Continuous Accountability: A Method to Assure Building Performance Presented to Penn State Student Chapter of ASHRAE 12 September 2002

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Continuous Accountability A Method to Assure
Building PerformancePresented to Penn State
Student Chapter of ASHRAE 12 September 2002

• By
• James E. Woods, Ph.D., P.E.
• The Building Diagnostics Research Institute, Inc.

2
Presentation Content

• Part 1 Introduce whole building concepts and
  consequences of Continuous Degradation,
  Continuous Accountability, and Building
  Diagnostics
• Part 2 Discuss Lessons Learned from ASHRAE Study
  Group on Building Health and Safety under
  Extraordinary Incidents
• Part 3 Describe Diagnostic Procedures, and
  Evaluation and Classification Criteria for
  virtual and actual buildings

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Part 1Whole Building Concepts

• Purpose of Buildings
• Fundamental Objectives of Environmental Control
• Continuous Degradation
• Continuous Accountability
• Building Diagnostics

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Purpose of Buildings

• Provide secure, safe, and healthy conditions
• Facilitate well being and productivity of
  occupants, owners, and managers
• Four functional categories
• Residential
• Educational
• Health Care
• Commercial/Public Assembly

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Fundamental Objectives of Environmental Control

• Prevent adverse health and safety effects
• Provide for desired conditions
• Human Response
• Occupant Performance
• Productivity
• Achieve by simultaneous control of exposure
  parameters
• Thermal
• IAQ

• Lighting
• Acoustics

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Definition of Indoor Air Quality

• The nature of air that affects the health and
  well-being of occupants

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Definition of Health

• From the Constitution of the World Health
  Organization (1946)
• Health is a state of complete physical, mental,
  and social well-being and not merely the absence
  of disease or infirmity.

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Current Drivers
Safety and Environment

• Green Buildings
• Sustainability
• Global warming
• Moisture and Mold
• Environmental Security

Productivity

• Health awareness
• Occupant performance
• Health care costs
• Employee absences
• O M costs
• Value Engineering
• Fear of terrorism

Energy

• Reduced loads and capacities
• Advanced control strategies
• Changes in OM procedures

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Regulations, Standards, Guidelines and Codes

• Guidelines
• USGBC LEED Criteria
• NIBS Whole Building Commissioning
• ASHRAE Risk Management Guidance on Health and
  Safety under Extraordinary Incidents
• Others

• Regulations
• GSA PBS P-100
• Executive Orders
• GSA HVAC Excellence Criteria
• Others

• Standards
• ASHRAE Standards 55, 62, 90, and others
• ASTM Standards
• ANSI Standards
• Others

• Model Codes
• UBC/BOCA/SBC
• IBC
• NFPA (NEC/NMC)
• Others

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Existing Building Stock

• In USA
• gt 100 million residential buildings
• gt 4.6 million non-residential buildings
• 2-4 replacement rate
• 80 - 90 in use in 2025 already exist
• Global
• Similar percentages in developed regions
• Different percentages in developing regions

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Concept of Continuous Degradation
Non-industrial Buildings
Problem Buildings (20 - 30)
Buildings Without Known Problems (70 - 80)
BRI (5 - 10)
SBS (10 - 25)
UPB (10 - 20)
HB (50 - 70)
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Problem Buildings

• Symptoms or Illnesses
• Occupant complaints symptoms
• Allergic rhinitis
• Asthma
• Tuberculosis
• Respiratory diseases

• Magnitude of Problem
• 20-50 existing buildings in NA and WE
• Most common chronic disease
• Leading cause of school absences
• Most lethal infection in health care facilities
• 6 global mortality from indoor biomass fuels

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Types of Problem Buildings

• Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)
• Persistence of symptoms
• Substantial percentage affected
• Rapid relief on exit
• Causes Unknown
• Solve by System Performance

• Building Related Illness (BRI)
• Clinical signs
• More than one affected
• Linkages to indoor exposures
• Solve by Source Removal

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Healthy Buildings

• Pragmatic (Woods, et al)
• Minimize occupant complaints
• Comply with acceptable criteria
• Exposures
• System performance
• Economic performance

• Ideal (Berglund, et al)
• Free from BRI and discomfort
• Promote well being and health
• Provide for
• Non-hazardous conditions
• Thermal comfort
• Pleasant air quality
• Illumination and acoustic
• satisfaction
• Social needs and
• productivity
• Distinguished aesthetic
• qualities

• Undetected Problems
• Some discomfort and symptoms
• Non-compliance with some
• acceptable criteria

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Summary of Consequences of Continuous
Degradation (1)

• gt 20 occupants with symptoms
• gt 20 occupants with hampered performance
• gt50 occupants have loss of confidence in
  management
• Potential cost of recovering good will from
• SBS gt cost of mitigation
• BRI gt cost of facility

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Summary of Consequences of Continuous
Degradation (2)

• 40 - 60 B/ yr (Woods, 1989)
• Up to 60 B/yr (EPA, 1989)
• 6 - 14 B/yr from increased respiratory diseases
  (Fisk, 1999)
• 2 - 4 B/yr from increased asthma and allergies
  (Fisk, 1999)
• 15 - 38 B/yr from SBS (Fisk, 1999)
• 20 - 200 B/yr from reduced productivity (Fisk,
  1999)

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Primary Causes of Continuous Degradation

• Lack of accountability for building performance
• Abdication of professional responsibility for
  building performance
• Lack of occupant awareness of consequences of
  problem buildings
• Lack of scientific quantitative data on building
  performance

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Interception of Continuous Degradation
Building Diagnostics
Intervention
Continuous Accountability
Healthy Building
Problem Building
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Commitments needed forContinuous Accountability

• Accountable person must be
• Explicitly identified for each phase in
  buildings life
• Empowered with authority to assure building
  performance
• Educated and trained to assure adequate building
  performance and occupant protection

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Planning Conceptual Design
Occupancy Functional Performance
Assure
Set
Owner Financier Planner Designer
Owner Manager Tenant Occupant
Healthy Building
Designer Builder
Owner Financier
Builder Designer Owner Tenant
Evaluate
Translate
Accountability
Detailed Design Construction
Commissioning Substantial Completion
Performance Criteria
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Part 2 Summary of ASHRAE Study Group
ReportRisk Management Guidance for Health and
Safety Under Extraordinary IncidentsReleased 14
January 2002Report Available at www.ashrae.org
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Charge to Study Group

• Based on ASHRAEs expertise and responsibilities,
  a Presidential Study Group was appointed in
  October 2001 to
• Provide initial guidance on actions that should
  be taken to reduce health and safety risks of
  occupants in buildings that might be subjected to
  extraordinary incidences.

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Problem Statement

• Building owners and occupants may now be willing
  to redirect resources to enhance building
  performance
• To further reduce occupant risks associated with
  extraordinary incidences,
• While continuing to provide acceptable indoor
  environments, with energy efficiency and cost
  effectiveness during normal conditions.

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Issues Included in Report (1)

• Study pertains to public use and assembly
  buildings

• Commercial
• Institution
• Educational
• Residential for more than four families

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Issues Included in Report (2)

• Study addresses aspects of building performance
  that affect health and safety under extraordinary
  incidents

• Egress
• CBR protection
• Fire protection
• Smoke removal or purging
• Filtration
• Air Quality
• Entrance paths for contaminants
• Building envelope

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Limits of the Report

• The fundamental parameters of risk/benefit, cost,
  and level of protection were considered.
• But the recommendations are limited based on time
  and current state of knowledge.

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Lessons Learned (1)

• Committee deliberations on the events of 9/11,
  and the subsequent Anthrax attacks, suggested
  that
• Methods of protection from intentional
  extraordinary incidents are related to protection
  from accidental and naturally occurring
  extraordinary incidents.

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Lessons Learned (2)

• US buildings have important safety features
  against some threats because of
• Quality of standards of care practiced in the US.
• Enforcement of building codes and standards
  during design and construction.
• Legal liability of designers, constructors and
  owners.

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To protect against aerosol attacks from an
external source, building openings where aerosols
might enter must be
Lessons Learned (3)

• Capable of timely closure.
• Located remote from any launch site.
• Equipped with adequate filtration.

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To protect against aerosol attacks from a source
inside a building
Lessons Learned (4)

• Site of initial release must be isolated in a
  timely manner by closure of all openings to other
  spaces.
• Any contaminated space must be isolated as
  described above.

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Lessons Learned (5)

• Sensors, monitors or other detectors are not
  presently available, or are not reliable for many
  contaminants.
• This RULES OUT feedback control as a strategy for
  now.

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Lessons Learned (6)

• Areas of Refuge may not be economically viable
  in most buildings.
• Therefore, practical and commercially viable
  applications of HVAC technologies include

• Enhancement of building egress
  paths.
• Isolation of significant contamination to
  selected building volumes.

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Lessons Learned (7)

• Enhanced filtration is a desirable, but not
  sufficient, control strategy to reduce occupant
  risk to airborne contaminants.
• A comprehensive strategy must link
• Enhanced filtration,
• Building pressurization of its interior
  relative to the outdoors, and
• Improved air tightness.

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Recommendations for Owners and Managersof
Existing Buildings

• 1. Understand capabilities of your building and
  its systems.
• 2. Assure that your building is performing as
  intended.
• 3. Do not make changes to building performance
  unless the consequences are understood.

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List of Major Systems, Components, and Processes
to Consider

• 1. Ventilation system operation
• 2. Filter efficiency and bypass
• 3. Quantity of outdoor air
• 4. Control access to air handler components
• 5. Isolate likely entry points
• 6. Fire protection and life safety
• 7. Building shell and duct tightness
• 8. Areas of Refuge
• 9. Preparedness Plan
• 10. What Not To Do

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Continued ASHRAE Study

• Presidential Ad Hoc Committee has been appointed
  to
• Continue to work on issues defined by Study Group
• Develop recommendations on specific actions
  ASHRAE should take
• Coordinate ASHRAEs activities in this effort
  with other recognized engineering and scientific
  organizations
• Present Report by January 2003

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Scope of ASHRAE Report

• Will address health, comfort, and environmental
  security issues involving air, food and water
• Will focus on
• Risk Management Procedures
• Infrastructure Constraints
• Recommendations for Existing Buildings
• Recommendations for New Buildings
• Recommendations for ASHRAE Action and Commitments

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Conclusions

• Threats and fear of bio-terrorism require
  careful consideration, but should not be the
  primary focus of building performance
• The importance of Continuous Accountability has
  been reinforced by the awareness of bio-terrorism
• Rigorous application of known principles of
  design, construction and operations minimize the
  threat of bio-terrorism and enhance health,
  safety and productivity