Airborne Disease Transmission Risk and Energy Impact of HVAC Mitigation Strategies

Significant emphasis has been placed on enhancing building HVAC systems to be more energy-efficient in recent decades. Often, these measures include reducing ventilation rates and overall airflows to achieve corresponding energy reduction. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused an examination of how...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inASHRAE journal Vol. 64; no. 5; pp. 12 - 25
Main Authors Risbeck, Michael J, Bazant, Ma, Jiang, Zhanhong, Lee, Young M, Drees, Kirk H, Douglas, Jonathan D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) 01.05.2022
American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc
Subjects
Aerosols
Disease control
Disease transmission
Diseases
Electric power transmission
Energy conservation
Energy consumption
Energy efficiency
Green buildings
Humidity
HVAC
HVAC equipment
Infections
Lung diseases
Particle size
Quantitative analysis
Respiratory diseases
Risk
Risk factors
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Variables
Ventilation
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Summary:Significant emphasis has been placed on enhancing building HVAC systems to be more energy-efficient in recent decades. Often, these measures include reducing ventilation rates and overall airflows to achieve corresponding energy reduction. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused an examination of how HVAC systems may help reduce the risk of airborne transmission of respiratory diseases via infectious aerosols. This new goal of infection risk mitigation often leads to the opposite recommendation-that outdoor air ventilation be increased,1 to the detriment of energy efficiency.2,3
ISSN:0001-2491
1943-6637