ASHRAE design guide for commercial kitchen ventilation : best practices for design and operation Proper design of a commercial kitchen ventilation system is critical. The design can impact employee safety fire prevention energy consumption building pressurization control and emission control. This design guide was created with the goal of producing a best practice for design engineers. It was written in accord with current North American codes standards and design practices and is intended to aid design engineers in selecting all components comprising a kitchen ventilation system from the initial survey to determine the needs of a system to proper equipment selection controls and ductwork selection and final commissioning