The Ultimate Guide to ASHRAE Standard 241
When was the last time you checked your building's ventilation rate? If you're unsure, it's time to find out.
It's unfortunate, but many fail to understand the correlation between good ventilation and mitigating airborne diseases. This is a real problem, as 30% of new and remodeled buildings experience high rates of health complaints. A large contributor to these circumstances is unmonitored air quality.
It's a huge problem, especially given that property managers tend not to check their air quality anywhere near enough. However, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has taken great strides to place minimum requirements on building owners to maintain clean airflow rates.
One recently established requirement is ASHRAE Standard 241.
Unfamiliar? Below, we'll unpack how these standards prevent airborne diseases and assist efforts to improve overall air quality levels. Finally, we'll explain how indoor air quality monitors are a key part of staying in step with the new standards.
What Is ASHRAE Standard 241?
ASHRAE is a global organization that's committed to the art and science of HVAC, and its indoor air quality standards outline how buildings can form blueprints that achieve better-quality air.
Standard 241 deals with the control of infectious aerosols, particularly in non-healthcare settings, like public schools.
The term "infectious aerosols" simply means tiny, breathable particles that can carry diseases such as influenza. These particles can be chemical or biological. Either way, without ventilation, larger amounts of infectious aerosols remain in the air for humans and animals to inhale.
COVID-19 exposed a large failure on the part of non-healthcare buildings to implement effective infection risk management and air system designs. After noticing the struggle to ventilate and filtrate air, ASHRAE developed Standard 241, outlining specs and guidelines on building design, HVAC installation, operation, maintenance, and monitoring.
Collectively, these new requirements provide a clear road map for property owners to follow as they improve their air cleaning systems and lower the risk of disease.
Key Requirements of ASHRAE Standard 241
The new ASHRAE requirements aren't simply a nebulous list of ideas; they come with specific instructions for indoor environments to address the following issues:
Infection risk management mode: sets requirements for buildings to form plans to address and maintain proper air quality during times of elevated risk of disease transmission (like an airborne pandemic)
Clean airflow rates: establishes numerical targets for airflow rates based on the number of building occupants
Installation of filtration technology: lists technology used for improving clean airflow, such as HEPA filters, UV lights, and air ionizers
Assessment and planning requirements: introduces the concept of building readiness plans to sustain healthy air quality after a major renovation, after the installation of a new HVAC system, or during a period of heightened airborne infection risk
The Impact of Standard 241 on Building Design and Operation
The new ASHRAE HVAC standards are code-enforceable, meaning building plans must adhere to them or risk facing penalties.
However, although the ASHRAE standards necessitate action on the part of property owners, Standard 241 doesn't require any fundamental alterations to a building's design. Rather, it proposes methods to add to the existing infrastructure to increase the ventilation and improve the overall air quality rating.
Following the new ASHRAE standards isn't difficult, but it works best with a holistic approach comprising various best practices.
Compliance Strategies for ASHRAE Standard 241
Next, let's discuss a few core practices to follow when implementing changes according to the Standard 241 guidelines.
Ventilation
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's ventilation tactics for improving air circulation include:
Leverage natural airflow by opening windows and doors (when conditions allow).
During mild weather, open outdoor air dampers on HVAC units.
Inspect air ducts and vents, removing any blockages or buildups.
Inspect HVAC systems, ensuring they have properly sized filters and are up to date on all maintenance.
Filtration Tech
Ventilation and filtration go hand in hand. Just as you need enough fresh air in circulation, that air must be clean enough to breathe.
When it comes to filtration, start with the first line of defense: the air filters. Try using filters with a MERV rating of 11 or higher, but check your HVAC system first to ensure it fits a size-11 filter.
Additionally, building managers can install portable HEPA air purifiers. These purifiers target filtration efforts in indoor areas with high concentrations of pollution, such as rooms near dusty roads or sections of buildings with higher pollen counts. HEPA purifiers are high-end, using multiple filtration layers to remove particles as small as 0.3 microns in diameter.
Air Cleaning Technologies
Standard 241 also expounds on additional tech for cleaning indoor air, like ultraviolet (UV) lights. UV lights are placed near the air filter, purifying the output by killing disease-bearing microorganisms.
Standard 241 also recommends air ionizers. Air ionizers are like UV lights, but they clean the air by releasing negative ions, which attach to airborne particulate matter, like tobacco smoke, mold, and bacteria. This weighs them down, causing them to fall to the floor so they can't be inhaled.
Revolutionize Your Indoor Air Quality Today
The first step toward clean air is knowing how to test your air quality. The more data you have on your building's indoor air, the more power you have to effect change, which is why installing high-quality indoor air quality sensors must be any building manager's first move toward healthier, cleaner air. If you want the best tech-forward solution, consider Attune.
After installing Attune's IoT sensors around your building, they collect data on a host of IAQ metrics, including humidity, mold, particulate matter, circulation, and ventilation. Then, Attune's IoT air monitoring solutions allow building managers to track their air quality conditions directly from their laptops or smartphones.
Want to know more? Start by reading about how Attune's partnership with ASHRAE helped equip two Illinois public schools with technology that tracks their airflow metrics and improves their circulation to create a healthier environment for students and faculty.
You can also contact us directly to speak to an expert about how our revolutionary solution can help solve your indoor air quality issues. We'll be happy to set you up with a free demo to show you how it all goes down!
