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.
Hannah Bronfman
Senior Associate99 thumbs up
November 26, 2012 - 8:58 am
Hi Jeff
While these IAQ audits can seem overwhelming, I think it's just the shear volume that makes the task daunting and not the general content. Here are some steps that we always take first, in order to make the audit more manageable:
1. Take the online educational modules - I know they are outdated and boring, but they really do familiarize you with the expected audit content
2. Tailor the audit checklist to your specific buildings - if the audit asks for you to examine a cooling tower but your building doesn't have a cooling tower, then remove this section.
3. Do a quick content check and add internal notes directly in the worksheets so that you can have reference to unknown jargon in the field.
These audits are intended to be short (typically take between 1 and 3 hours / building) and just Yes / No answers, with some explanation where there are issues. They are also intended to be completed not by a team of industry experts, but by someone more like a facility manager. Keep that in mind as you are completing these.
For your specific questions, you would want to use the smoke pencil to determine the directional flow of air in those given situations. If the supply air is actually flowing out of the building rather than in to it, then you've got a problem that need to be addressed (also, the intent of this audit is to note the issues, not necessarily deal with them immediately. For an issue like the one I've mentioned, this would require notifying the building engineer, some additional testing and possibly some outside consultation/contracting. It's ok to list this type of cost for your capital planning in your IAQ report).
Let me know if you need any additional help as you are working through these, and good luck!
Thanks,
Hannah