I’ve been working on a dental clinic. We had a plan worked up pre-pandemic. As soon as COVID-19 came along, we had to change it all. The front door became a front entry vestibule to help moderate the transfer of air in and out. The dental suites went from the typical open to the corridor to open with a sliding glass door. Then we added 100% exhaust capabilities. All this in order to keep air-borne particulate matter contained and evacuated. In a dental office, this is of great concern. It required us to shift square footage from one area to the other in order to make door clearances suddenly work. And it increase the cost of construction adding all the extra exhaust, which had to be offset by creating greater efficiencies in the building envelope.
Just today we were talking toxic black mold, something that we have been trying to address in our buildings for years. Trying to accommodate an aerosolized virus is not unlike trying to accommodate toxic mold. A lot of the same measures, air control, containment, etc. come into play. I’m expecting to see more of this in more sectors than just healthcare and multi-family housing moving forward. Already, our commercial clients are talking about it, if not implementing changes.
Speaking of housing, all the housing we have been working on, all of a sudden we are modifying our plans to make room for a home office in every unit. In our own office that we were previously bursting at the seams in, suddenly we have much more available desks as half the staff continue to work from home.
We expect moving forward that flexible working arrangements will become the norm. For my office in particular, we are not asking anyone to come back into the office unless they need to and want to. I would imagine a lot of other companies are realizing and accepting the same thing. I think this will lead to a downsizing of office space or readjusting offices into a more of a shared, traveling desk scenarios allowing for more hiring and expansion without expanding office space. I was already experiencing and doing this prior to COVID-19. On the flip-side, we’ve even seen some offices downsize or move out. Which will undoubtedly lead to an overabundance of office space, which will lead to lower rents but also less office construction.
In a reversal of environmental concerns, we’re seeing reusables being denied and single-serving utensils, flatware and disposal items are now sadly overflowing our garbage cans and gutters. This as an opportunity for that sector to fully embrace biodegradables. And maybe, once and for all, the US and Idaho in particular will learn how to recycle ALL the recyclables (I’m looking at you crinkly, plastic bottles).
This has also lead to more home gardening, making foods from scratch, etc. I would envision more individually creative solutions across the board.
My wife, who is Education Director at a HANDS-ON science center had to let 90% of her staff go that were all hired to facilitate the dynamic exhibits. And she’s had to quickly and efficiently transform ALL their education opportunities into online and take-out formats. Our son is taking summer camps online now. The school year was finished online, the School District was not prepared for that whatsoever. The summer camps have been much better at engaging, entertaining and educating the kids than the schools were. The school district has come around somewhat as we enter the fall semester. Mostly online, they are now integrating a half-in/half-out 2-days a week in person strategy. This will totally change how classrooms and teachers operate, as well as museums and science centers.
In a way, I think the Pandemic was the knock on the ass we all needed to slow down, be more pensive about how we approach work and life. Everyone seems to be more relaxed and happier (well, almost everyone). They’re getting to spend more time with their family. They’re realizing that we were all working too hard and too fast and missing out on what we were all working for and towards. I hope, and expect, that as we emerge out of this fog, that we don’t lose sight of that.