An Introduction to ASHRAE Standard 241 Control of Infectious Aerosols

ASHRAE Standard 241 was developed in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to standardize the guidance developed by ASHRAE’s Epidemic Task Force including lessons learned related to that guidance. The standard was developed on a truncated timeline with the entire document written between December of 2022 and June of 2023. Although the schedule did not allow full response to public comments, those that read the public review draft may be understandably startled by the numerous differences in the final document which sought to address as many of the 771 comments received as possible. This presentation is intended to explain the risk model used to develop the requirements in the standard, layout compliance with the standard, and discuss some of the specific requirements associated with air distribution, air cleaning, and maintenance.

Learning Objectives:

1) Know the purpose and application of Standard 241.

2) Be able to summarize the requirements for compliance with the standard.

3) Be able to summarize the requirements for the application of air cleaning systems.

4) Be able to summarize the requirements for operations & maintenance.

Speaker Bio

Brendon Burley of BKM has been in the design industry since 1998 providing consulting services for a number of clients in the Philadelphia area before moving on to work on his degrees and research at The Pennsylvania State University. For the past 15 years he has been focused on health care and higher education projects, mostly in the mid-Atlantic region. His projects range from laboratory equipment installations to medical center expansions and replacements, including projects involving advanced imaging equipment, medical and research containment facilities, and clean rooms. He has been a member of ASHRAE since 2011 where he has served as a member of Standard 62.1 Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, Standard 170 Ventilation for Health Care Facilities, and the Environmental Health Committee. In the past year he was privileged to be among the “roadrunners” who developed ASHRAE Standard 241 Control of Infectious Aerosols. He currently serves as the chair for Standard 62.1 and as a voting member of TC9.6 Healthcare.