The purpose of most building ventilation systems is to bring in adequate fresh air for occupant comfort while controlling temperature, humidity, and indoor air quality for personnel and building safety at reasonable energy costs. Food service kitchens have the added task of removing grease vapors, odors, moisture, smoke and heat generated by the cooking process. This is critical to a safe, comfortable, and productive kitchen environment.
Fire protection is also an essential element in the design.
Needless to say, the design of the ventilation system is the domain of a professional and should not be undertaken by unqualified persons using the guidelines and general comments offered in this section. The intent of this interactive Knowledge System is only to familiarize you with ventilation design considerations and typical equipment solutions. The generation of grease vapors, odors, moisture, products of combustion, and smoke is highly localized and dependent on the equipment used in a kitchen. The typical solution is to vent, capture, and possibly destroy these contaminants through the careful design of hoods with adequate venting flow rates and fresh air makeup. Merely oversizing the vent system is not necessarily correct and could be very costly in annual energy bills.