Are institutional and commercial buildings trying to kill us? No, of course not. Not in the literal, gun-wielding sense, anyway. But as facility managers and the general public have learned over the last 18 months in battling the coronavirus pandemic, buildings play a much greater role in
Read more →Let’s say someone in the employee break room of your office likes to microwave fish for lunch. Or perhaps a coworker in a shared space uses a little too much cologne or perfume. If that enclosed space is well ventilated, you may notice these things slightly or
Read more →Making buildings healthier—through research, code changes, and incentives—is what the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) recommends in its eight-page 2020 Moving Forward Report that the Institute’s Consultative Council of building community leaders has just published. The report posits that Americans spend 90% of their time indoors,
Read more →As the performance of many HVAC systems in buildings are still being evaluated, the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force announces updates (on February 1, 2021) its reopening guidance for HVAC systems to help mitigate the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. “The Building Readiness Guide includes additional information and clarifications to assist
Read more →Even as businesses reopen and employees return to work, the US continues to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a new frontier and building and facilities managers face many challenges to safe reopening. New guidelines for social distancing and workstation layouts need special attention. Doing so
Read more →As students and office workers prepare to return to campus or their office buildings, it may not come down to a nasal swab or blood test. Instead, new technology shows the standard for reopening may be about testing buildings and not just people. The technology, developed
Read more →History: This new law will have a significant effect on Common Interest Developments (CIDs) through the State of California. The bill was introduced as a response to the Berkeley balcony collapse in the Library Gardens Apartments on June 16, 2015, when thirteen pupils fell forty feet
Read more →As institutional and commercial facilities reopen, facility managers are under intense pressure to create healthier workplaces and ensure buildings do not contribute to a second wave of COVID-19. In many cases, such efforts within facilities focus largely on cleaning and sanitizing surfaces and allowing for social distancing in
Read more →Many commercial buildings that were almost vacant during the pandemic are now welcoming back employees and patrons, while facility managers are focusing on ways to optimize indoor air quality to reduce the spread of illnesses like COVID-19. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
Read more →For the past several decades, much focus has been put on the design of sustainable buildings. LEED certification is sought after by building owners and facilities managers in their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and keep energy costs low. More recently, there has been an
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