphrase with the quote, " These
documents form an excellent reference " -stands
in jeopardy to the
threat of time. Affordable air quality
measurement is a threat to the
viability of heavily prescriptive or
prescriptive-only tools. That threat
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ASHRAE Journal - February 2023

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