Developed by the AIRAH HVAC Hygiene Special Technical Group, the HVAC Hygiene Best Practice Guideline specifies the criteria for evaluating the internal cleanliness of HVAC system components and determines when cleaning is required, according to the building use.

“Maintaining HVAC systems in a clean condition is one essential and fundamental way to ensure these systems are at their maximum efficiency,” says AIRAH engineering manager, Phil Wilkinson. As public concern for better indoor air quality, improved indoor environment quality and improved ventilation hygiene have grown over the past decade, the cleaning of HVAC systems has become a widely adopted practice.

The guideline describes the components of HVAC systems to be evaluated, and the types of contamination likely to be encountered. It includes information for post-fire and flood-damage assessments. Also provided in the HVAC Hygiene Best Practice Guideline are test methods that can be used to verify a clean system hygiene level has been achieved following a system cleaning or restoration project.

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