Ashrae Standard 170 Pdf 17
There are a number of codes and standards that come into play when designing health care facilities, but the two major ones utilized in almost all municipalities and, to some degree, across the world are referred to as the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) Guidelines and ASHRAE Standard 170.
Ashrae Standard 170 Pdf 17
ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170 took root in 1999, when ASHRAE determined that an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-approved standard on ventilation in health care facilities was needed. This standard was continually developed over the years and formally became ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170 in 2008. The FGI guidelines and ASHRAE 170 carried some duplicate information for many years, but, in 2018 the FGI Guidelines formally removed repetitive language and tables and referred the user to ASHRAE Standard 170 for mechanical and ventilation requirements in health care facilities. Municipalities that have adopted the FGI guidelines as code have, in turn, adopted ASHRAE Standard 170 as code.
Mechanical engineers involved in health care design must become intimately familiar with the FGI Guidelines and ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170. These two main publications form much of the framework and building blocks for health care engineering design. Although ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170 provides comprehensive guidelines and serves (in most cases) as minimum code requirements, there is more that can be done to ensure exceptional mechanical designs for our needed institutions that promote the recovery, healing, and general well-being of patients, workers, families, and visitors. As mechanical engineers designing health care projects, we must continually remind ourselves and refocus our efforts to designing spaces that enhance the environment for the occupants of health care facilities. We must do our part to design past the bare minimum, provide better recommendations that raise the level of standard design, and devise ways to design a better environment.
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According to ASHRAE, standard 170 already has "had a beneficial impact by providing guidance for the design of existing infection isolation, intensive care and critical care rooms in countries most severely affected by the virus. An extensive presentation has been prepared and is being presented to various groups and organizations, including ASHRAE chapters. The presentation includes guidance on how to create additional observation/segregation rooms for a small-scale admission surge as well as the establishment of wards/suites for a large-scale surge."