BUILDING SYSTEMS

 
 
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Though tenants can take proactive steps to achieve a safer workplace, building owners and managers should be examining the systems and processes in place in their properties. Healthy offices start with healthy buildings.

SKIP TO:

BUILDING CERTIFICATIONS

ELECTRICAL

PLUMBING

MECHANICAL

FILTRATION

UVGI

HUMIDIFICATION

INCREASED VENTILATION

 
 
 
 

BUILDING CERTIFICATIONS

Green Building Certification began with a focus on the environment and sustainable practices around water, and waste, with the most notable being LEED, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. More recently, certifications have developed health and wellness components, including air quality, access to daylight, and opportunities for mental relief and physical activity. Though healthy building certifications such as WELL Building Standard (WELL) and Fitwel were already gaining momentum and popularity, the pandemic has made their initiatives more important than ever. 

Both WELL and Fitwel help address health and well-being issues through rating systems. By accumulating more points, an organization can receive higher levels of certification in three tiers, numbers for WELL and stars for Fitwel. Recertification is required on a three-year cycle. Both work with new construction projects and with existing buildings, though WELL is more focused on new construction.

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Fitwel was created by the Center for Disease Control, the U.S. General Services Administration, and the Center for Active Design in 2017. It is designed to be accessible, affordable, flexible, and easy to implement. 

Fitwel addresses health as an interconnected system, with no single dominant category or area of focus, and as such all strategies are voluntary, with no individual prerequisites. It includes 55+ evidence-based design and operational strategies that enhance buildings by addressing a broad range of health behaviors and risks. Each strategy is associated with unique point allocations, based on the strength of associated evidence and the demonstrated impact on occupant health. This means that strategies with stronger, multi-faceted impacts receive more points.

Use Fitwel Certification to:

  • Signal to employees, residents, investors, and others that you prioritize wellness within the design, development, and operations of buildings and communities

  • Integrate the best strategies that science has to offer to optimize health within a building or community

  • Ensure that your company is leading the industry on the next frontier of sustainability

  • Improve the health of your employees, visitors, or residents as well as the surrounding community

Check out this free resource by the Center for Active Design and QuadReal to learn more!

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WELL was founded in 2014 by Delos, a wellness real estate and technology firm, and is generally considered the more rigorous, complex, and costly certification. It was developed by integrating scientific and medical research and literature on environmental health, behavioral factors, health outcomes and demographic risk factors that affect health with leading practices in building design, construction and management. WELLis centered around 10 concepts including air, water, light, movement, and community. It is the leading tool for advancing health and well-being in buildings globally, helping people to work, live, perform and feel their best.

Use WELL Certification to:

  • Attract and retain employees, clients and investors

  • Build brand equity through leadership and innovation

  • Maximize performance of employees by contributing to increased productivity, reduced absences, and increased job satisfaction/engagement

  • Promote health and well-being to 100% of employee

As mentioned previously, both FITWEL and WELL have extensive COVID-19 resources.

 
 
 

ELECTRICAL

Though electrical infrastructure will largely remain the same, building ownership could see an uptick in electral usage due to new mechanical items using more power, or a change in how existing systems are run. Existing  loads on electrical panels will need to be considered when adding new mechanical equipment to an existing system.

 
 
 

PLUMBING

Outside of using touchless fixtures and accessories, there is no need to change plumbing infrastructure or existing water filtration. The CDC does recommend instructing users to close toilet lids before flushing to limit the spread of droplets in the air.

All plumbing systems should be constantly flushed especially before using drinking water to avoid stagnant water in pibes. Hot water should remain turned on to kill harmful bacteria that could lead to Legionnaires' Disease. 

 
 
 

MECHANICAL

Consult your building engineer for increasing outside air and disabling systems which limit ventilation. These two things can be done immediately to help circulate air until other systems are in place.

In typical commercial systems, will don’t foresee substantial changes in how MEP systems are designed and installed. One of the fundamental reasons for this statement is that any air handling unit modifications we make are only effective if the particles (a virus in this case) are able to make it back to the unit for filtration, UV, or whatever the proposed solution might be. In typical commercial systems with ceiling return grilles and plenum return, the likelihood that those particles returning to the air handling unit is very low. However, we do believe that good design practice will consist of HVAC solutions with good distribution, improvements of overall IAQ and high levels of filtration.

 
 
 

FILTRATION

Efficiency of traditional filter systems provide varying levels of capture of particulates. For reference, COVID-19 is roughly 0.3 micrometers, so even upgrades to 85% or 95% filters will only capture roughly 50% of that size particle. But, this is much greater than the ~5% that 35% filters installed in many systems would capture. HEPA filters are not feasible for most commercial applications, and certainly those in place currently under a retrofit approach. Air handling unit capacities will need to be evaluated for retrofit applications to determine static pressure capabilities.

Room level HEPA filters (recirculating type, floor standing) could offer temporary filtration capabilities,  but would not be a permanent solution.

 
 
 

UVGI

The ability/inability of coil level UVGI (UltraViolet Germicidal Irradiation) to kill or sterilize the virus is also dependent on the air handling unit’s ability to capture the particles from the room and pull them back to the AHU.

For droplet type of viruses, normal AHU design with ceiling supply and ceiling return has insufficient spot velocity to capture the droplet types of particles that travel a relatively short distance in the air or reside on surfaces. As a result, adding UVGI to conventional HVAC systems offers no real protection for these types of viruses.

Directionalized airflow patterns, such as laminar ceiling supply and low returns may offer a slightly better opportunity to capture the droplet particles. Aerosolized viruses (i.e. Measles and Tuberculosis): Aerosolized viruses are suspended in the air and are more susceptible to air movement. Adding special UVGI to HVAC systems can aid in the removal of aerosolized viruses.

 
 
 

HUMIDIFICATION

This virus and others do not survive well at humidity ranges between 40-60% RH. Elevated humidity levels are effective at reducing momentum of particles and transmission distances.

While this range is not an issue to maintain in the summer months, commercial buildings in Chicago’s climate (and many others) are not designed to hold that level of water during winter. Buildings will experience condensation and frost at these humidity levels.

For new construction buildings, this may be an option to consider where the architect can closely control the exterior wall and glass. It has minimal pressure drop and impact to air handler design and reduces static electricity as a benefit, but does come with increased water and energy usage to generate the water vapor used for humidification. The exterior wall/glazing design will come at a very high cost premium and will limit the amount of glazing on buildings to avoid condensation.

 
 
 

INCREASED VENTILATION

This solution could vary based on the system in the building but generally would provide dilution of aerosolized viruses through the ability to introduce large amounts of outside air and all conditions, potentially the ability to have a full airside economizer. This approach is especially challenging from an energy and capacity standpoint as it would require substantial increase to heating and cooling capacities at the unit level and increased fan energy to operate. This solution also would not be effective with surface-borne droplets or viruses, only with aerosolized viruses.

*Building Systems information Courtesy of IMEG Engineering Consultants & McGuire Engineers

Growing information about how COVID-19 spreads could greatly influence the future of building filtration systems. We now know it can sometimes spread through airborne transmission. For this reason, outdoor spaces, increased ventilation with outdoor air, and filtration systems are recommended as part of a larger workplace strategy that includes social distancing, and wearing a face coverings or mask.

Visit these resources for more  information, and research-based updates:

EPA: Indoor Air and Coronavirus

CDC: How COVID Spreads

CDC: Information for Office Buildings

WHO: Ventilation in Public Spaces

ASHRAE: Filtration/Disinfection

 
 
Eastlake Studio