USA – The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) released a statement today praising ASHRAE for approving Addendum d to ASHRAE Standard 62.1, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, which states that systems including chilled beams are not required to use a filter. This new revision to the existing ASHRAE standard will be published in the 2016 edition of the standard, which is expected to come into effect this October.

Stephen Yurek, President and CEO of AHRI, commented on the addendum, declaring that “Members of AHRI’s Chilled Beams Product Section worked diligently to provide this proposal to the 62.1 Committee. I am pleased to see their hard work pay off, and for the committee to accept our members’ proposal.”

The result of the addendum means that an exception to Section 5.8 of the standard, which currently demands particulate matter filters or air cleaners be used for all cooling coils or other devices with wetted surfaces, has now been enshrined in law. The AHRI Chilled Beams Product Section submitted a request that an exception be created for sensible-only chilled beams, which do not require filtration for wetted surfaces as the coil surface would never be wet. ASHRAE agreed to this proposal and, as a consequence, the 2016 edition of Standard 62.1 will therefore include the exception for cooling coils that are designed, controlled, and operated to provide sensible cooling only.