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odor: a quality of gases, liquids, or particles that stimulates to identify local contaminants from surrounding facilities that
the olfactory organ. will be of concern if allowed to enter the building.
readily accessible: capable of being reached quickly for oper- 4.3 Documentation. Documentation of the outdoor air quality
ation without requiring personnel to climb over or remove investigation shall be reviewed with building owners or their
obstacles or to resort to the use of unsafe climbing aids such representative and shall include the following as a minimum:
as tables or chairs.
a. Regional air quality compliance status
residential occupancies: occupancies that are not classified Informative Note to 4.3(a): Regional outdoor air quality
as institutional by the authority having jurisdiction and that compliance status for the United States is available from
contain permanent provisions for sleeping. USEPA located at www.epa.gov.
sleeping unit: a room or space in which people sleep that b. Local survey information
includes permanent provisions for living, eating, and either 1. Date of observations
sanitation or kitchen facilities but not both. Such rooms and 2. Time of observations
spaces that are also part of a dwelling unit are not sleeping 3. Site description
units. 4. Description of facilities on site and on adjoining prop-
unoccupied mode: when a zone is not scheduled to be occu- erties
pied. 5. Observation of odors or irritants
ventilation: the process of supplying air to or removing air 6. Observation of visible plumes or visible air contami-
from a space for the purpose of controlling air contaminant nants
levels, humidity, or temperature within the space. 7. Description of sources of vehicle exhaust on site and
on adjoining properties
ventilation zone: any indoor area that requires ventilation and
comprises one or more spaces with the same occupancy cate- 8. Identification of potential contaminant sources on the
gory (see Table 6.2.2.1), occupant density, zone air distribu- site and from adjoining properties, including any that
tion effectiveness (see Section 6.2.2.2), and design zone operate only seasonally
primary airflow (see Section 6.2.5.1) per unit area. c. Conclusion regarding the acceptability of outdoor air
quality and the information supporting the conclusion
Informative Note: A ventilation zone is not necessarily
an independent thermal control zone; however, spaces that 5. SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT
can be combined for load calculation purposes can often be
combined into a single zone for ventilation calculations pur- 5.1 Ventilation Air Distribution. Ventilating systems shall
poses. be designed in accordance with the requirements of the fol-
lowing subsections.
volume, space: the total volume of an occupiable space
5.1.1 Designing for Air Balancing. The ventilation air dis-
enclosed by the building envelope, plus that of any spaces
tribution system shall be provided with means to adjust the
permanently open to the occupiable space, such as a ceiling
system to achieve at least the minimum ventilation airflow as
attic used as a ceiling return plenum.
required by Section 6 under any load condition.
4. OUTDOOR AIR QUALITY 5.1.2 Plenum Systems. When the ceiling or floor plenum
is used both to recirculate return air and to distribute ventila-
Outdoor air quality shall be investigated in accordance with tion air to ceiling-mounted or floor-mounted terminal units,
Sections 4.1 and 4.2 prior to completion of ventilation system the system shall be engineered such that each space is pro-
design. The results of this investigation shall be documented vided with its required minimum ventilation airflow.
in accordance with Section 4.3. Informative Note: Systems with direct connection of
4.1 Regional Air Quality. The status of compliance with ventilation air ducts to terminal units, for example, comply
national ambient air quality standards shall be determined for with this requirement.
the geographic area of the building site. 5.1.3 Documentation. The design documents shall specify
4.1.1 In the United States, compliance status shall be either minimum requirements for air balance testing or reference
in “attainment” or “nonattainment” with the National Ambi- applicable national standards for measuring and balancing
ent Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) 1. In the United States, airflow. The design documentation shall state assumptions
areas with no U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) that were made in the design with respect to ventilation rates
compliance status designation shall be considered “attain- and air distribution.
ment” areas. 5.2 Exhaust Duct Location
Informative Note: The NAAQS are shown in Table I-1 of 5.2.1 Exhaust ducts that convey Class 4 air shall be nega-
Informative Appendix I. tively pressurized relative to ducts, plenums, or occupiable
4.2 Local Air Quality. An observational survey of the build- spaces through which the ducts pass.
ing site and its immediate surroundings shall be conducted 5.2.2 Exhaust ducts under positive pressure that convey
during hours the building is expected to be normally occupied Class 2 or Class 3 air shall not extend through ducts, plenums,

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2016 5