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Guidance on Safe Buildings Offered
Making sure buildings are working properly now will give owners and managers
an edge if extraordinary incidents take place, according to a report issued
to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
(ASHRAE).
The report, Risk Management Guidance for Health and Safety Under Extraordinary
Incidents, was delivered at ASHRAE's 2002 Winter Meeting held Jan. 12-16.
The report was written by the Society's Presidential Study Group on Health and
Safety Under Extraordinary Incidents, which was appointed after the attacks
of Sept. 11 and subsequent events.
"Most of the recommendations included in this report are common sense measures
that owners and managers should already by following," ASHRAE President William
Coad, P.E., said. "Much of the guidance given by ASHRAE relating to acceptable
indoor environments, human comfort and safety also serves to protect the health
and safety of building occupants under extraordinary incidents."
The group made three preliminary recommendations for owners and managers of
existing buildings:
- Understand the capabilities of buildings and their systems;
- Assure that buildings are performing as intended;
- Do not make changes to building performance unless the consequences are
understood.
"Building owners and occupants may now be willing to redirect resources to
enhance building performance to further reduce occupant risk associated with
extraordinary incidents, while continuing to provide acceptable indoor environments,
with energy efficiency and cost effectiveness during normal conditions," James
Woods, Ph.D., P.E., chair of the study group, said.
The report includes a list of major systems, components and processes that
should be considered as safety issues associated with extraordinary incidents
in most existing buildings.
A copy of the report is available on ASHRAE online, www.ashrae.org.
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