Many health experts have revealed that COVID-19 is likely here to stay. We will need to learn to adapt to living with this pandemic and adopt new strategies to live in this new environment. The continuous concern and fear about workplace health and safety will remain.

In this new COVID-19 environment, employees, visitors, clients will all be more acutely aware of their surroundings and the associated hazards with surfaces we touch, offices we enter and people we interact with after this unprecedented period of social distancing. How will you address this new gained sense of awareness and put your employees, visitors and clients mind at ease? This awareness will take a toll on our physical and mental health if not addressed.

The connection between the physical environment and wellness in the workplace will be the focus. We’ll view the spaces and places in which we live, work, and play through a different lens. Is the air in this building filtered? Are there proper hand-washing facilities? How many surfaces do I need to touch and how clean are they? Where can I go for a quiet break if the office crowd is too much after being away?

The WELL certification has taught us how to leverage design, operations, and policies to proactively address risks of pathogen transmission and create restorative environments where building occupants feel safe, comfortable, and supported.

These are unprecedented times; we need to be creative and innovative to address human concern and safety.

How does LivEvexia help clients realize measurable value on investment for the health, well-being, and happiness of building occupants?

The WELL Building Standard™ is a comprehensive framework for the design strategies, operations protocols, and organizational policies that aims to measurably improve the safety and health of people in indoor spaces.

In regards to COVID-19, all employers and property managers should prioritize consideration of the following:

1. Indoor air quality
2. Hand-washing infrastructure and behaviour
3. Hygiene training and reassessment
4. Mental health design support

Well-designed, installed, and monitored mechanical and plumbing systems produce healthy indoor environments where pathogens are filtered, diluted, and removed from the occupant breathing zone which is vital to the workplace. We apply fundamental principles of thermodynamics and building physics (humidity, air flow, differential pressurization), smart controls and sequencing of operations, and innovative ventilation and filtration technologies to mitigate the presence and spread of potential pathogens and allergens.

As the infection pathways of COVID-19 continue to be discovered and better understood, guidance is shifting regarding criteria such as the optimal relative humidity levels to maintain in a building and criteria around air filtration.

What you can do

• Rapidly address indoor air quality issues in existing buildings

• Conduct air quality assessments, testing, design and consult engineering guidance to improve ventilation effectiveness of existing HVAC systems, support long-term air-quality monitoring, and create air-quality awareness
• Adapt controls and policy to accommodate and monitor additional filtration needs, and additional criteria concerning recirculated air systems
• Develop messaging and education for building occupants—to reduce concerns regarding potential pathogen transmission

Hand washing must be approached as both an infrastructure issue as well as behavioural. Strategically positioned hand-washing infrastructure, including space clearance in sinks, can limit touch points and reduce opportunities for pathogen transmission. Ensuring that water temperature and pressure is high enough to support hand washing, is crucial. Behavioural strategies can be addressed by ensuring automatically controlled/sensor-based faucets run for the recommended 20 seconds of hand-washing time. Lights can be placed over sinks to provide a visual cue on timing. Vibrant signage can act as a visual reminder—for these to be effective they should be changed frequently to avoid blending into the background.

Paper towels also provide an additional level of cleaning and reduce the spread of contamination that can be found with using hand dryers—even though the potential of conflict between pathogen control and sustainability may arise this can be mitigated by using paper towels made from recycled paper and investigate opportunities for waste management.

What you can do

• Increase adoption of and cultural engagement in proper hand-washing practices to mitigate concerns in shared work spaces and reduce the risk of pathogen transmission among occupants 
• Carry out hand-washing infrastructure assessment and testing.
• Develop and/or review operational policies for access, and maintenance of hand-washing facilities.
• Provide situational cues, messaging, and branding to engage and educate all occupants in proper hand-washing practices

Understanding the risk and safety associated with indoor environments will be key for stakeholders and facility managers as building occupants return to work. Early identification of worksite hazards and evaluation of the related risk will support the implementation of appropriate precautions and controls. Especially in the workplace, diminishing harm to workers is key to fostering human resilience and recovery.

What you can do

• Reassess current cleaning protocols and cleaning of contaminated workplaces and sites.

• Support during reassessment and cleaning activities of contaminated sites, including training, education, emergency response planning and occupational exposure risk assessments.
• Develop strategies for communicating complex and rapidly changing information on infection control to employees in a way that addresses their concerns

The fear and stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and will have both short- and long-term mental and physical health impacts.

Fear of leaving home—which is being promoted as the safest space—along with the strain of changing work-life balance and increased isolation in an already lonely society, fear of repeat infection, and exposure to pathogens in public spaces and workplaces creates an opportunity for long-lasting distress and anxiety as a society. A feeling of security, actual safety and comfort is paramount during this time and for the years to come.

As we come out of our work from home situations and social distancing, we can use design to aid in psychological recovery.

What you can do

• Building assessment to identify opportunities to enhance or implement evidence-based restorative design strategies and building features in existing buildings.
• Development and implementation of biophilic design principles proven to have an immediate, positive impact on mental health. Healthy Building Program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recently published results that showed biophilic incorporation had consistent positive impacts on blood pressure, heart rate and heart rate variability.
• Operational protocols and organizational policies that impact the mental health and well-being, safety and security of occupants.
• Consulting and facilitation of WELL Building Standard certification. WELL is the industry leading framework for addressing indoor environmental quality related to the prevention of contaminant sources and distribution, and mental health and organizational resiliency via design, operational preparedness, and policies.

Education and knowledge is the key to resiliency. Empower your employees and trust your building again. LivEvexia will guide your firm to successful WELL certification.