Design Combines With Purification In COVID-19 Fight

We don’t sell services, we find solutions. We’ve learned a lot over the past several months that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions for businesses facing the risks and challenges of COVID-19. In addition to air purification, design plays a critical role in keeping people safe. Around the world, there’s a new demand for rethinking the spaces we live, work, and play. Any place that brings people together requires more than just a quick shuffle. The real challenge of COVID-19 is that these public spaces aren’t what cause transmission, it’s people. Even in a space with anchor elements such as desks, chairs, and dividing walls, there’s nothing fixed about people moving, interacting, and simply breathing beyond the bounds of those places to sit. Design is key. Architects and contractors have scrambled to adapt. They’ve been working with businesses to implement changes that allow for increased social distancing, control airflow and traffic patterns between offices and desks, and provide new protected workspaces out of doors to serve as a sort of overflow station for times where teams need to meet up. Some changes are obvious, too. In cities with tall glass-sided office buildings, making those windows actually open has improved airflow and helped to improve air quality. Retrofitting an office space may not be cost-effective initially, but many firms have noted that not investing in worker safety may be more expensive in the long run. With workers reluctant to come back to unsafe offices, there’s a high degree of risk in losing valued employees having a tough time recruiting capable replacements. With the COVID-19 crisis expected to last deep into 2021, there’s the obvious risk of losing employees to quarantine periods and putting their health on the line, which will cost in productivity, morale, and, unfortunately, lives. Even with structural changes in place, there’s every reason to incorporate proven HVAC filtration and purification technologies, too. In addition to improved HEPA filters and analyzing airflow and replacement, more and more facilities are investing in bipolar needlepoint ionization to kill 99% of all airborne viruses as an additional tool in keeping teams safe. It’s a technology that’s been critical in keeping libraries, schools, gyms, and restaurants as safe as possible as businesses reopened in late spring and early summer, and has continued to play a role throughout the challenging winter months as well. From design to filtration, one of the most important things we can all do to keep ourselves and each other safe is to follow the current guidelines from local, state, and federal authorities. Wearing a mask, maintaining proper social-distancing, reducing contact with those from outside your home, and staying home if you’ve been exposed or are experiencing symptoms all have a big impact on reducing the spread of the virus. For more information on COVID-19, check out the CDC. If we can help you protect your team and your community, let’s start a conversation.