A new Adaptive Comfort Standard is included in the recently accepted revisions to Ashrae standard 55. That ACS permits warmer indoor temperatures for naturally ventilated buildings during summer and in warmer climate zones. It is based on the analysis of 21,000 sets of raw data compiled from field studies in 160 buildings located in different climatic zones on the 4 continents.

The author explains that too tight building envelopes can cause bad operation of atmosperically vented combustion systems (e.g. gas water heaters) in case of of unintended depressurization of the building, for example with large exhaust fans and dirt filters. He considers that airtightness requirements of standards are often too severe. He proposes a building airtightness of 2 to 6 air changes per hour at 50 Pa for warm climates and 1.5 to 4 for cold climates, buildings with atmospherically vented combustion appliances being at the high end of the range or higher.

This article analyses and comments 5 papers presented at Indoor Air 2002 Conference (see Airbase records 14454, 14455, 14539, 14695 and 14697) about indoor air quality and filters, from the point of view of filter changing frequency.

An analysis of recently published research results is provided, showing that if molds and the different compounds they produce can lead to some health effects (allergies, infections, potential toxicologic effects) when inhalated, these effects occur only for exposures at very high doses. The potential toxicity from indoor air exposures is therefore very low, which allows to consider the term 'toxic mold' as a misnomer.

This article presents how ventilation and air quality in smoking spaces are being treated by ANSI/ASHRAE standard 62, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. Historical information is given about environmental tobacco smoke and ventilation requirements in the standard since its first issue in 1973. The status of the 31 addenda to the 1999 version of the standard, some of them being included in the 2001 version, others still being in discussion or in the process to be adopted, is explained. Among them are four smoking-related addenda : 62e, 62g, 62o and 62ag.

Describes the two main systems used for ventilation heat recovery : static air-to-air plate heat exchangers, air to air rotary wheel heat exchangers. Indicates briefly their main characteristics.

The article describes the different types of cold beams used to cool rooms from cold water. Passive cold beams mainly exchange through radiation and natural convection ; they include no fresh air introduction. Active cold beams are mainly based on forced convection, hot air from the room being induced by fresh air. Mix systems try to combine radiation and forced convection. Main characteristics and advantages of cold beams as well as system design rules are also briefly given.

Measurements of temperature and local heat flux were operated on a vertical surface, such as a window, equipped with louvers, such as those of a venetian blind, for different window temperatures, irradiation levels, louver to window spacings and louver angles. Results have been compared with calculations (see Airbase record # 14975). The comparison validates the numerical study.

This article presents the numerical study of the influence of louvers, such as those of a venetian blind, on heat transfer from an adjacent vertical surface, such as the indoor side of a window. The physical model used is described. Results show the influence on radiative and convective heat transfer, which were found as being of the same magnitude, of louver spacing, louver tip to window spacing, louver angle, window surface temperature and irradiation.

A zonal model has been nested within a multizone model to allow increased resolution in the prediction of local air flow velocities, temperature and concentration distributions between and within rooms. Simulations from the new program have been compared with measurements and results from other models.