The COVID-19 pandemic is not only a health crisis but has also drastically affected the social and economic industry. Its repercussions, severe and far-reaching, are being felt worldwide. The pandemic’s social and economic costs vary from school closures to devastated sectors and millions of jobs opportunities lost. The pandemic threatens to widen inequalities everywhere, undermine progress on global poverty, clean energy, etc.
Because of the crisis, people are looking for innovative ways to adapt to the current situation. We see commercial buildings, and interacting with them has drastically shifted over the past years. This situation does not only include working from home and switching to online meetings- although it has also helped rebuild the economy while dealing with the pandemic. But in today’s case scenario, the general public has thought thoroughly about their safety when inside a public building.
The situation has led the commercial industry to face many obstacles in adjusting to the new reality. Here are some of the unique facts that we have adapted despite the pandemic:
Concerns About The Health Risk In Commercial Buildings
Before the pandemic started, only a few industries took indoor air quality as a vital necessity for each establishment. Most commercial building owners are not aware of the effects of air quality on their health and the transmission of life-threatening airborne diseases.
Sick building syndrome has been observed for a long time, and it is mainly caused by spending time in buildings that are not healthy for the people inside the facility. Headaches, nausea to respiratory ailments are some of the symptoms that can include, which can negatively impact your staff’s productivity. This sickness can cause poor ventilation, biological contaminants like mold, bacteria, viruses, and many volatile organic compounds or formaldehyde.
That perspective was changed when COVID-19 took the world by its hand. Having proper ventilation and air conditioning in your building is now a priority for significant establishments. This means you must regularly check your HVAC systems. Installing drywall access doors and panels to access these systems easily will add convenience for your workers if there is any need for maintenance or repairs.
Reduction In Occupant Populations, While Flexible Use-Of-Space Solutions Will Increase
As global vaccination was implemented in 2021, we will undoubtedly see a staggering return to offices. Working from home has changed our perspective on working in an office space. A 2020 Global Workplace Analytics study discovered that 68% of their employees thrive working from home, with both the employees and managers expressing satisfaction in work output. Unfortunately, the desire to work from home indefinitely is relatively low, with a similar survey gathering only 16% of the employees wanting to abandon offices entirely. The new results seem to be a shared-location setting- with employees wanting to shift from partly working at the convenience of their homes and partly in an office.
These results indicate the need for a workspace to be more flexible. If employees are at home most of the time, then establishment owners don’t need as much floor space per employee. Co-working spaces will continue to be more preferred because of their convenience. For companies that continue to provide their own space, desk-sharing and common-use workstations are likely to increase, while the need for individual private offices will reduce.
Takeaway
Adapting is vital for the survival of any species. This is now more visible to humans in recent times. Creating situations that will benefit both humanity and the industry is popular nowadays, especially amidst a global pandemic. Who knows what more we can discover that will help benefit the situation at hand.