Despite a growing awareness of the importance of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), there are no regulations or laws currently in place in Australia to ensure minimum standards are met.
Internationally, IAQ standards have been around for decades. In fact, the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) first published Standard 62 which sets minimum standards for ventilation and IAQ as far back as 1973.
Of course, the standard has been revised since then, most recently in 2016. It is known today as ASHRAE Standard 62.1.
Recognising that an Australian standard is long overdue, the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has submitted a proposal to Standards Australia.
AIRAH’s executive manager for government and technical services, Phil Wilkinson, said the standard is “absolutely necessary” and if it is approved a standard should be in place within 18 months.
Until then practitioners in construction or the built environment can rely on non-mandatory guidelines published by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB). Earlier this year the ABCB published the second edition of its IAQ Handbook for the construction industry which covers the general principles of building ventilation, air contaminants, indoor air quality and a range of air contaminant controls.
It isn’t surprising to learn there are no local IAQ standards in place considering that Australia is only getting its very first standard for residential climate control systems later this year.
Standards Australia spokesperson, Scott McGrath, said draft standard AS/NZS 5141 sets out the requirements for the design, selection, installation, commissioning and maintenance of residential climate control heating, cooling and air conditioning systems.
WGE mechanical project engineer, Beau Logue, who represents AIRAH on the technical committee formed to draft the standard, said it will be particularly beneficial for contractors.
And while standards have role to play in setting out minimum performance requirements, it’s the actual features of the air conditioning system that are of greater interest to contractors, especially for commercial projects.
Its why Daikin has made contractors the major beneficiary of its new VRV AHU range which is ideal for large floor plans such as warehouses, shopping centres, hospitals and sporting facilities.
Paired with VRV Heat Pump and connected to an air-cooled condenser, there is no need for cooling towers.
Daikin Australia’s national commercial manager, Simon Langstaff, said installation is easier, there is a much more consistent setup and greater flexibility.
“In the past to accommodate outside air, contractors had to rely on rooftop packaged units if they didn’t have an existing central plant to run a traditional chilled water AHU,” Langstaff said. “Also, this series features longer pipe runs of up to 165m, indoor fan ESP of up to 500pa and for the first time ever, this AHU has all the controls included in the system; there is no need to buy any add-ons which is an industry-first.”
To further support the local market, the VRV AHU series will be completely manufactured in Sydney by the end of 2019. “This will drastically reduce lead times,” Langstaff added.
Daikin Australia’s engineering support, Blake Mortimer, said there are so many more options available which is why there was such a positive response from contractors during ARBS 2018.
“We are offering a range of options, everything from indoor coils, casing, filters, controls and fan types which means contractors only have to contact one manufacturer for support,” he said.
Available in two series, the Standard Series has an airflow range from 900L/s to 7800L/s with capacity range from 15.4kW to 167.6kW. While the Outdoor Air Series comes in at 566L/s to 4550L/s with capacities from 25.7kW to 202.6kW.
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