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The QIDC comes with default room names and settings. The rooms need to be updated to match your unique facility. You can update the room data yourself or you can send us a spreadsheet of your room data and we will update your account as part of account establishment. The most basic data is room name, area name, and HVAC zone. For the Air Changes Per Hour (ACH) Level Measurement indicator the room cubic feet and total vent size in inches is needed. Your staff will then answer the questions and measure the total Feet Per Minute (FPM) from all the vents as part of the review cycles.
Background
Getting Started
Using the QIDC
ACH Entry
Unit Ventilators
Vents Diffusers Grills
The following are Ventilation basics.
The following are guidelines for people visiting a facility.
The following are general guidelines for optimizing the ventilation performance level in any facility.
Anemometer |
Thermostat |
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Facility Types
Many buildings have poor maintenance with closed off vents, failed fans, or poor operations where the system is turned off when people are present. Many buildings are not being operated properly. The systems are turned off when the public is present. This is especially found in buildings like club houses with on demand systems. No one is turning ON the fan option when people are present. Many buildings have systems that are too small. The reality is that there are Elite buildings where everything is properly maintained, operated, and they have high ACH levels exceeding 12+ ACH.
Facility Type |
Ventilation Levels |
Maintenance |
Operations |
Elite |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Medium |
Lower |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Low |
Lower |
Poor |
Excellent |
Low |
Lower |
Excellent |
Poor |
Very Low |
None |
Poor |
Poor |
Where does your facility fall?
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I use a mask, does that equate to some ACH level?
Great you wear a mask but masks have failure modes. The first failure mode is you take off your mask as part of daily life. In that time that the mask is off you can get infected. The second failure mode is that masks leak around the face seal unless they are special masks and worn properly by trained people.
If there are no failure modes then the masks have beed rated in terms of filtering effectiveness. This filtering effectiveness translates to a risk level and that risk level can be equated with a mask equivalent meACH level as follows:
The new meACH performance metric is based on our systems research and analysis.
Federal Government
The US Government is hands off because of deregulation and privatization that started in the 1980s, so requests by engineers and scientists to use national labs to determine new ventilation levels were ignored by legislators and senior level government employees.
There are old standards that contain the results of studies from the previous century, but the studies are not easily available. The standards are: Human Engineering, MIL-STD-1472F (1999), MIL-STD-1472D (1989). These standards only apply to military facilities and generally are not used in the public infrastructure.
The CDC offers guidance on ACH levels for hospitals including Airborne Infection Isolation rooms, which is 12 ACH: Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control in Health-Care Facilities (2003). However this is only for hospitals and it is only a guideline not a requirement.
Three years after the start of the COVID-19 disaster, the CDC finally released new guidance to aim for 5 ACH in all buildings: Improving Ventilation In Buildings, Updated May 11, 2023. This is only a guideline not a requirement.
Industry and Local Building Codes
Industry and local building authorities rely on ASHRAE standards: ASHRAE Standard 62.1, ASHRAE Standard 62.2, or ASHRAE Standard 170.
ASHRAE Standard 170-2017, Ventilation of Health Care Facilities has ACH levels.
The other ASHRAE standards are based on comfort levels and preventing CO2 poisoning, not reducing the risk of airborne contagions.
Three years after the start of the COVID-19 disaster, ASHRAE has finally started to develop a new standard: ASHRAE Standard 241P, Control of Infectious Aerosols.
There are gaps and issues with industry standards and local building codes.
Cassbeth has developed a new standard to be used as a supplement to all other standards including those associated with airborne contagion to address the gaps and issues.
The QII is structured to be implemented in phases. No organization can immediately implement the full QII. Think in terms of maturity levels that increase with time.
Maturity Level 1 - ROC
In the beginning start with the Room Observations Checklist (ROC) and perhaps only consider the 2 most important questions for your unique facility and mark the others as NA. This is the first level of maturity - ROC. As time moves on remove successive NA questions. This all stays within your immediate organization so you have reasonable control. This is the easiest portion of the QII to implement and it will provide the greatest benefit.
Maturity Level 2 - FOC
The second level of maturity is the Facility Observations Checklist (FOC) and this will require you to contact the HVAC team to answer some of the FOC questions.
Chances are the HVAC system operation is outsourced to an energy company that manages when the HVAC system is running and how it is running. The buildings may be even rented. So they will be reluctant to meet with you. When they see that you are gathering documented evidence of the ventilation system performance and that the system may be placed into off conditions unexpectedly, they should welcome your data collection. This is a challenge and it exists in other industries like the communications industry where outsourced vendors are required to meet certain performance levels per the contract, but when the data is collected many times it is found that at certain times of the day they do not meet the performance levels.
If the system is managed in-house then once again documented evidence will help them to be on top of their system regardless of the confidence they have in their automated sensors and alarms. They may use the example of the critical care units to suggest that everything is okay, but the critical care units are completely different than the rest of the facility and it is about the rest of the facility.
The ROC data collected may show them that they need to work with you. My guess is there will be ROC findings to help you to start the FOC data collection discussion with the HVAC team. They will make excuses about their sensors and system but your documented evidence of no ventilation in a room will be impossible to refute.
Maturity Level 3 - ACHLM
The third level of maturity is ACH Level Measurement (ACHLM) and it will be difficult because it requires time to gather the data that is used to calculate the Air Changes Per Hour (ACH) levels in all the rooms.
The HVAC staff may have outsourced this to a vendor at one time but it is probably for just a few rooms and the data may no longer be valid for a variety of reasons that translate into maintenance and operations. Again, the HVAC staff will point to the critical care units and airborne contagion rooms where they measure and monitor ACH levels in real time but those areas are irrelevant because it is about the rest of the facility. They may monitor other data (CO2 levels, particles, liters per minute l/m, etc) and conflate it with ACH data but that is wrong. Only ACH levels matter, all the other data is not relevant to addressing ventilation performance for airborne contagion risks. The direct ACH data must be provided.
The QII has a procedure for measuring ACH levels using low cost tools that anyone can perform. This procedure was developed by the city of Philadelphia as part of a Restaurant program during COVID-19 to certify that a restaurant has 15 ACH (coincidentally matches CDC hospital delivery room guidelines). This procedure should be executed for every room to determine the ACH level. The level will be approximate but it will confirm any numbers provided by a vendor or the HVAC staff. It will also provide full coverage of the entire facility and not spot checks, which is all that is likely to be available.
Once the staff become familiar with executing this part of the QII, it will go a long way towards ensuring that the HAVC system is in top performance and that maintenance is not being deferred or missed. It will also identify if the ventilation systems is too small and that something needs to be done.
You can start this Day 1 with the ROC and ignore the possibility of any data from the HVAC team.
Maturity Level 4 - EVSC
The fourth level of maturity is the Extensive Ventilation System Check (EVSC) and it will be difficult because it will require the executive levels to decide to make the ventilation data public. Posting certificates of ACH levels in rooms, in the building, and on the Internet will be viewed as a huge risk unless the facility has great ventilation. If the facility has great ventilation then they should treat it as a massive marketing opportunity.
Possible Timeline
A timeline might look something like this:
1. Month 1 - ROC Data Available, start ACHLM on your own with just a few rooms
2. Month 2 - FOC Data Available
3. Month 3 - ACHLM Data Available (you can start on your own day 1 with the ROC)
4. Month 12 - EVSC Posting Certificates
General Comments
All the QIIs have the same checklists, the difference is the additional information. For example the Hospital QII has more information.
This sounds and looks complex but once you start doing this it will be trivial and take no time. It is about getting started because there is a learning curve and a process setup phase. It literally takes seconds per room to collect the data. You walk into a room, update the check lists and if you measure the ACH levels, use a handheld anemometer to measure the ventilation from each vent and enter the data on paper or on a pad computer or even a cellphone.
Is okay to stay at Maturity Level 1 - ROC. This is one of the biggest issues and it will help many facilities to quickly improve their ventilation systems and keep them in check.
Once you Sign In make sure to select the Documents link and read the documents.
You can collect data using the forms found in the documents or using the QIDC software service.
If you use the QIDC, the following guidance is provided. The help comments are in italic.
Facility: This is the facility contact information. It includes the name, address, website, email, order date, and expiration date, and days until expiration
Account Documents: MS Word . PDF . Spreadsheet These are links to the quality improvement documents. They include the survey questions and forms that can be used for manual data collection if the QIDC is not used for data collection. As part of account setup you can update the spreadsheet with your room data and other information, send it to us via email, and we will update the default facility data to match your facility data.
Other Documents: Other documents may be included with the account.
This is the main menu for the QIDC. The QIDC has the following report areas:
| Report |
Table |
Form |
Hide | Metrics |
Reports |
O |
O |
O |
O |
O y O n |
Room Observations Checklist |
O |
O |
O |
O |
O y O n |
Facility Observations Checklist |
O |
O |
O |
O |
O y O n |
Extensive Ventilation Systems Check |
O |
O |
O |
O |
O y O n |
ACH Level Measurement |
Show Findings Summary This is a summary of the findings for the displayed data.
For each of the report areas there are options: Report, Entry, Metrics, and Hide. You can show all the reports, some of the reports, or just 1 report. Initially you should show all the reports and scan them to get a feel for the data and presentation. Selecting the link will take the browser to the report area.
Report: Displays the data in table format. There is no ability to edit the data.
Table Entry: Displays the data in table format and allows the user to edit any cell in the table. At the top of each column is a cell that allows a user to populate all the rows with the same date using the entry at the top if the column.
Form Entry: Displays the data in table format. Each row in the table has a link that when selected will display a form for the entry of data for the particular table row. This is for users that may have large tables and want to make sure they do not enter the wrong data in a particular row. A row is basically a room.
Hide: When selected this will hide the entire report. This allows users to hide all data except for the data they are reviewing an updating.
Metrics: When selected, metrics are display for the associated report and all its history of previously saved entries.
Reports: The links take the user to the report area.
[Enter Button] The enter button appears in various spots. Pressing this button will update the local data on your browser but it WILL NOT save the data. To save the data you must select the save option at the end of each report area. If there is no data in a particular area it will be populated with default values.
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Report Name: Each report area starts with the report name. The structure of the Room Observations Checklist (ROC), Facility Observations Checklist (FOC), and Extensive Ventilation Systems Check (EVSC) are the same. The ACH Level Measurement (ACHLM) report is different. It shows various ACH levels and data used to determine the ACH level in each room.
Load Review: (yymmdd) [Text Field] [Enter Button] this is used to select the review to be loaded. It can only be a number such as yymmdd or yymmdd# (e.g 231101 for 2023 Nov 01 or 23110117 for 2023 Nov 01 17). Once a review number is created it cannot be deleted, it only can be reused. Be careful to not create numerical reviews that will not make sense.
Review: # This shows the review that has been selected.
Current Reviews: roc-230107 . roc-230207 . roc-230307 . roc-230407 . roc-230507 . This shows the reviews currently saved in the database. Selecting the link to a review will load the review.
Survey Questions: [ ] Hide This area has the survey items to be answered in the following table. See QII document for the survey items. When checked the survey questions are hidden.
Previous Data: 1 - New Data: 2 - New Data Saved: This shows the save to new review status. The previous review was #1. The new data was saved to review #2. The displayed review originated from review #1. If there were no changes, then the data is the same as the data saved in review #1. If the display data was changed then the new data is in review #2.
Open File . Reload Page The Open File link opens the raw data file. This file can be placed in a spreadsheet that can use for additional analysis. This spreadsheet also can be sent to us to reconstitute a damaged database. You should save this file frequently just in case there is an unexpected data damage event. The Reload Page option will reload the previously save data. This will overwrite any work that may have been performed if it was not saved using the Save Data checkbox below.
Facility Data Loaded: Yes. This shows that the data was loaded and appears with the successful login. As changes are made and the Enter button is pressed only the display is updated. The data is NOT reloaded and this indicator is NOT displayed. This indicator appears only when the review number changes or after the user initially successfully logs in.
When entering data the user can just type y, n, f, or na and the field will be automatically updated to Yes, No, Fail, or NA when the enter button is selected. This allows users to minimize their typing for faster data entry. The # of Finds field is determined automatically using the survey question responses. The Green Cells are good, the Red Cells are bad, the Yellow Cells are NA. A user is unable to answer a question they should respond with n or No. It needs to be addressed as a finding even if the system may be properly reflecting the condition associated with the question. So the findings track the users ability to answer the questions as well as the performance of the ventilation system. Once users are fully trained and able to answer the questions then the findings will only be associated with the HVAC system.
Table of Survey Results: This table shows the various entries from the review. If Report was selected then the cells show the data. If Table Entry was selected the cells show the data and the user is able to update the data in any of the cells. The Populate Columns With These Values row appears when Enter is selected and will populate all the rows in a column with the value entered. It is a quick way to initialize a report or change values. When Enter is selected the values are placed in all the rows of the column. When Enter is selected again, the cell data in each row is processed. So this action needs 2 press Enter events. If Form Entry was selected then data is shown just like when Report is selected except the first column representing the rooms / space have links. Selecting a link will open a form for the user to update all the data associated with the selected room. Note that the form entry will not allow the user to change the review cycle. The review cycle is changed using the Table Entry option.
Insert Row: This the first column in the table. When the checkbox is selected in a row and the Enter Button is selected a new row is inserted.
Delete Row (not displayed): To delete a row, delete the data in the column called Room Name.
View: This shows the table view selected: Report or Entry.
Data Saved for Review: This shows if the Save Displayed ... Data option was previously selected. If Yes, then the screen data was saved to the database for the displayed review number. This only appears when the data is saved.
Findings: 7 This is a count of the number of findings.
Pass: 81% This is a percentage indication of the number of items
that have no findings. It is a grade level.
[Enter Button] Save Displayed ... Data or as a New Review Number: [Text Field]. Reload # Data The Save Displayed ... Data checkbox will save the currently displayed data to the Review number selected above. If the New Review Number is added for a future review then the QIDC will create a new review in the database and save the currently displayed review to the new review number. This is a way to quickly populate the findings for a new review. Users only need to look for differences between each review interval. The Reload # Data link will reload the data. If the data was not saved then any new entries will be lost. After the save is complete you must press select [Enter Button] again to have the link to the new report appear. You can then load that new report.
Renaming and Deleting Reports (not displayed): Once a review number is created it cannot be deleted or renamed, it only can be reused. Be careful to not create numerical reviews that will not make sense. Start with yymmdd or yymmdd# (e.g. 230110 for 2023 Jan 10 or 23011014 for 2023 Jan 10 14) and count up in sequence. This is an extreme security approach to ensure data is not lost. To delete or rename a report, contact the system administrator. They will document the request, archive the report(s), and rename or delete the report(s) as per the request. There is no guarantee that the reports will be recoverable by the administrator. To prevent data loss, save your raw data using the links in the report areas, print the reports, or save the HTML files which, can be modified to enable the data to be saved to the account.
Review Cycle [Text Field]: or when there is a negative finding detected. The user decides what the review interval should be for the organization. This will update the data column to reflect the Review Cycle. The review cycles can be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, annual, other.
Current Reviews: roc-230107 . roc-230207 . roc-230307 . roc-230407 . roc-230507 . This shows the reviews currently saved in the database. Selecting the link to a review will load the review.
The same settings apply to all the remaining report areas. Some reports are based on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly interval.
Metrics: Metrics are provided. They are displayed when the metrics option is selected in the main menu.
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Report Name: ACH Level Measurement
The following help information is for the ACH Level Measurement report.
The ACH levels for each room are determined as part of a vender or self certification effort. The ACH level is then compared with the achievement level that is the current quality level for the facility. If the ACH for the room exceeds the achievement ACH level then there is no finding. If the room falls below the achievement level then there is a finding. Enter the ACH and eACH Level for each room in the following table. Then enter the required ACH level based on the achievement level that the facility has currently selected for this assessment cycle. All the achievenment levels can be populated and then checked by selecting the various achievement levels at the end of the table.
Entry Instructions:
Select Acheivement Level:
| O | A see QII or QIR |
| x | 1 this is 5 ACH |
| O | 2 this is 6 ACH |
| O | 3A see QII or QIR |
| O | 3B see QII or QIR |
| O | 4 this is 12 ACH |
| O | 5 this is 24 ACH |
| O | 6 this is 50 ACH |
Each review is based on the desired achievement level. The goal is to start with lower achievement levels and then make progress over time. For help in gathering the data see the section ACH Entry.
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Report Name: Findings
This is a summary of the findings for the displayed data.
| Quality Summary Record | # of Findings |
Review |
| Room Observations Checklist | 7 | Weekly 1 |
| ACH Level Measurement: 1 | 8 | Bi-Annual 1 |
| Facility Ventilation Checklist | 9 | Monthly 1 |
| Extensive Ventilation Systems Check | 2 | Quarterly 1 |
| Total Findings | 26 |
Remember the ventilation is only working all the time when in fan mode because the system turns ON and OFF in heat and cooling mode. This is called an on demand system.
Start by gathering the data for fan mode because when guests visit the system fan should be turned ON.
Most but not all Commercial systems are always ON regardless of heat or cooling because the air must be recirculated in public spaces. Staff must be directed to turn ON the fan in a commercial setting before the public arrives. For example many clubhouses use on demand systems and the fans must be turned ON when there are events.
Data can be gathered for heat, cooling, and fan mode. The fan speed varies with the mode in homes. The best case will be fan and cooling modes. Typically when in heat mode the fans run at a lower speed.
Measurement Based Approach
Once the room sizes and vent sizes are determined and entered into the system then the only item that needs to be measured and updated with each review is the FPM from each vent in a room using a hand held anemometer. The ACH is automatically calculated.
ACH Calculation |
Comments |
Room Cubic Feet = Length * Width * Height |
Measured once as part of QII startup |
Vent Cubic Inches = Length * Width |
Measured once as part of QII startup |
FPM = Vent air flow measured as FPM using hand held anemometer |
Measured with each review cycle |
CFM = FPM * Vent Cubic Inches / 144 |
Automatically calculated |
ACH = CFM *60 / Room Cubic Feet |
Automatically calculated |
Observations Based Approach
The following is a procedure used to gather data and calculate the ACH in a facility using mechanical ventilation without using room size and anemometer measurements. This is called seat of the pants analysis but it is amazing how close the results will match results using tape measures for room sizes and an anemometer.
Estimate the facility size. A good gauge to use is to look at the outside windows. Count the number of windows along the wall. Approximate the width of each window using 3 feet, 4 feet, or 6 feet. For walls where there are no windows visualize how many windows might be along the wall. For the height of a facility visualize how many people can be stacked until the ceiling is reached. Use 6 feet for each person. Alternatively think in terms of 10 foot sections stacked up.
Count the number of ventilation vents. Look around the facility and find the ventilation vents. There may be different sized vents. Count the vents for each size vent. Label then Vent A, B, C etc. Next estimate the size of each vent. They are standard sizes. For homes they tend to be 6 X 12 inches but the openings are 3 X 9 inches. Think in terms of 3, 4, 6, and 12 inches wide and 12, 24, 36, and 48 inches long. Vents in ceiling tile tracks may be 4 X 48 inches.
Before you start it is suggested that this entire HELP section be reviewed, starting from the top.
Capture the Room size, Vent Sizes, and Vent Air using the following steps. When an HVAC company prepares balance reports they will provide data marked with an Asterisk *. Many times the height data is not provided. In that case you must estimate the height data.
When a Room Name is provided and Enter is pressed a new row is added for a new room entry. Add a room name and press Enter. Repeat until all the rooms are added.
Add the room sizes as cubic feet. Add the total Vent Air in ft/min for all the vents in a room.
Checking this box will insert a new row between existing rows.
This is a required entry for the data to be accepted. When a room name is added a new row is added at the bottom so that a new room can be added.
All entries are in cubic feet.
The room cu-ft is needed to calculate the room ACH.
These are some general rules to estimate the rooms size.
Occupancy based Estimate
Ceiling Height Estimate
Room Length and Width Estimate
Is there a permanently installed Unit Ventilator in the room, not to be confused with portable sanitizers. Look at the image.
These units come in 750, 1000, 1250, 1500 CFM in physical sizes of 69, 81, 93, 105 inches or 5.75, 6.75, 7.75, 8.75 feet.
Is there an Inverter 360 Cassette installed in the room. Look at the image.
The Inverter 360 Cassette is a ceiling mounted ventilator that uses circular ventilation to evenly spread the ventilation across the ceiling while taking in the air from the bottom of circular structure. The air flow rate is selectable and comes in High, Mid, Low or 874, 729, 621 CFM.
All entries are in inches.
The following tables list differnt vent, diffuser, and return grill sizes that can be used to estimate the size of the vents in a facility.
There are basically 3 types of vents:
Look at the ceiling and look for the most common vent. Usually it is always the same type of vent but there may be a mix near fringe spaces in the room. The following tables list differnt vent, diffuser, and return grill sizes that can be used to estimate the size of the vents in a facility.
Vent, Diffuser, and Return Grill Sizes
When looking at a vent, diffuser, or return grill the outside size is larger than the actual vent opening. The following tables identify the vent, diffuser, and return grill openings. The vent, diffuser, and return grill size exceeds the opening on each side by 1 inch. So a vent that looks like and measures from the outside as a 4 x 12 inch vent is really a 2 x 10 inch vent because that is the size of the opening. Also, the opening might be partially blocked around the perimeter and with reinforced strips down the middle. So a 4 x 10 vent might scale down to a 3 x 8 vent opening.
Vents
If applicable pick a vent size (Length and Width). Keep in mind the FPM level for when the Vent Air FPM is requested.
Vent Sizes
Note: Most likely near 350 FPM |
Diffusers
The FPM numbers in the table are the upper limit and the airflow will Most likely be near 350 FPM.
If applicable pick a Diffuser size and enter the neck diameter. Keep in mind the FPM level for when the Vent Air FPM is requested.
4-Way Diffuser Sizes
Note: Most likely near 350 FPM Round Diffusers
Neck Sizes are: 8, 10, 12, 14 inches Note: Most likely near 350 FPM |
Linear Diffuser Sizes
Note 1: 50mm/slot or 1.95 inches/slot |
The following table can be used to deal will mixed sized vents in a room.
Neck Size (in) |
Area sq-in |
6 |
28 |
8 |
50 |
10 |
79 |
12 |
113 |
Return Grills
You can measure the ventilation level using the vents / diffusers or return grills. The return grills suck in the air, send it through the system, and then expels the air out the vents / diffusers. Measuring the return grills will provide an indication of the percent of outside air being introduced into the space. It is also a good sanity check of the vent diffuser measurements.
percent outside air = grills total FPM / vents total FPM
The following are return air grills. The return air grills are similar in size to vents. The data in the following tables are based on 350 linear feet per minute (FPM) as measured at the grill.
If applicable pick a vent size (Length and Width).
Horizontal Return Air Grilles
Note: Most likely near 350 FPM |
Square Return Air Grilles
Note: Most likely near 350 FPM |
Verticle Return Air Grilles
Note: Most likely near 350 FPM |
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