Updated Guideline Addresses Legionellosis Associated with Building Water Systems

In late May, ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, updated its guideline on the control of legionellosis associated with building water systems. The updated document, ASHRAE Guideline 12-2020, is intended to help building owners and others involved in aspects related to the care of centralized building water systems manage the risk of legionellosis associated with those systems. According to ASHRAE, the guideline applies to buildings such as hotels, office buildings, healthcare facilities, assisted-living facilities, schools, universities, commercial buildings, and industrial buildings.

ASHRAE notes that Guideline 12 can be useful in the implementation of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 188, which establishes minimum legionellosis risk management requirements for building water systems and was the first industry standard in the U.S. to address Legionnaire’s disease prevention.

“Guideline 12 complements Standard 188 by providing detailed guidance for water management program teams to develop the necessary elements of an effective water management plan,” said Paul Lindahl, chair of the committee responsible for writing Guideline 12-2020. “This can be a particularly important aspect of plans to reopen buildings following the COVID-19 pandemic.”

A preview of Guideline 12-2020 is available on ASHRAE’s webpage on standards and guidelines under the subhead “Preview ASHRAE Standards.” The page also includes more information about ASHRAE standards development.