Standard 62.1 Becomes First ASHRAE Standard to Be Translated into Arabic

By Mary Kate McGowan, Associate Editor, News
From eSociety, June 2018

ASHRAE members from the ASHRAE Falcon Chapter have translated ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2016, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, into Arabic—making it the first ASHRAE standard to be translated into that language.

Standard 62.1 was selected to be the first ASHRAE standard to be translated into Arabic because of the demand for its information in the Middle Eastern region, said Ahmed Alaa Eldin Mohamed, Ph.D., Member ASHRAE.

Some governments in the region, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, prefer to have Arabic versions of industry standards, said Mohamed, who is also the president elect of the ASHRAE Falcon Chapter and assistant regional director of ASHRAE’s Region-at-Large.

The revised Standard 62.1 includes changes and revisions, including a major change to its scope. Residential occupancies were moved from Standard 62.1 to Standard 62.2, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings. Dwelling units, regardless of building height, are addressed in Standard 62.2 while common areas are addressed in 62.1.

A team of Mohamed and three other ASHRAE members translated Standard 62.1.

“We know it very well, and we’ve used it for some time,” Mohamed said.

Now, the Chapter is working to translate Standard 55, Thermal Environmental Conditions For Human Occupancy, and Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, into Arabic, he said.

The Arabic version of Standard 62.1 joins other ASHRAE standards that have been translated into Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish.