Pandemics and Sustainability of the Built Environment
The COVIDd-19 pandemic has made visible some important conflicts between
pandemic health requirements and the ability to satisfy these in buildings of
various occupancy types. Some requirements can be satisfied with changes in the
way that buildings are managed, or with minor renovation; but others require
more substantial changes which may not be easy to implement in the short- or
mid-term.
Other issues move beyond the scale of buildings into urban scales, and then there
are the even larger questions of state/provincial and/or national governments taking
up the task of post-pandemic reconstruction.
The point of departure in launching this enquiry was our concern that the
immediate need to deal with the adaptation of buildings to the pandemic, might
take our collective eye off the equally crucial but less immediately visible issues
of sustainability performance of the built environment and climate change action.
The document consists of a combination of referenced sources and more subjective
inputs, reflecting the recent and fast-moving nature of the issue. The paper will
occasionally be updated as more information becomes available and as our
knowledge increases.
Nils Larsson, FRAIC
Executive Director, iiSBE
Editor
pandemic health requirements and the ability to satisfy these in buildings of
various occupancy types. Some requirements can be satisfied with changes in the
way that buildings are managed, or with minor renovation; but others require
more substantial changes which may not be easy to implement in the short- or
mid-term.
Other issues move beyond the scale of buildings into urban scales, and then there
are the even larger questions of state/provincial and/or national governments taking
up the task of post-pandemic reconstruction.
The point of departure in launching this enquiry was our concern that the
immediate need to deal with the adaptation of buildings to the pandemic, might
take our collective eye off the equally crucial but less immediately visible issues
of sustainability performance of the built environment and climate change action.
The document consists of a combination of referenced sources and more subjective
inputs, reflecting the recent and fast-moving nature of the issue. The paper will
occasionally be updated as more information becomes available and as our
knowledge increases.
Nils Larsson, FRAIC
Executive Director, iiSBE
Editor
