How COVID is inspiring healthy, efficient buildings

I had a lingering pandemic fear that I didn’t expect when the world reopened: I don’t like being with people indoors, especially if they have a runny nose or cough.

As more workers return to companies and offices, I know I am not the only one. Employers spend billions updating the work environment to convey to employees that they take health measures seriously.

Indoor air quality and sustainability measures seem to contradict one another. The first listens to the perpetual hum of HVACs; the second, passive houses. However, as companies prioritize both climate goals and health concerns, it is clear that the two goals can be compatible. Now is the perfect time to take a fresh look at commercial space to make buildings smarter, healthier and more comfortable.

Drive fully electric

It turns out that gas inflation in your home affects indoor air quality. Studies by UCLA and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have found that most households that cook on gas in California have unsafe levels of carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide pollutants. A meta-analysis of the effects of nitrogen dioxide found a 42 percent increased risk of asthma in children, writes the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

We have written extensively about the need to get natural gas out of buildings, as gas makes up 10 percent of all US CO2 emissions. However, the health benefits of fully electric buildings are becoming increasingly important.

In the past few months, major news outlets have recognized the magnitude of the health hazard posed by stoves. Coverage includes The Atlantic, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, and The Guardian, plus a section on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. The headlines get it right to the point: “Here’s Why Your Gas Stove Is Killing You” and “Read this article on how we were made to cook on gas.”

Hobs and ovens aren’t the only culprits. Water heaters, dryers, and space heaters can leak or poorly ventilated, sending 20,000 Americans to the emergency room, and killing more than 400 each year. Because of this, 38 states require homes to have carbon monoxide detectors.

The good news is that there is a strong business case to go all-electric. A new report from ULI shows that a purely electrical switch offers significant savings both during development and operation. Of course, this varies depending on the type of construction and climate zone, but many advantages of electrification apply to commercial properties.

Go ahead of the wildfire smoke

If you live in the American West, you probably know the newest, shitty time of the year: the smoking season.

When forest fires break out, smoke containing particulate matter can accumulate for weeks, which can affect respiratory and cardiovascular health. If things get bad, health officials recommend staying indoors and it’s the worst.

In my home in the San Francisco Bay Area, the weather is temperate, so the buildings are leaking and air conditioning usually means opening a window. As the smoke swirls around, the inside becomes hot and sticky, and it takes its toll – physically and mentally. Building upgrades require smoke-free plans.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends steps like evaluating your HVAC system and weathering, and purchasing portable air purifiers and additional filters. This type of audit can involve energy efficiency upgrades and replacing gas stoves with all-electric appliances. While you’re at it, get a rooftop solar panel with battery backup to keep the lights on during scheduled power cuts.

There are two benefits to doing this: keeping you (and your office) healthy during the smoking season, and minimizing your contribution to the climate change emissions that fuel forest fires.

Tools to support healthy offices

During the pandemic, the demand for healthy building services soared, resulting in new and old services targeting the healthy building market alike.

This week a new consortium started to improve both indoor air quality (IAQ) efficiently: Alliance for Sustainable & Practical IAQ in Real Estate (ASPIRE). The aim of the group is to bring data and analysis together to provide commercial property managers with information to monitor and optimize the IAQ while reducing energy and emissions.

Aircuity, a software company focused on health and sustainability, this week launched a new product that combines energy and air quality monitoring. The Airside program is an energy dashboard to inform building owners of inefficiencies across the portfolio.

The International WELL Building Institute’s health and safety certification, which certifies that a building has met certain health promoting measures, averaged a million square feet of newly enrolled projects daily during the pandemic (which explains how the company secured a star-studded cast) . for his advertising campaign.)

When employees go back to the office, more tools and technologies are sure to emerge.

Our shared increased awareness of safety and health and the need to decarbonise buildings could usher in a long-term trend towards investing in buildings of the future. And it’s not a moment too early.

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source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/how-covid-is-inspiring-healthy-efficient-buildings/