Preface
The revised Industrial Ventilation Design
Guidebook—IVDGB (2020) builds on the work done
by the original contributors to IVDGB (2001). The
IVDGB (2020) represents the advances in science and
engineering over the past 20 years. The IVDGB is being
published in two volumes. Volume 1 is titled
Fundamentals and covers Chapters 1 9. Volume 2 in
the series is titled Engineering Design and
Applications which covers Chapters 1 8. This scien-
tific textbook represents for the first time advances in
global R&D and the best practices in engineering
design based on contributions from over 40 experts in
the global industrial ventilation field. This revised text-
book represents the first truly global scientific textbook
in this field with major contributions by experts in the
industrial ventilation field from Asia, Europe, and
North America.
The publication of this reference book is very timely
as the awareness of the role of ventilation from engi-
neering design, operations, and maintenance has
increased to new levels in 2020. The driving force with
a high level of urgency has been global health concerns
(hospitalization and deaths) of infection control sur-
rounding COVID-19 pandemic and the critical role
that ventilation systems play in the control of this pan-
demic. It is known that infection risk depends on aero-
sol concentration and occupancy time. Ventilation
systems become a key technology to provide a safe
and healthy environment for occupants in the control
of airborne viruses such as COVID-19, designers of
ventilation systems for all residential, commercial, and
industrial ventilation spaces will face new challenges
on the proper design of ventilation systems for infec-
tion control measures. The challenge will be to provide
healthy indoor environments for all occupants during
all seasons (especially winter) while being energy effi-
cient. IVDGB (2020) will be an authoritative reference
textbook in the ventilation field for policymakers and
designers of ventilation systems for COVID-19 pan-
demic and for future viruses.
For the contents of Volume 1, the reader is referred
to Chapter 1, Introduction, of this book which covers
in details the history/state-of-the-art of industrial
xv
ventilation, background, and contents of IVDGB (2001)
and background and contents of the revised IVDGB
(2020). The last section in Chapter 1, Introduction,
explores future directions and opportunities in the sci-
ence and engineering of industrial ventilation systems.
I will expand on this area and add some details.
The science and technology of ventilation (residen-
tial, commercial, and industrial) is at a crossroads and
key decisions need to be made at the global level to
capitalize on the unbounded opportunities. Three key
areas to be pursued are
• better communication (scientific and engineering
community of ventilation and contaminant control),
• develop a global collaborative community, and
• embrace disruptive technologies [sensors, modeling,
automation, artificial intelligence (AI), etc.].
In the first area of better communication, it is impor-
tant to recognize that there are many common areas of
scientific research and engineering in the ventilation
and contaminant control field for residential, commer-
cial, and industrial ventilation spaces. Unfortunately
silos exist between these different sectors and there is
very little sharing of technologies and R&D activities.
The goal is to develop a holistic approach for the sci-
ence and engineering of ventilation for any occupied
spaces.
The second area is to develop a global collaborative
network in the ventilation technology field. This global
network would include scientific research (academic
and research institutes), professional associations
(ASHRAE, REHVA, SHASE, etc.), international techni-
cal conferences (such as international industrial venti-
lation conferences started in 1985 at the University of
Toronto and held every 3 years at different regions of
the world), low carbon economy, disruptive technolo-
gies (Industrial 4.0, AI, sensors, etc.), and scientific
publications such as revised IVDGB (2020). Success
depends on a holistic, multidisciplinary, and sustain-
able funding model. An excellent example of this goal
to breakdown the silos is the leadership shown by
ASHRAE President, Professor Olesen in his August
2017 article in ASHRAE Journal entitled, Extending our
xvi
Community. The specific goals outlined in the report
were the urgent need for the ventilation community to
“extend the global community” and “to extend the
technological horizons.”
In October 2019, ASHRAE announced the incorpo-
ration of the Indoor Environmental Quality Global
Alliance (IEQ-GA) during a ceremony at the 40th
AIVC conference in Ghent, Belgium. The mission of
the IEQ-GA is to promote and advocate for
acceptable indoor environmental quality (thermal envi-
ronment, indoor air quality, lighting, and acoustics) for
building occupants globally while ensuring the knowl-
edge from IEQ research is implemented in practice.
“We are inspired by the forward-thinking approach
IEQ-GA has in the building industry,” said 2019 20
ASHRAE President Darryl K. Boyce, P. Eng. “It is criti-
cally important that we advocate for the well-being of
the people who occupy our buildings. Through the col-
laborative efforts and resources of IEQ-GA member
organizations, we will continue to provide safe build-
ings for generations to come.” The COVID-19 pan-
demic has accelerated this forward-thinking approach
and the challenge to develop innovative and cost-
effective solutions in a timely fashion across the differ-
ent sectors. A fundamental understanding of the sci-
ence of ventilation and contaminant control is a key
component to develop cost-effective engineering solu-
tions and to deliver a high performance of safety for
all occupants from a health perspective.
“An important attribute of IEQ-GA is that it is a
non-industrial alliance among societies representing
members that promote IEQ,” said Bjarne Olesen,
2017 18 ASHRAE Presidential Member. “The intent of
IEQ-GA is to work with all partners of the value chain
for indoor environmental quality including building
research, comfort and health research building design,
Preface
installation, commissioning, operation, and occupant
behavior. Furthermore IEQ-GA will work with indus-
try organizations to help their members to provide
products and services that promote IEQ.”
The founding members represent professionals from
various disciplines linked to indoor environment and
are committed to work together and promote educa-
tion, research, and knowledge exchange on a global
scale to develop standard guidelines for advocacy of
the general public in indoor environments around the
world.
The third area to be pursued is to embrace disrup-
tive technologies and to be bold and take risks where
there are significant opportunities for rewards.
Disruptive technologies are happening at an acceler-
ated rate and will have a major impact on the future
directions of the science and technology of ventilation
of the three sectors (residential, commercial, and
industrial). Disruptive technologies, such as robotics,
AI, models for low carbon economy, innovative sen-
sors, etc., are impacting many sectors and researchers
must embrace the cross transfer of these technologies.
For example, innovative sensors are being developed
that are wireless, non-invasive, cheap, remote, and in
situ. Many of these sensors developed for autonomous
vehicles have wide applications in the measurement
and control fields for many different sectors for
advanced design of cost-effective ventilation systems.
We must not miss these opportunities to embrace dis-
ruptive technologies in the ventilation fields.
In summary, IVDGB (2020) is an updated and
exhaustive scientific textbook prepared by global
experts in the industrial ventilation field. IVDGB
(2020) has the potential to accelerate the implementa-
tion into practice the latest research and development
activities at a global level.