Lew Harriman

Lew Harriman is retired.

Although Lew is no longer active in consulting, he enjoys informal conversations about building investigations, humidity control, moisture management and indoor air quality. You are welcome to contact him though email or by leaving a voicemail message that explains who you are, where you are located and the reason for your call.

Earlier, Lew served as Director of Research & Consulting at Mason-Grant. Much of his work over 45 years concerned humidity and moisture control in buildings and industrial processes, along with related phenomena that are affected by humidity and moisture, such as indoor mold, HVAC systems and the drying rates of materials and structures.

Lew served as a National Peer in the Construction Excellence Program of the Public Buildings Service of the U.S. General Services Administration. He is well-known as a writer and lecturer in North America, Europe and Asia. Lew is a Fellow, Distinguished Lecturer and Life Member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and in 2018 he was inducted into the Indoor Air Quality Hall of Fame by the Indoor Air Quality Association.

Lew is the author of The Dehumidification Handbook published by Munters Corporation, and was lead author and project manager for both the ASHRAE Humidity Control Design Guide and The ASHRAE Guide for Buildings in Hot & Humid Climates. For more than 20 years, he was an active member of ASHRAE’s Technical Committee 1.12 - Moisture Management in Buildings. He also served as Chair of ASHRAE’s Multidisciplinary Committee on Indoor Mold and Dampness in Buildings, and as the humidity consultant for revisions made to ASHRAE’s Standard 62.1 (Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality) in 2016, 2019 and 2022. .

He also served as a consultant to the Indoor Air Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and contributed to guidance published by EPA on moisture management and air cleaners in the home.

After retirement, Lew served as a consultant to the residential team of ASHRAE’s COVID-19 Epidemic Task Force during 2020 and 2021. He assisted the development of ASHRAE’s recommendations to reduce the risk of airborne transmission of COVID-19 in homes and apartments.

Background

Present: Retired - Emeritus Director of Research

1986 - 2020: Mason-Grant Consulting - Director of Research & Consulting

1976 - 1986: Munters Dehumidification Division - New Markets and New Product Development

1971 - 1976: US Air Force, HQ Strategic Air Command - Engineering & Services - Housing Management and Construction Planning

1967 - 1971: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH & Universidad de Salamanca, Spain - AB, Visual Studies/Architecture

1959 - 1967: Calasanctius Preparatory School, Buffalo, NY

1963 - 1964 Escolápios de Puigcerdá, Gerona, Spain

Personal

Lew is married to Cynthia W. Harriman, retired Executive Director of the Whole Grains Council. Their daughter Elizabeth Harriman is a teacher and bilingual Korean-English speech-language pathologist, and their son Sam Harriman is an electrician and solar energy system designer.