The International Building Code defines institutional occupancies under Institutional Group I and includes the use of buildings or structures where care or supervision is provided to persons who are or are not capable of self-preservation without physical assistance.

While both belt and direct drive fans have been around for a long time, the mainstay fan for most industrial fan applications under 250 hp has been the belt drive fan.

In 1973, an energy crisis led to the development of ASHRAE Standard 90. This event served as a catalyst for the creation of building design efficiency requirements, which eventually led to the creation of what is now known as the energy code for buildings.

 ATLANTA — ASHRAE is poised for a busy year in 2019. At its 2019 Winter Conference in Atlanta, the 56,000-member engineering association introduced a lengthy agenda that included renovation of a new net-zero world headquarters, the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Pakistan HVACR Society (PHVACR), a pledge to prepare building professionals for the challenges and opportunities of designing efficient and grid-responsive buildings within the changing energy sector, and more.

Each year, the AHR Expo honors manufacturers that are looking forward and breaking new technological ground. Those manufacturers are presented with Innovation Awards covering 10 categories, including building automation, ventilation, heating, cooling, IAQ, and more.

The Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America is urging Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to set a 15-year timeline for depreciating improvements to commercial properties.

This month’s Facility File focuses on the March Back2Basics retrofit of a campus-wide hot water boiler system covering 40 buildings with primary-, secondary-, and tertiary-pumping based on a performance lease agreement to retro-commission the system with a guaranteed operating savings. The university will hire an owner representative to work with a design-build-operate-maintain performance contractor (PC).

Honestly, the definition of open systems is the most confusing of the three types. Open protocols are pretty straight forward — they’re protocols that communicate with one another.

Much has been written about systems’ readiness for functional performance testing at the end of construction, and pre-functional checklists have become common elements of the commissioning process.

Johnson Controls is set to unveil its HVAC rooftop unit manufacturing and testing facility located in Norman, Oklahoma.