New Room in garage -- Ventilation question

[BK777]

For starters, I should mention I live in the Pacific Northwest -- where we get a few very hot days and a few very cold days but mostly moderate temps. But lots of rain, so it's one of the few places where vapor barriers are actually recommended...


I just finished framing a new "equipment" room within a detached garage/office. I am getting ready to insulate it (rockwool + vapor barrier) and put up some drywall. But I'm running into analysis paralysis regarding ventilation and HVAC. Currently the garage is not insulated but has lots of passive vents. The office is insulated. Here is the layout -- with the equipment room it will basically now be a 2 1/2 car garage:

The purpose of this room is mainly for:
-- Paint, caulk, adhesives
-- Freezer
-- Computer equipment (running)
-- Boxes, etc.

My intention is to eventually heat/cool the office and equipment room with a ductless mini-split. But I'm hesitating due to the potential for fumes in the equipment room -- just a little, not industrial quantities. With a mini-split there will be no real fresh air intake. So my basic question is, what is the best option here? I could add a fan that will vent outside or into the garage but won't that kill the insulation properties & waste HVAC energy? What about air intake?

In a large house, I know there are more limited (code based) options due to it being a living space, but this is not. I want to be safe but not go overboard. Obviously I'd like to figure this out before I close up all the walls. I'm pretty sure I'm overthinking. Any suggestions?

Here's a pic, just for giggles...

 

[BK777]

Well I guess Imgur no longer works... Here are the pics again:

Plan View:



Framed Room:

 

[AA7483]

If it's so tight that it requires intake air look into an hrv or air to air heat exchanger.

 

[BK777]

Wouldn't that be kind of overkill for a 100 sq ft room?

 

[AA7483]

Sure, but you mentioned being energy efficient and not heating and cooling the outdoors. If it were me I would just put an exhaust fan in like you mentioned and maybe a vent to the rest of the space to draw air in from.

 

[PoorOwner]

which room are you trying to cool? I only see a wall between the equipment room and office. The computer and freezer is going make that room quite hot in summer with everything closed up. You should get separate cooling for just the equipment room, can you put a window AC on the exterior wall there?

 

[BK777]

It's the 13x7 "new room" shown in the drawing. Yes I expect the PC and freezer will generate heat. I do intend to put some kind of mini-split HVAC in both this room and the "office", but as I said I'm concerned about the lack of fresh air in that kind of system.

An ERV/HRV seems like overkill but a bathroom fan with some kind of rigged, intake vent seems a bit, well, rigged. I figured I'm not the first person to do this (making a little storage room in their garage) so I was looking for some other suggestions. My main concern at the moment is in trying to close up the walls, but I don't want to do that without a ventilation plan.

 

[DC73]

Here's a good article regarding ventilation of interior spaces: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/designing-good-ventilation-system

DC