justatenant
REGISTERED
Hi there, I'm not a builder or contractor or anything, I'm just a tenant looking for advice. I came here because this was the only place on google that showed up for talking about building codes for natural ventilation.
I live in an apartment that I believe is violating the 4% floor space natural ventilation rule. I only have 1 window and the window opening is 42" x 26", which calculates to a ~7.6 square feet opening. The square footage of my apartment is at least 300 square feet, much more if you count the bathroom and closet. 300 square feet would necessitate a 12 square feet window opening, at 7.6 I'm far from that.
Now the hallway does have AC running in it normally. So I figure this is where the extra natural ventilation space comes in from the designers... the door can be opened and it's circulating air so it would count?
However, recently the AC in the hallway went out, according to the building manager it's due to some damage to the HVAC/roofing and there's a roof leak they need to fix. And they said they don't know when it will be fixed due to an insurance mess or something....
Am I right in thinking that my apartment is no longer to code? If so, what would you recommend I do about it? I know the apartment building has other open units that have more windows (mine is the smallest unit and least amount of windows). Should I ask to be moved to a different unit at the same rental price? That would definitely be a sweet deal but it sucks to be living in an apartment where it feels the air is too stuffy all the time.
Thanks for any replies/help and sorry for posting here as a pleb! @mods, feel free to remove post if I'm in violation of forum rules, etc.
I live in an apartment that I believe is violating the 4% floor space natural ventilation rule. I only have 1 window and the window opening is 42" x 26", which calculates to a ~7.6 square feet opening. The square footage of my apartment is at least 300 square feet, much more if you count the bathroom and closet. 300 square feet would necessitate a 12 square feet window opening, at 7.6 I'm far from that.
Now the hallway does have AC running in it normally. So I figure this is where the extra natural ventilation space comes in from the designers... the door can be opened and it's circulating air so it would count?
However, recently the AC in the hallway went out, according to the building manager it's due to some damage to the HVAC/roofing and there's a roof leak they need to fix. And they said they don't know when it will be fixed due to an insurance mess or something....
Am I right in thinking that my apartment is no longer to code? If so, what would you recommend I do about it? I know the apartment building has other open units that have more windows (mine is the smallest unit and least amount of windows). Should I ask to be moved to a different unit at the same rental price? That would definitely be a sweet deal but it sucks to be living in an apartment where it feels the air is too stuffy all the time.
Thanks for any replies/help and sorry for posting here as a pleb! @mods, feel free to remove post if I'm in violation of forum rules, etc.
