Calculation: Breathing Zone Air Flow Rate

Average Fresh air requirement per person per second is 8 ltrs (Standard breathing rate)

Based on ASHRAE standards, ideal ventilation rates for building space is expressed as:
Design airflow rate per unit area (cfm per square foot)
Design airflow rate based on occupancy (cfm per person)

Vbz = Rp · Pz + Ra · Az
Vbz – Air Vol requirements for breathing zone
Az = zone floor area (the net occupiable floor area of the ventilation zone in sqft/sqm)
Pz = zone population
Rp = outdoor airflow rate required per person as determined from ASHRAE Table 6-1
Ra = outdoor airflow rate required per unit area as determined from ASHRAETable 6-1
 Example
Consider
A Restaurant (Building Type)
of Floor Area 3000 sqft
Design Occupancy of 100 pers

As per ASHRAE Table 6.1

The minimum ventilation rate for a Restaurant is 0.18 cfm/sqft (Area criteria) and
7.5 cfm/pers (Population criteria).
 
Area component = 0.18 cfm/sq.ft x 3000 sq.ft = 540 cfm
Occupancy component = 10 cfm/person x 100 persons = 1,000 cfm
Total Airflow = 540 cfm + 1000 cfm = 1540 cfm
This value is called the Breathing Zone Outdoor Airflow.

It is then divided by the Zone Air Distribution Effectiveness, to obtain the Zone
Outdoor Airflow that must be supplied by the ventilation system. If the distribution
effectiveness for the example above is 0.8,
the zone outdoor airflow must be 1540 cfm / 0.8 = 1925 cfm.