In July 1976, the American Legion convened at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia to celebrate the country's bicentennial. Within two days of the event's start, one veteran after another fell ill with pneumonia-like symptoms. Ultimately, 221 individuals were stricken, and 34 died.¹

In January 1977, after months of investigation and speculation, the cause of the mysterious epidemic, which came to be known as Legionnaires' disease, was identified as a bacterium (Legionella pneumophila) growing in the hotel's cooling tower and introduced to the building via the nearby fresh-air intake.

The first recognized outbreak of Legionnaires' disease focused attention on indoor-air quality (IAQ), changing building standards forever. To engineers and designers, the challenge became one of providing a healthy indoor environment without sacrificing comfort or energy efficiency. How this challenge can be met in the highly competitive and ever-changing hotel industry is the subject of this article.

THE HOTEL-GUEST EXPERIENCE

According to the International Hotel & Restaurant Association (www.ih-ra.com): “People spend 80 percent of their time inside buildings. While energy efficiency is critical to cutting costs and emissions, the indoor environment is the most fundamental element of service quality. Guests want a comfortable environment in order to be productive at meetings and enjoy their leisure time, be it in their rooms, in restaurants, or around establishment premises. At the same time, employees need to concentrate to work efficiently and creatively. To guarantee these expectations, a good indoor environment is essential.”

With the proliferation of the concepts of sustainability and “green,” travelers are making decisions based not only on price, but a hotel company's commitment to the health and well-being of its guests. They want an environment free of airborne pathogens that could result in discomfort, illness, or worse.

Recently, I stayed in a newly renovated guest room. From the moment I entered, I experienced a headache, nausea, and dizziness. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in and overwhelming odor of the carpet, vinyl wall covering, and adhesives likely were acting together to cause my discomfort, as within minutes of leaving the room, my symptoms diminished considerably.

When polled, the majority of hotel guests state that what is most important to them is a good night's sleep. Many factors affect a person's sleep, including the conditioned environment.

IMPROVING IAQ

Typically, outside air is introduced to a guest room under the door separating the guest room from the corridor. The corridor is pressurized via a 100-percent-outdoor-air unit tempered to account for ambient conditions. Toilet exhaust fans with volumetric airflows between 35 and 50 cfm run continuously to keep the guest room at a slight negative pressure.

Following are questions that must be asked when commissioning or recommissioning such a system:

• Are the toilet exhaust fans in proper working order?

• Is the makeup-air unit adequately sized?

• Is the makeup-air unit operating properly?

• Is the outside air dehumidified enough to avoid mold growth?

• Is the door separating the guest room from the corridor overcut to better accommodate airflow? If it is, noise issues may result.

The ducting of fresh air to individual guest rooms is costly and often “value-engineered” out of projects during design.

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