As high-performance homes push increasing levels of insulation and air tightness, it becomes more critical to ensure dilution of indoor pollutants with whole-house and spot ventilation.
SOURCE:Green Builder Media
DESCRIPTION:
Building America’s Take: ASHRAE 62.2 may not encourage good ventilation systems and, and can promote inefficient ventilation systems that result in poor indoor air quality.
Expert Comments And Recommendations: This session raised many interesting questions, which were discussed in depth by experts. Research is ongoing, in order to provide more justification for either side of the argument. The following text was captured in raw notes from the session, giving our two experts’ varying positions on ventilation.
Max Sherman
Providing good indoor environmental quality is what buildings are all about. Better buildings need ventilation, because air doesn’t flow without it. Failures to ventilate will become more of a problem as buildings get bigger. ASHRAE 62.2 is the only national consensus standard document there is. Follow 62.2. Resistance if futile. It makes no sense for someone to suggest guidance that is contrary to 62.2. Ventilation is more like a structural requirement, not like comfort, so it should not be up to occupants. A good solution is a double-duty fan: local and whole-house exhaust. The Residential Integrated Ventilation Energy Controller (RIVEC) is an example of a potential technology that meets ventilation challenges in high-performance homes. RIVEC modifies the ventilation rate of a home based on internal and external drivers to optimize energy use while still providing the same effective ventilation.
KEYWORDS: Education, Energy, ventilation, Green Builder Media, Building America, Passive Venting, indoor air quality, IAQ
