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Glossary & Acronyms
1. ACGIH—American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists
2. ASHRAE—American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers
3. Air Handler/ AHU—The Furnace or air conditioner that heats, cools and moves the air.
4. Antimicrobial—Agent that kills Bacteria, Molds and viruses. See “Sanitizer
5. Arrestance – An ASHRAE standard procedure to measure air filter efficiency (52.1)
6. Bioaerosols— Molds and bacteria that are found floating in the air.
7. Biological Contaminants— Bacterial, Mold/Fungus, viruses and their waste, byproducts and decomposition materials
that can be inhaled and cause many types of health effects.
8. Building Related Illness—Diagnosable illness whose symptoms can be identified and whose cause can be directly
attributed to airborne building pollutants (e.g., Legionnaire’s disease, and hypersensitivity Pneumonitis).
9. CFM—Cubic Feet per Minute, a measure of how much air is flowing in an air system.
10. CO—Carbon Monoxide, an odorless, toxic gas produced during combustion.
11. CO
2
—Carbon Dioxide an odorless, non-toxic gas produced during combustion and exhaled by people.
12. Ceiling Plenum – The area above a suspended ceiling that may be used as a return path to the Air Handler.
13. Conditioned Air – The air that has been filtered, heated or cooled by the air handler.
14. Dampers – Flaps or valves in the air duct that control the amount of airflow in the duct.
15. Diffusers & Grilles & Registers – The covers at the end of supply and return ducts that control the amount and
direction of the air-conditioned air entering or leaving a room.
16. Electrostatic Filter – A High Efficiency (95% Arrestance) Air filter that generate static electricity from the air movement
through the air handler and captures dust from the air while the clean air moves freely through it.
17. EPA—Environmental Protection Agency
18. Duct – A metal, plastic or fiberglass tube that transports air to and from the Air Handler. They can be round, square or
rectangular.
19. Duct Board – Compressed fiberglass material used to make air ducts, particularly in the southern U.S.
20. Fiberglass Filter – A disposable, very low efficiency filter (approx. 10% arrestance).
21. Flex duct – Plastic fabric duct with a spiral wire support. It is used extensively in the Western U.S.
22. HEPA—High Efficiency Particulate Air
23. HVAC—Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning
24. IAQ—Indoor Air Quality
25. MSDS—Material Safety Data Sheet
26. Make-up Air – Fresh “outside” air that is brought into a Commercial building.
27. NADCA-National Air Duct Cleaners Association
28. NAFA – National Air Filter Association
29. NIOSH—National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
30. Negative building pressure – A condition that allows air to flow into a building when a door is opened.
31. NSC -- Nevada Safety Counsel
32. NSF International – An independent testing laboratory for Air filters
33. OSHA—Occupational Safety and Health Administration
34. Positive building Pressure – A condition when air will come out of a building when a door is opened.
35. Re-entrainment – The flow of dust and debris removed from an air system back into the same building
36. Return/Return Duct
37. Sanitizer – A material designed to kill mold, bacteria, and viruses.
38. Sick Building Syndrome – A group of symptoms such as headache and watery eyes that disappear after the sufferer
leaves the building for a few hours.
39. Supply/ Supply Duct—The opening and related ductwork that delivers conditioned air to a room.
40. VAV—Variable air volume system – A system that varies the amount of flow of air to regulate temperature.
41. VOC’s—See “Volatile Organic Compounds”
42. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s)—Chemicals that release gasses into the air such as solvents.
