We've had a designer tell us that built-in furniture and case work (like a fan-coil unit enclosure) can be deducted from the square footage of a room when calculating the window opening requirement. ASHRAE 62.1 says "Naturally ventilated spaces shall be permanently open to and within 8 m (25 ft) of operable wall or roof openings to the outdoors, the openable area of which is a minimum of 4% of the net occupiable floor area." Do others agree that the square footage of those items can be deducted? This is for a residence hall application. Thanks.
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Julia Weatherby
PresidentWeatherby Design & Co. Engineers
94 thumbs up
January 23, 2014 - 4:28 pm
Yes I agree that built-in features which reduce the open floor area can be deducted from the room area when finding net area for natural ventilation calculations.
- Julia Weatherby PE, LEED AP BD+C