What is the normal ventilation requirement for a machinery room of 400 square feet occupied by 3 persons?

To understand the normal ventilation requirement for a machinery room, several factors are typically considered, including the size of the room, the number of occupants, and the specific activities being performed within that space. The general guideline often used is that ventilation requirements can range from 15 to 20 cubic feet per minute (CFM) per person for adequate indoor air quality.

Given that there are 3 persons occupying the room, if we use the mid-point of the guidelines for ventilation—let’s consider 20 CFM per person—this gives us a total ventilation requirement of 60 CFM from the occupants alone (20 CFM x 3 persons = 60 CFM).

However, additional ventilation is often necessary to accommodate the machinery itself, which can generate heat and pollutants, thus requiring a higher overall total. In commercial settings or rooms housing machinery, it is common to scale this further based on room usage and equipment specifications.

In this context, a typical calculation could yield an increased airflow requirement to ensure the room does not become stale or overheated due to the machinery. Therefore, an adjustment to higher figures is often made, leading to an estimated requirement around 200 CFM for a situation involving both personnel and machinery.

This conclusion aligns with the ventilation