Hello LEEDuser.com community,
My name is Pearl Frank. I am the Project Leader of a LEED EB Certification project on an existing campus building at Purdue University. My team and I are attempting to conduct the three EPA I-BEAM audits; Indoor Spaces, HVAC Systems, and Building Exteriors to satisfy the requirements for IEQ Credit 1.1
Since we are undergraduates and do not specialize in this area, my team and I are experiencing difficulty defining the proper protocol for judging the conditions of the various parameters on the audit forms' checklists. Neither specific guidelines nor procedures to follow are given. Since the checklists are quite extensive in terms of varying parameters, I imagine the protocols for gauging conditions require knowledge from multiple disciplines.
To provide an example of the type of question I am asking, the Indoor Spaces Audit asks the following three questions on the parameter "Air Flow" (found on page 1):
Supply flow adequate (smoke pencil)?
Return flow adequate (smoke pencil)?
Exhaust flow adequate (smoke pencil)?
We have a smoke pencil to test air flow, but the question is what protocol do we use to determine whether the condition is adequate or not? This question of protocol determination applies to most of the parameters on all three of the audits. Will someone please help us find a way to appropriately judge whether a condition is "ok" or "not ok" on the various Audit parameters? My team members and I are eager for a response based on the professional expertise that's offered through leeduser.com I appreciate any time taken to read and respond to my request. Thank you.
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David Posada
Integrated Design & LEED SpecialistSERA Architects
LEEDuser Expert
1976 thumbs up
November 20, 2012 - 4:47 pm
What I've seen in the EPA I-Beam forms for Indoor Spaces and HVAC Systems audits refer to ASHRAE Standard 62-1989, which is now over 20 years old. It has been replaced by several newer versions and split out into 62.1 for commercial buildings and 62.2 for residential. 62.1-2010 is the current standard. See:
http://www.techstreet.com/ashrae/standards/ashrae/62_1_2010?product_id=1...
and:
http://www.techstreet.com/ashrae/cgi-bin/detail?product_id=1770826
Your campus facility management office may have these.
This standard is one of several that HVAC engineers and contractors would be familiar with, and you might need to work with someone from the facility staff, a P.E. (Professional Engineer) or E.I.T. (Engineer in Training) to walk through these with you.
The Building Exteriors audit form doesn't list a standard or protocol, so you'd want to refer to the building code that was followed for the construction of the building. Again, the facility management or campus planning office may be able to help with this.
Looks like your similar post over at the EBOM EQ 1.1 forum hasn't gotten a response yet, but you might try again there. See Jason Franken's comments on I-Beam from Oct. 2010 that are relevant. Hope this gets you started - post back with other questions.