ASHRAE Position Document on Airborne Infectious Diseases

Infectious diseases spread by several different routes. Tuberculosis and in some cases influenza, the common cold, and other diseases spread by the airborne route. The spread can be accelerated or controlled by heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, for which ASHRAE is the global leader and foremost source of technical and educational information. ASHRAE will continue to support research that advances the state of knowledge in the specific techniques that control airborne infectious disease transmission through HVAC systems, including ventilation rates, airflow regimes, filtration, and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI). ASHRAE’s position is that facilities of all types should follow, as a minimum, the latest practice standards and guidelines. ASHRAE’s 62.X Standards cover ventilation in many facility types, and Standard 170 covers ventilation in health-care facilities. New and existing healthcare intake and waiting areas, crowded shelters, and similar facilities should go beyond the minimum requirements of these documents, using techniques covered in ASHRAE’s Indoor Air Quality Guide (2009) to be even better prepared to control airborne infectious disease (including a future pandemic caused by a new infectious agent).