Tag: Codes and Standards

The latest edition of the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospital and Health Care Facilities1 will be published this month. With assistance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Guidelines is revised periodically and published by the American Institute of Architects Academy of Architecture for Health, and Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI). The Guidelines provide minimum ventilation for health-care facilities. The Guidelines also are adopted or adapted and enforced by 42 states and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The 2006 edition has some notable changes to the ventilation and ventilation-related recommendations. more

When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classified environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) as a Group A carcinogen, many state and local codes began requiring restaurants and entertainment facilities to provide designated smoking areas that prevent smoke from being recirculated to nonsmoking areas.

For consulting engineers, these smoking areas open up whole new concerns—and special commissioning needs. The following case study is a primer on HVAC commissioning with special attention to smoking areas in these venues.  more