Int. No. 592-A
By Council Members Chin, Gentile, James, Koppell, Lander, Rose, Williams, Jackson, Arroyo, Levin, Van Bramer, Barron, Eugene, Mark-Viverito, Brewer, Rodriguez, Ulrich, Crowley and Gennaro
A Local Law to amend the New York city mechanical code, in relation to filtering soot from incoming air in buildings.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Section MC 605 of the New York city mechanical code, as added by local law number 33 for the year 2007, is amended by adding a new subsection 605.2.1 to read as follows:
605.2.1 Standards for air-handling units. Air-handling units of mechanical ventilation systems, any portion of which provide outdoor air ventilation, shall be equipped with a particulate matter filtration system in accordance with ASHRAE 62.1 or ASHRAE 62.2 and shall have a minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) of 11 or greater in accordance with ASHRAE 52.2.
Exceptions:
1. This section shall not apply to the alteration or repair of a mechanical ventilation system that was installed prior to January 1, 2013 unless such alteration or repair includes the replacement or addition of an air-handling unit in such system.
2. This section shall not apply to the replacement of an air handling unit in a mechanical ventilation system installed prior to January 1, 2013 if the department determines that the design of such replacement air-handling unit cannot be made to comply with the allowable fan system power limitations of the New York City Energy Conservation Code or ASHRAE 90.1.
3. This section shall not apply to any air-handling unit with a design capacity of less than 5,000 cfm.
§2. The list of referenced standards of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) as set forth in chapter 15 of the New York city mechanical code is amended by adding three new standards to read as follows:
ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.
1791 Tullie Circle, NE
Atlanta, GA 30329-2305
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Standard
Reference
Number Title
________________________________________________________________________________________________
52.2 - 2007 Method of Testing General Ventilation Air-Cleaning Devices for Removal Efficiency by Particle Size
62.1 - 2010 Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality
62.2 - 2010 Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings
§3. This local law shall take effect January 1, 2013, except that the commissioner of buildings shall take such actions as are necessary for its implementation, including the promulgation of rules, prior to such effective date.
JH/JTB/TME
LS 2497
11/30/11 6:49pm