Plant and Animal Environment
ASHRAE Technical Committee 2.2

Scope of TC 2.2

TC 2.2 is concerned with the relationships of environmental conditions, as altered by air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating and ventilating systems, to the growth, health, and reproduction of plants and animals.

This TC maintains close connections with the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

Handbook

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.

This TC is responsible for the following chapters in the HVAC APPLICATIONS Handbook:

Environmental Control for Animals and Plants
The design of plant and animal housing is complicated because many environmental factors affect the production and well-being of living organisms. The financial constraint that equipment must repay costs through improved economic productivity must be considered by the designer. The engineer must balance costs of modifying the environment against economic losses of a plant or animal in a less-than-ideal environment. Thus, design of plant and animal housing is affected by (1) economics, (2) concern for both workers and the care and well-being of animals, and (3) regulations on pollution, sanitation, and health assurance.
      
Drying and Storing Selected Farm Crops
Control of moisture content and temperature during storage is critical to preserving the nutritional and economic value of farm crops as they move from the field to the market.  Fungi (mold) and insects feed on poorly stored crops and reduce crop quality.  Relative humidity and temperature affect mold and insect growth, which is reduced to a minimum if the crop is kept cooler than 50F (10C) and if the relative humidity of the air in equilibrium with the stored crop is less than 60%.  This chapter addresses methods to safely store various crops and maintain their quality.

The ASHRAE HVAC APPLICATIONS HANDBOOK may be purchased through the on-line store by clicking 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.

Programs

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.

Research

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.

TC 2.2 has the following research plan:

1) Energy Use in Agricultural Buildings:  Nadia Sabeh, work statement submitted
2) Determination of Latent Loads for Controlled Environment Agricultural Crops: Dan Dettmers, work statement development

 

Standards

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.

Other Activities

TIP: If MTG involvement add here otherwise leave blank.

TC 2.2 participates in the following multidisciplinary task group:

Controlled Environment Agriculture                                                                                                                            MTG.CEA will coordinate TC/TG/TRG technical activities related to the design of indoor plant production facilities and their HVAC&R systems. The priority of the MTG will be coordinating communication and opportunities between and through each of the involved committees to align and provide an ASHRAE society stance and direction for the development of plant production facilities. There is an ASABE standard in development, X653, which focuses on environmental conditions for indoor plant production facilities. This ASHRAE MTG will help guide designers, engineers and owners on how to best design and select the HVAC&R systems and equipment given the conditions in that standard. The MTG would ensure that aspects related to energy efficiency, efficacy, and selection of optimum HVAC&R systems are well understood within ASHRAE.

Air Exchange Rates                                                                                                                                                                                       MTG.ACR will coordinate TC/TG/TRG/SSPC technical activities to help evaluate the technical basis and adoption of airflow rate specifications in terms of Air Change Rate (ACR) or Air Changes per Hour (ACH) for spaces such as cleanrooms, laboratories, patient rooms, operating rooms, and other similar spaces.  Responsibilities include suggestions for research, development and presentation of technical programs for all types of spaces which currently require ACR specifications, and a special publication detailing aspects of the ACR philosophy and practice. The work of this MTG will potentially impact design guidelines, ASHRAE Handbook, and related ASHRAE standards. This MTG intends to involve other national and international groups and organizations in these efforts.                                                                                                        

FAQs

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.