CFM

CFM is most commonly used to denote cubic feet per minute, a unit of volumetric flow rate. It measures how much air or fluid passes a point each minute. In heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), CFM is used to specify fan output, air supply quantities, and the rate of air exchange in rooms. Values depend on system pressure and ducting; higher pressure or larger ducts can deliver more CFM. Practical ranges vary widely: small residential fans may produce tens of CFM, while commercial HVAC units can exceed several thousand CFM. To compare with metric units, 1 CFM is approximately 0.0283168 cubic meters per minute, or about 0.0004719 cubic meters per second. Airflow is often described with related measures like air changes per hour (ACH) and velocity (feet per minute in ducts).

CFM is also a file extension and a shorthand reference in web development for ColdFusion. ColdFusion templates use the .cfm extension and embed CFML code within HTML to generate dynamic web pages. ColdFusion servers process these files, executing CFML components to interact with databases, manage sessions, and render HTML for clients. The language includes tag-based syntax such as <cfset> and <cfquery>, as well as a script syntax. Modern implementations include Adobe ColdFusion and Lucee, an open-source alternative. When people refer to a "CFM," they may mean either the template file or the CFML language in this context.