Gaseous Air Contaminants and Gas Contaminant Removal Equipment
ASHRAE Technical Committee 2.3

The ASHRAE Handbook is published in a series of four volumes, one of which is revised each year, ensuring that no volume is older than four years.

Fundamentals: Chapter 11, Air Contaminants

Air contamination is a concern for ventilation engineers when it causes problems for building occupants. Engineers need to understand the vocabulary used by the air sampling and building air cleaning industry. This chapter focuses on the types and levels of air contaminants that might enter ventilation systems or be found as indoor contaminants. Industrial contaminants are included only for special cases. Because it is not a building air concern, the effects of refrigerants on the atmosphere are not included in this chapter; see Chapter 29 for discussion of this topic.

The ASHRAE HVAC FUNDAMENTALS HANDBOOK may be purchased from the on-line bookstore by clicking on the highlighted text.

HVAC Applications: Chapter 47, Control of Gaseous Indoor Air Contaminants

This chapter covers design procedures for gaseous contaminant air-cleaning systems for occupied spaces only. Procedures discussed are appropriate to address odors and gaseous irritants. Removal of contaminants for the express purpose of protecting building occupants (whether against deliberate attack or industrial accidents) or to protect artifacts (such as in museums) requires application of the same design principles, but applied more rigorously and with great emphasis on having specific design and performance data, providing redundancy, and added engineering safety factors. Design for protection is not a focus of this chapter, although published design guidance is included and referenced; for more detail, see Chapter 59. Aspects of air-cleaning design for museums, libraries, and archives are included in Chapter 23, and removal of gaseous contaminants from industrial processes and stack gases is covered in Chapter 30 of the 2012 ASHRAE Handbook—HVAC Systems and Equipment.

The ASHRAE HVAC APPLICATIONS HANDBOOK may be purchased from the on-line bookstore by clicking on the highlighted text.

Comment on the Handbook: ASHRAE welcomes your comments on the Handbook or a specific Handbook chapter.  To submit a comment about any aspect or part of the Handbook series, you can use the Handbook Comment Form.

Review a Handbook Chapter: To provide your feedback about a specific Handbook chapter, you can answer the brief survey questions on the Handbook Chapter Review Form.

Technical committees develop and sponsor technical sessions at the winter and annual conferences. Information about their future technical program is discussed at each TC meeting and at the TC’s Program Subcommittee meeting

ASHRAE publishes papers and transactions from presentations at its conference events. In addition, ASHRAE records most of the seminar sessions from its conferences on DVD. These DVDs are ideal for use at chapter meetings, in university courses, or company lunch and learns. Products available from the most recent conference may be found here.

Technical Committees are responsible for identifying research topics, proposing research projects, selecting bidders, and monitoring research projects funded by ASHRAE. Information about their specific research program is discussed at each TC meeting and at the TC’s Research Subcommittee meeting.

Active Research Projects:

RP-1720 Validation of gas-phase air-cleaner performance test method (Standard 145.2) by laboratory testing of commercially available filtration devices

RP-1838 Inclusion of Electronic Air Cleaners into ASHRAE 145.2

ASHRAE writes standards for the purpose of establishing consensus for: 1) methods of test for use in commerce and 2) performance criteria for use as facilitators with which to guide the industry. ASHRAE publishes the following three types of voluntary consensus standards: Method of Measurement or Test (MOT), Standard Design and Standard Practice. ASHRAE does not write rating standards unless a suitable rating standard will not otherwise be available. ASHRAE is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and follows ANSI's requirements for due process and standards development. Standards may be purchased at the ASHRAE Bookstore.

This TC is cognizant for the following standards

Proposed Guideline: GPC 27P: Measurement Procedures for Gaseous Contaminants in Commercial Buildings

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 145.1: Laboratory Test Method for Assessing the Performance of Gas-Phase Air Cleaning Systems: Loose Granular Media

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 145.2: Laboratory Test Method for Assessing the Performance of Gas-Phase Air Cleaning Systems: Air Cleaning Devices

Standard 145.4P - Proposed Standard authorized June 2022. Method of Test for Assessing the Gas-Phase Performance of Air Cleaning Devices and Systems in a Duct-Chamber Apparatus

TIP: If MTG involvement add here otherwise leave blank.

Include other activities, such as MTG involvement, into this section.

ASHRAE Technical FAQs are provided as a service to ASHRAE members, users of ASHRAE publications, and the general public. While every effort has been made to ensure their accuracy and reliability, they are advisory and provided for informational purposes only, and in many cases represent only one person’s view. They are not intended and should not be relied on as an official statement of ASHRAE. Technical questions not addressed may be submitted to the ASHRAE Technical Services department at tse@ashrae.net.