I’m looking for training on various Fresh air ventilation units. The calculations are a bit deep for my admittedly weak math skills. I realize that much of this is beyond the scope of a basic home inspection but I would still like the understanding for what has become a standard item in my area. Is there anything in the Internachi arsenal? Anything in the future?
Example only
General commercial requirements are about 5-10 CFM per person. So start with the occupancy for the building. IRC has numerous codes regarding ventilation for different circumstances; Begin with R303 (light, ventilation and heating). The International mechanical code has requirements also.
Your needs will be localized to the geographic area you are inspecting and adopted codes. Arizona requirements will be much different than Maine. There is good (and bad) information on the internet, try Googling, “fresh air requirements.”
Generally HVAC guys hate fresh air. All us old timers just open the window!
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has several standards for air exchanges.
ASHRAE standard 62.1 & 62.2 are the fresh air standards but you must pay to see them. Standards 62.1 & 62.2
I have the numbers but I am hoping for a bit more “digested” information such as a training module, video, etc. Everything I see and read seems to yield little in the practical sense.
What practical things would you like to know? You might consider, for example; How can you measure any of it?
The minimum bathroom fan air flow is 50 CFM for bathrooms under 50 square feet. Larger bathrooms should be about 1 cfm per square foot. Fairly worthless numbers because I have no way to measure them As a home inspector the common way to determine if a bathroom fan works is to have it hold a square of TP to the grill while operating.
Without a blower door minimum and other equipment for larger structures the standards won’t help you. All you will have is numbers. Good for Architects, useless for Home Inspectors.