Decades of evidence indicate that current minimum standards for indoor air quality (IAQ) are responsible for avoidable healthcare costs and productivity losses resulting from normal levels of indoor air contaminants. Recent experience also shows that buildings designed to such standards lack the resilience to protect occupants effectively during infectious disease outbreaks and outdoor air events like wildfires. However, while there is growing recognition that IAQ standards and best practices should change, there is also concern that improving IAQ will increase the energy consumption of buildings and impede progress toward environmental protection goals.
Join William P. Bahnfleth, Ph.D., PE, Professor of Architectural Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University on Tuesday, November 09 at 3:00 PM ET to review some of the fundamental concerns regarding current IAQ standards and explore methods for improving IAQ with little or no adverse impact on energy use. This ASHRAE sponsored will consider the potential for more extensive and sophisticated use of dynamic IAQ control to deliver high indoor environmental quality where and when it is needed.
William Bahnfleth is a professor of architectural engineering at the
Pennsylvania State University. He held previous positions as Senior Consultant for ZBA, Inc. in Cincinnati, OH, and Principal Investigator at the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory in Champaign, IL. He holds B.S., MS, and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois and is a registered professional engineer. At Penn State, Dr. Bahnfleth teaches undergraduate HVAC fundamentals and system design and graduate courses in district cooling systems and indoor air quality. His research interests cover various indoor environmental control topics, including chilled water pumping systems, stratified thermal energy storage, protection of building occupants from indoor bioaerosol releases, and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation systems. He is the author or co-author of more than 170 technical papers and articles and 14 books and book chapters. Dr. Bahnfleth is a fellow of ASHRAE, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the International Society for Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ). He served as President of ASHRAE in 2013-2014 and currently chairs its Epidemic Task Force. Dr. Bahnfleth ASHRAE honors include the Louise and Bill Holladay Distinguished Fellow Award, E.K. Campbell Award, and F. Paul Anderson Award. He is also a recipient of the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society’s World-Class Engineering Faculty Award and a Penn State Exemplary Designation for Faculty Outreach.