Fight for healthier indoor air! Tell Congress to support Rep. Don Beyer’s Airborne Act of 2026, and urge adding extra incentives to meet the ASHRAE 241 infection control standard. Send a personalized letter.

On February 10, 2026, Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) re-introduced the Airborne Act, a valuable bill to encourage non-residential building owners to assess indoor air quality (IAQ) and upgrade their ventilation and air filtration systems.

First filed in 2022, this bill uses the tax code to give building owners incentives to perform IAQ inspections and upgrades. The goal is to make indoor spaces safer from the threat of airborne diseases, wildfire smoke, and pollution.

The U.S. urgently needs a law to promote action for healthier indoor air, and HR 7460 is an important start. However, we would like our government to aim higher.

The current bill includes ASHRAE Standard 241 in additional to a general indoor air quality standard (Standard 62.1) also set by ASHRAE, an engineering association that sets standards for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Meeting that ASHRAE 62.1 standard would bring big improvements to indoor air, but would not be adequate to greatly reduce the risk of airborne disease spread indoors. We propose adding specification of extra incentives to meet ASHRAE Standard 241, cited by the EPA, as the standard for 'Control of Infectious Aerosols'. Standard 241 was created at the request of the White House in 2023. To achieve safer, healthier indoor spaces, we need the higher clean airflow rates that ASHRAE 241 requires.

At the start of Standard 241, ASHRAE explains, “The purpose of this standard is to establish minimum requirements for control of infectious aerosols to reduce risk of disease transmission” in non-residential, non-medical buildings.

This table below shows the higher per-person clean airflow rates (in liters per second) under ASHRAE 241, compared to ASHRAE 62.1.:  

Source: Equivalent Clean Airflow Rates from ASHRAE 241 Control of Infectious Aerosols (Part 2) by Joey Fox (It’s Airborne)

Americans deserve the best ventilation standards to protect against pandemics and pollution. Clean air is a human right.

Follow the progress of H.R. 7460. Read the bill, "the Airborne Act of 2026."

The bill was originated in 2022 and previously introduced in 2024. See 2026 press release,  2024 press release, and the 2024 proposed bill.

Take action for #CleanAir indoors!