Hegarty told the AJ that while the global pandemic has been \u2018framed as a medical crisis,\u2019 little attention had been paid to the role of buildings \u2013 particularly \u2018under-engineered and over-occupied\u2019 buildings with poor air flow \u2013 in the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n
\u2018Covid-19 is an airborne disease that spreads between people; however, it is very evident that transmission outdoors is very low \u2013 and certainly not enough for a pandemic,\u2019 she said. \u2018The spread of Covid-19 is therefore a factor of air quality, and use, of buildings and vehicles.\u2019<\/p>\n
The academic argues that while many building with high ceilings and good air flow posed a low risk of transmission, similar to being outside, other buildings were hotspots for disease spread \u2013 with three types being particularly notable (see box below).<\/em><\/p>\n The findings form part of in-depth research by Hegarty into a range of buildings. She has also investigated areas of engineering, epidemiology, statistics and physics as well as studying accounts of the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak for clues about pandemic spread.<\/p>\n According to Hegarty, the risks posed by poor indoor air quality go beyond controlling Covid-19 to reducing the spread of other airborne diseases \u2013 including future variants and pandemics \u2013 as well as problems caused by damp and for people with respiratory conditions such as asthma.<\/p>\n In this respect, Hegarty said, drafty, older buildings tended to be better than those built during the 1970s and 1980s after the oil crisis, which were designed to have higher energy efficiency standards, but which recirculated air, compromising occupiers\u2019 health.<\/p>\n She argued that while the short-term fix was to \u2018open windows and be cold\u2019, programmes for retrofitting buildings and improving energy efficiency should include improving their ventilation.<\/p>\n During refurbishment works, she argues, clever solutions for ventilation could be introduced \u2013 for instance, the use of mechanical heat recovery to warm fresh air before it is pumped into a building.<\/p>\n The University College Dublin lecturer also claimed that a \u2018very strong deregulatory agenda\u2019 had partially caused a lack of good-quality ventilation in buildings \u2013 and assisted the spread of Covid-19 through populations.<\/p>\n \u2018Construction has come to be about property and asset value, with value engineering and corner-cutting \u2013 rather than good-quality buildings,\u2019 she said. \u2018Governments have become more hands-off, with property treated as a private matter rather than a public matter.\u2019<\/p>\n According to Hegarty, this has seen hard-earned design principles such as high ceilings and carefully considered ventilation being undermined \u2013 just as the use and density of buildings has increased.<\/p>\n \u2018Grenfell was one piece of [the story of deregulation], and this is another piece. Somebody can cut a corner with cladding specification and save money \u2013 it might make perfect sense from a property [developers\u2019] position.<\/p>\n \u2018But the price is paid by the public. We are all paying a very, very high price for the pandemic spread. Public health and safety is about regulating buildings so we don\u2019t have 70 people die in a fire, or 50 people infected in a school.\u2019<\/p>\n Hegarty argues that as well re-evaluating building regulations, there should be a public information campaign so people better understand the risk of virus spread in different buildings \u2013 as well as retraining professionals such as architects and engineers, to improve their understanding of public health.<\/p>\n Hegarty told the AJ that while the global pandemic has been \u2018framed as a medical crisis,\u2019 little attention had been paid to the role of buildings \u2013 particularly \u2018under-engineered and over-occupied\u2019 buildings with poor air flow \u2013 in the spread of the virus. \u2018Covid-19 is an airborne disease that spreads between people; however, it is …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72402,"featured_media":636726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[6581,2266,2395],"yoast_head":"\nThe three highest risk buildings<\/h3>\n
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