Building operators and engineers have an important role to play in planning for infectious disease transmission emergencies.
Building engineers can support emergency planning by understanding the design, operations, and maintenance adequacy of buildings for which they are responsible and helping emergency planners mitigate vulnerabilities or develop interventions.
However subjective one's perception of indoor air quality (IAQ) is, as a building owner, property manager, or building engineer it's critical that IAQ complaints are proactively responded to and managed.
The IAQ problem indicator dictates the associated management response, with some requiring immediate attention. Other problems are less urgent, but all require a response.
ASHRAE's recommendations regarding Legionellosis are contained in ASHRAE Standard 188-2015, Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems, and the ASHRAE Guideline 12 -2000, Minimizing the Risk of Legionellosis Associated with Building Water Systems.
ASHRAE recommends that cooling towers should be designed, installed, operated, and maintained in accordance with ASHRAE Guideline 12 -2000 to minimize the risk of dissemination of legionella bacteria. The guideline includes recommendations for cleaning and disinfection.
The HVAC planned maintenance plans that contractors offer vary in scope and pricing from all inclusive to minimal inspection and filter change. The first step in choosing a contractor is to know what basic items are included in competing contractors’ maintenance plans in order to effectively compare relative plan values.
The HVAC system is the single largest user of energy in your building, making it one of your biggest monthly expenditures. If it is not maintained in proper working order you will be sacrificing indoor comfort while seeing increased power usage, and will likely incur higher repair costs and premature equipment replacement costs.
How occupants perceive indoor air quality (IAQ) in a typical commercial office environment can be very subjective. ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2013 -- Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality (ANSI Approved) Standard sets ventilation rates that will "satisfy a substantial majority (about 80%) of unadapted persons (visitors) in a space." Meaning that even if Standard 62 is satisfied, a potential two of ten people may find the air unacceptable.