Comfort Conundrum: Following HVAC Standards in the Workplace

Oh really? Does ASHRAE have standards that vary from town to town per local needs?

And wouldn't worker comfort be one economic concern, perhaps among others?

Architects who prepare building layout give least priority to HVACs service. They mainly focus on aesthetic look of the building. Most of the owners, due to ignorance ,do not consider the importance of IAQ and its relevant professional institute's standards. It is the duty of HVACs professionals to make them understand at right time and ensure HVAC systems are designed as per the relevant standards.

Assuming you are talking about office environments, I have never seen an office where someone wasn't either too hot or too cold. Women especially would have electric heaters under their desks and when the temperature was 90° outside and 68° inside, the heaters would be running. Climate in an office is difficult to control. You can't please everyone.

In a non-office environment, as in a factory, mill or shipyard, workers are used to the prevailing conditions they work in; the conditions come with the job. Measures are usually taken to keep the "comfort zone" within reasonable limits (that has been my experience in shipyards). Due to the nature of the work, it is not always possible to maintain a comfort zone.

In some extreme situations, climate control is geared to operating parameters. Companies that produce heat sensitive equipment or carry out testing procedures may require temperatures to be below the comfort level. The worker has no say in this matter. (Put on a sweater). I once had to work in a space where long testing procedures were carried out. The temperature was kept at <60°. If the temperature got too high, the computers that were part of the testing would automatically shut down. Many hours would be lost in having to restart the testing. Clean rooms are another place where climate suits the required conditions, not people.

For anybody else that didn't know, as far as I can tell, IAQ = Indoor Air Quality.

Thanks for this post. I feel like the points you mentioned are largely dependent on the workplace, though. But how do we assure strict standards compliance? I think it's largely an individual choice, though perhaps rewards could be put into place for managers who have a history of standards compliance.

Rebecca

http://chasroberts.com/

Are you the OP? It doesn't really matter--a question that has bothered me since I first read this blog is whether you (the blogger) are talking about design standards or operating standards?

When the blogger says: "overall IAQ boils down to facility management and its decision to place worker comfort above economic concern", I guess that points to operating standards.

I'm not all that familiar with ASHRAE standards, but I feel fairly confident that designers / architects will attempt to meet them.

If the design standard calls for (and I have no idea if it does) the ability to cool the space down to 68 degrees, but the owner / facilities manager decides to operate at say, 72 degrees for the sake of economy, I feel that is there decision and is not and should not be set by standards. They have to balance that with their worker's comfort and productivity, and come to an "economic" balance.

(OTOH, I think I recognize the right of the government to set guidelines or standards that require that cooling be no set to no lower than, again for example, 72 degrees during times of "crisis" for the sake of energy conservation. Exceptions might be allowed for facilities that provide their own "renewable" source of energy (like solar or wind), maybe only when there is no way to transfer that renewable energy to the grid. OTOH, if those facilities invested in renewable energy, maybe the ability to set the thermostat lower than 72 degrees during times of crisis is one of the things they've earned by their investment in renewable energy.)

(I've focused on cooling, only. I feel the same way about heating, only the converse (if that's the right word).)