Stay Up-to-Date On Air Filtration and Quality With This Organization’s Insights, Events, and Publications
The American Society for Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is the foremost organization for HVAC-R industry professionals, including those whose work involves commercial air filtration systems.
ASHRAE is a dynamic, evolving society that helps shape government policy, develops relevant academic and technical resources to support on-the-ground work in buildings and facilities, and provides connection and community for professionals at the local and national levels.
ASHRAE’s energetic and responsive approach requires a similar level of proactivity from our team to keep our finger on the pulse of HVAC air filtration systems and products. Here are some of the highlights that we’re keeping tabs on right now from ASHRAE’s website.
Recently Published Standards and Guidelines For Air Filtration and Air Quality
One of ASHRAE’s most critical contributions is their publication of standards and guidelines that affect how HVAC engineers design infrastructure for commercial and residential buildings. These guides, which are available for purchase for facility use, serve as definitive technical resources. ASHRAE members even have opportunities to comment or make suggestions on these documents before they’re released.
ASHRAE recently published these standards and guidelines:
- Standard 241: A highly relevant and necessary addition to their publications, this standard outlines strategies for mitigating infectious aerosols in commercial buildings, including COVID-19 and the flu.
- Guideline 44: This guideline offers steps that building and facility managers can take to protect indoor air quality (IAQ) when wildfires occur, including the use of commercial HEPA air filtration systems.
Register For ASHRAE’s Upcoming Annual Conference In Phoenix
Each year, thousands of stakeholders across the HVAC industry descend on a U.S. city for five days of seminars, speakers, expo hall browsing, and networking during ASHRAE’s annual conference. Registration is now open for the 2025 event in Phoenix, Arizona, July 21–25. Programming will continue to explore recent themes, such as indoor air quality, the latest technologies for building integration, and sustainable design.
Although full schedule details will be released prior to the conference, annual events typically include:
- A wide range of technical sessions.
- A keynote address.
- Plenary Session, which is a society honors and awards night, along with an address from ASHRAE President Dennis Knight.
- Members’ Night Out.
- Women in ASHRAE Happy Hour.
Register for the conference here. Note that you must create an account with ASHRAE to register. Member, non-member, and company package rates are available.
Explore Online Resources On Air Filtration and Air Quality
ASHRAE’s website is a must-visit resource, providing multimedia content that includes engineering software, an academic journal (ASHRAE Journal), the podcast Hot Air, updates on industry-relevant policy, and downloadable guidelines and recommendations.
These recent offerings are particularly useful for those who work directly with air filtration:
- In ASHRAE Journal: A case study on the University of Toronto’s “climate-positive” campus, which has sought to redevelop its approach to facility infrastructure (including HVAC air filtration) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%.
- On the Hot Air podcast: ASHRAE’s technical editor sat down with guest Kathleen Owen for a deep dive on particle filters and, importantly, the economic impact of commercial HEPA air filtration systems.
- eLearning: ASHRAE offers an e-learning platform with general and technical topics. Through this resource, building and facility managers can learn more about infrastructure they’re looking to adopt; engineers can gain necessary certifications; and employers can provide relevant professional development.
You can also keep in touch with ASHRAE through their LinkedIn profile to stay in-the-know about new content.
Other Air Filtration and Quality Content We Highly Recommend
Although ASHRAE is the definitive organization and resource hub for professionals across the HVAC and air filtration industries, we also rely on additional publications and organizations to stay up-to-date on whatever comes next.
Bookmark these resources, which cover HVAC technology, including commercial air filtration systems and products:
- Facilities Dive: Discover the latest business journalism directly targeting facilities management. They typically publish at least one “deep dive” article on a highly relevant topic each month.
- American Society for Healthcare Engineers (ASHE): Consider ASHE as ASHRAE for healthcare engineering. Their training, conferences, articles, and events are relevant beyond healthcare for those who want to adopt similar standards for indoor air quality.
- Healthcare Facilities Management: Published by ASHE, HFM offers articles for architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) and design-build teams. Their trusted annual Hospital Construction Survey provides metrics about how building and facility managers view the current healthcare construction landscape.