I have a situation in a 5 story building I manage. I have a restaurant/kitchen located on entry level and 4- 6,000 sq' single family apartments located above. During kitchen operating hours, the MAU for the kitchen hood exhaust hood is not receiving enough supply air from the outside and is actually pulling air out of the apartment located directly above. It is causing negative pressure within the apartment. We measured the air pressure during fan operation and using the outside air as a common, the apartment was a (-7.6) pascals and the restaurant was a (-14.5) pascals. The kitchen space compared to the apartment was a (-8) pascals. When we shut the MUA/hood down and measured again, the kitchen went to a (-3) pascals, apartment (-7.1) and kitchen compared to apartment was a (+1.7). When the kitchen shuts down operation at the end of the night, the smells from the kitchen penetrate the apartment above very quickly causing uncomfortable conditions for the tenants. The owners of the restaurant had the mua unit checked out and found that the fan speed was not running at peak and change out the drive pulley for a larger one,doubling the fan speed. Best we can figure, the hood is running about 2500 cfm and the supply air is still not keeping up. Supply is drawn from vents under an awning covering the front entrance to the building. It is believed that there may be some obstruction causing decreased air flow. The residential units located above the restaurant are receiving air from an ERV located on the roof top. Can anyone tell me what the responsibility/codes apply to the kitchen regarding air quality/pressure within the kitchen itself as well as when located under residential living spaces. And I welcome some professional input into what else I may want to check within the building envelope itself and finally what do you think the outcome will be if we get the kitchen supplying as much as they are exhausting in regards to the smells penetrating the apartment above.
Thank You
Thank You
