Atlanta — Requirements to ensure high-quality ventilation can be found in a new standard written by ASHRAE and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE). ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170-2008, Ventilation of Health Care Facilities, defines ventilation system design requirements that provide environmental control for comfort, as well as infection and odor control.

The standard is the first ANSI standard in the nation to specifically address ventilation in healthcare facilities and is available for adoption by various authorities for healthcare facility construction such as city, state and federal governments and by private national organizations such as the Facilities Guidelines Institute and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

Without high-quality ventilation in healthcare facilities, patients, healthcare workers and visitors can become infected by simply breathing.

“Air-transmitted pathogens can be found everywhere in poorly ventilated healthcare facilities,” Richard Hermans, P.E., ASHRAE certified healthcare facility design professional (HFDP), chair of the committee that wrote the standard, said. “Because these organisms are found in higher concentrations in hospitals and because patients are susceptible to them, additional care should be taken in the design of ventilation systems.”

The standard addresses systems and equipment; space ventilation for a variety of areas in healthcare facilities, including airborne infection isolation rooms, critical care units, burn units, surgery rooms, and Class B and C operating rooms; and planning, construction and system startup.

For more information, visit www.ashrae.org/bookstore.