Preventing occupational respiratory disease from exposures in office building : case study COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic has affected human life in every possible way, and, alongside this, the need has been felt that office buildings and workplaces must have protective and preventive layers against COVID‐19 transmission so that a smooth transition from ‘work from home’ to work from office’ is possible. The present study reviews international agency regulations, country regulations, updated journal articles, etc., to critically understand lessons learned from COVID‐19 and evaluate the expected changes in sustainability requirements of office buildings and workplaces. The built environment, control environment, and regulatory environment around office buildings and workplaces have been put under test on safety grounds during the pandemic. Country regulation, agency regulations, and operational guidelines need to bring behavioral changes required to protect workers from the COVID‐19 pandemic.

This study also investigates the ability of COVID-19’s measures by comparing certified (LEED, TREES, and WELL) and non-certified office buildings in Bangkok, Thailand. Certified building in this study mainly implemented COVID-19 prevention measures. For non-certified buildings, two buildings mostly implemented COVID-19 strategies (>90%), and others are less implemented (< 90%). Providing negative pressure, installing infiltration, using touchless technology, and implementing mental health policy are the most difficult to apply. However, alternative strategies were implemented until no clusters were found in all case studies.

Additionally, an in-depth interview and the Rating scale have been used to explore building satisfaction. The study shows that building satisfaction in all building types increased during this period. The certified building is the most satisfied before COVID-19, while the non-certified building with the good measure is the most pleased during this time because many strategies have been implemented. Moreover, health and comfort criteria have been examined for building occupants, including temperature & humidity, indoor air quality, spatial, visual, and acoustic. Visual is the most satisfying characteristic before COVID-19 while distancing during this period, and it is the most significant aspect that has increased significantly.

The gaps and barriers of the execution are used to explore the challenge and propose additional solutions for fighting the crisis and other respiratory diseases such as flu and influenza. By actor-network analysis, lack of law and regulation for healthy building, lack of expenditure, and lack of knowledge are the significant barriers. So, additional building assessments have been proposed, including healthy building concept design, engineering measures, and supporting and educational strategies have to be implemented to develop sustainable and better-living conditions.