March 10, 2004—To deal with the threat of bioterrorism, the HVAC&R industry has focused its efforts on making buildings resistant to intentional or accidental airborne release of hazardous materials.
Much guidance has been published on reducing vulnerability of buildings. Research funded by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) will build on that guidance, evaluating the resistance of HVAC systems to airborne chemical and biological agent releases.
Twelve students have been approved to receive a total of $100,000 through ASHRAE’s grants-in-aid program, which is designed to encourage students to continue their education in preparation for service in the HVAC&R industry. The recipients were chosen by the Society’s Research Administration Committee at the 2004 Winter Meeting held Jan. 24-28. The grants are awarded to full-time graduate students of ASHRAE-related technologies. Fifty-seven applications were received. Results from the projects may be incorporated in the ASHRAE Handbook, which is the most widely used reference book in the HVAC&R industry.
Among them is an evaluation of HVAC system resistance to airborne chemical and biological agent releases, conducted by Joseph Firrantello, Penn State University.
Following anthrax mailings in 2001 in the United States, various organizations, including ASHRAE, published guidance to assist building owners and designers in identifying ways to reduce the vulnerability of buildings to such events. The common thread in these documents is a risk management approach to reduce the consequences of chemical, biological and radiological weapons incidents. Firrantello’s project will build on these documents, which include ASHRAE’s 2003 report Risk Management Guidance for Health, Safety and Environmental Security Under Extraordinary Incidents, by evaluating the performance of several HVAC design strategies applied to a representative building during normal operation and during airborne releases of chemical and biological weapons.
For more information, contact ASHRAE.
