ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force Established

ATLANTA (March 31, 2020) –ASHRAE announced a Society-wide effort to respond to the current global COVID-19 pandemic and provide guidance on how to ensure that buildings are prepared for future epidemics.

The ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force has been established to help deploy ASHRAE’s technical resources to address the challenges of the current pandemic and future epidemics as it relates to the effects of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems on disease transmission in healthcare facilities, the workplace, home, public and recreational environments. The task force will also provide recommendations for setting up temporary field hospitals in convention centers, arenas and indoor stadia to deal with surges.

The primary role of the task force is to maintain communication with members, industry partners, building owners, facility operators, government agencies and the general public. Specific responsibilities of the task force include:

• Serving as a clearinghouse to review all technical questions and requests for technical guidance submitted to ASHRAE
• Coordinating activities of ASHRAE’s internal resources
• Partnering with and monitoring the activities of external organizations, including the more than 60 members of the ASHRAE Associate Society Alliance (AASA) of organizations related to the HVAC&R industry around the world
• Reviewing, organizing, consolidating and publishing clear and concise summaries with citations of the most relevant information available to the built environment

2013-14 ASHRAE Presidential Member William Bahnfleth, Ph.D., P.E., will chair the task force.

For more information and to stay up-to-date on ASHRAE, visit ashrae.org