Report Card on Humidity Control
Consulting engineers who design school facilities are challenged with controlling space humidity while also providing continuous ventilation as required by ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62-1999, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, now part of the major building codes. What would appear to be a simple design process is complicated by various logistical and operational factors. Schools, by nature, have a high occupant density that results in large outdoor air quantities being handled by the HVAC system. The vast majority of schools, particularly those located in hot and humid climates, use packaged cooling equipment. These units are incapable of effectively managing space humidity when delivering a high percentage of outdoor air.Citation: ASHRAE Journal, vol. 45 no. 5, May 2003