COVID-19 encourages rethinking the role of build

As the cold begins and COVID-19 surges, US architects are designing healthier buildings so that people can feel safe indoors.

By Carey L. Biron

Washington, November 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation)-Americans facing cold climates and more time, from office workers to students, have an urgent question: a pandemic that scientists say prosper in an indoor environment How can I stay safe in the country?

Looking for the answer has led us to rethink what the architect and his building can do both now and in the future.

“The built environment is the first line of defense in a pandemic, which makes the difference whether you get the disease that kills you,” said Rachel Gutter, president of the International Wellbuilding Institute.

“It’s a real change in the way we think of buildings,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Gutter and her colleagues oversee the global standards for buildings aimed at promoting the health of residents.

Currently, about 4,900 projects in more than 60 countries are in the process of voluntary WELL certification process.

Laboratory in September Started major update This includes coronavirus-specific changes that went into trial this summer and the results of work by about 600 public health, government, and designers.

Last month, a group of US scientists Warning in open letter The remaining infected aerosols (small droplets and particles) in the air, published in the medical journal Science, may be the main cause of COVID-19 infection.

The letter called on public health authorities to emphasize the importance of moving outdoor activities and improving indoor air, as well as wearing masks and social distance.

“COVID-19’s favorite season is winter. Like seasonal flu, this virus loves colds,” Gutter said.

“In areas of the world preparing for winter, indoor air quality is even more important.”

Changes to WELL’s recommendations have highlighted the need to improve the quality of the air in the room, especially by limiting contact when people move through the building and safely disinfecting the surface.

Interest in coronavirus guidance is very high, and the implementation is “very fast,” she said, adding that about 350 million square feet (32.5 million square meters) of space has been newly registered with the institute since June. It was.

Other building certification systems are also rolling out new guidance such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which focuses on environmental impact. Widely used all over the world..

“The pandemic really put the spotlight on’what is the air quality in my room and why it’s important,'” said LEED Development, the US Green Building Council, which oversees the system. Melissa Baker, Senior Vice President, said.

“These are the questions that tenants are now asking the landlord.”

Healthy indoor

A few months after the pandemic, designers are trying to track changes in how people interact with buildings and see how they can help make indoors healthier, according to the American Institute of Architects. Rachel Minery, Senior Director, said.

“It’s believed that almost every building except your home is unsafe here,” she said.

“What role can the built environment play … so hope we won’t be quarantined for the next two years?”

Design tweaks can begin where users enter the building through the front door or queue area to facilitate temperature checks and social distances, Minnery said.

She added that the architect is also incorporating one-way doors and corridors, expanding workstations further apart, deploying touchless technology, and upgrading air filtration systems.

The demands require designers to learn about a variety of new issues.

“I’m not an epidemiologist. I’m an architect,” said Jenine Kotob, who works with state-owned company Hord Coplan Macht (HCM) in the suburbs of Washington.

When the pandemic broke out, Kotob and her colleagues began attending emergency workshops with public health professionals.

“They have defined for us a baseline of understanding, a knowledge base that architects need to know now about how infectious diseases are transmitted,” she said.

A survey of real estate professionals around the world published in October by the Washington, DC-based non-profit Urban Land Institute found that 90% of respondents Healthy office certification may rise in the coming years..

Emotional happiness

The pandemic is also changing the way we think about how buildings can help communities work more broadly, from welfare to work.

“The difference in COVID is that it focuses not only on physical health, but also on emotional health,” said Donald Powell, a partner at Texas-based BOKA Powell Architects. ..

“It’s a hurdle that every company must overcome before employees can return to work.”

Powell responded to a client’s question about how to bring workers back to the office, and he and his colleagues were homeschooling and even on-site childcare and classrooms for parents who wanted to get back to work. He said he was considering it.

Schools are a hot issue throughout the pandemic, and more and more people in the United States are thinking about how to open it up.

“If a school building can’t go online during a pandemic, the longer it’s stretched, the longer it will have an impact on our society,” said Kotob of HCM.

She and her colleagues are required to reuse cafeterias, libraries and other large meeting spaces to create multiple smaller classrooms, all in compliance with local regulations and social distance guidance. She said.

The need for these changes underscores the chronic lack of funding in public schools, Kotob pointed out.

According to advocacy group Build America’s School Infrastructure Coalition, US primary school facilities face a $ 38 billion annual shortage.

The pending law will provide $ 5 billion for emergency school repairs as part of a pandemic relief package. This can lead to, for example, improved sanitation and upgrades to air filtration systems.

“What we’ve seen in a pandemic is that there are certain issues that haven’t been addressed for a long time, such as air quality, overcrowding, and outdoor access, which can no longer be resolved,” Kotob said.

Such thinking promotes a broader awareness of the concept of health as a human right and its connection to the building, said Gutter of the International Wellbuilding Institute.

“Many of us are now locked up in our homes for months, so we’re paying more attention to these effects on our health,” she said.

“How we build affordable homes and schools-what if we accept the idea that these can improve our health and well-being rather than deprive us?”

Related article:

Rebooting the City: Urban Life in the COVID-19 Era

Empty city, few babies?Coronavirus can have “dramatic” effects

Sliding Walls, Hidden Offices: How Pandemics Change Home Design

(Reported by Carey L. Biron @clbtea, edited by Jumana Farouky and Zoe Tabary. In honor of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable division of Thomson Reuters, covering the lives of people around the world struggling to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)

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