Review and comparison of HVAC operation guidelines in different countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mingyue Guo; Peng Xu; Tong Xiao; Ruikai He; Mingkun Dai; Shelly L Miller

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.107368

Review and comparison of HVAC operation guidelines in different countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Build Environ. 2021 Jan:187:107368. doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.107368. Epub 2020 Oct 11.

Authors

Mingyue Guo¹, Peng Xu¹, Tong Xiao¹, Ruikai He¹, Mingkun Dai¹, Shelly L Miller²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.

Abstract

Various organizations and societies around the globe have issued guidelines in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and virus (SARS-CoV-2). In this paper, heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning-related guidelines or documents in several major countries and regions have been reviewed and compared, including those issued by the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, the Federation of European Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Associations, the Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan, Architectural Society of China, and the Chinese Institute of Refrigeration. Most terms and suggestions in these guidelines are consistent with each other, although there are some conflicting details, reflecting the underlying uncertainty surrounding the transmission mechanism and characteristics of COVID-19 in buildings. All guidelines emphasize the importance of ventilation, but the specific ventilation rate that can eliminate the risk of transmission of airborne particulate matter has not been established. The most important countermeasure, commonly agreed countermeasures, the conflicting content from different guidelines, and further work have been summarized in this paper.

Keywords: COVID-19; Guidance; HVAC; SARS-CoV-2.

Publication types

Review