International. "We are facing a global health crisis like no other in the 75-year history of the United Nations, which is spreading human suffering, infecting the global economy and changing people's lives," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
"We must ensure that lessons are learned and that this crisis provides a watershed moment for health emergency preparedness and for investment in critical twenty-first century public services and the effective delivery of global public goods. We have a framework for action: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We must deliver on our promises to people and the planet."
The COVID-19 crisis has paralyzed the world physically, significantly reducing flights, commuting and industrial activity in most parts of the world, and global emissions are expected to fall by 4 to 8% in 2020, according to Carbon Brief. However, buildings consume 40% of the total energy generated and also account for 39% of global carbon emissions, making them a vital part of any effective environmental action. While the pandemic has reduced emissions overall, buildings aren't a big part of that reduction, and as we examine official guidance for a return to the office, we find a worsening of the environmental situation for post-COVID buildings.
"Modify or adjust seating, furniture, and workstations to maintain a 6-foot social distance between employees, when possible," states the CDC's COVID-19 guidance, thereby reducing maximum occupancy by about 50% in many cases. "Use methods to physically separate employees in all areas of the building, including work areas and other areas such as meeting rooms, break rooms, parking lots, entrance and exit areas, and locker rooms," the CDC continues, opposing the open layout plan and active reduction of direct collaboration.
Governments around the world are publishing similar social distancing guidance for employers looking to get their employees back to the office, offering safe distances that essentially mean around 50% occupancy. However, a socially distanced 50% occupancy does not mean 50% less energy consumption, as half of the employees are spread out in the same space. For businesses, that means nearly double the energy consumption per person, reconfiguring their cost scenarios and office selection, with broad impacts for building owners who have designed and built based on a pre-COVID cost landscape. These trends will be exacerbated by the global economic downturn.
This is bad news for the environment. While 50% of the working population uses almost 100% of the typical energy consumption of the building, the other 50% of the active population consumes energy in another office or at home. In their 1996 book "Our Ecological Footprint," urban planners Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees emphasize that sustainability depends on the rate of consumption, not just consumption. "For example, it could be sustainable to operate a petrol-devouring Rolls Royce if it were shared among 20 friends and kept for a long time," they say. "On the other hand, it might be unsustainable for everyone to have an electric car."
According to this logic, silly buildings with continuously high human occupancy represent a more environmentally responsible use of resources than half-full smart buildings, even if the latter are more energy efficient. Of course, a half-full smart building is better for the environment than a half-full dumb building, not only through more efficient technology, but also through greater resilience to the crisis. As we consider the potential for long-term social distancing, we quickly come to the conclusion that occupancy levels are important to the environment and, however you look at it, the current occupancy guidance is not sustainable, nor are empty buildings.
In the UK, energy performance consultants Carbon Intelligence revealed that energy use in a sample of 300 offices, hotels and commercial buildings fell on average by just 16% in the last week of March, when the government ordered people to socially distance themselves, avoid travelling. and work from home. Despite the UK's strict social distancing measures preventing all non-essential staff from entering these buildings, the worst 10% of buildings still use about 97% of their typical energy demand.
"While there are many examples of energy waste by building owners and operators who are not prepared to understand the situation and take steps to reduce the cost and environmental impact of their facilities, the reality is that you can't just turn off a building, they just weren't designed that way. Emergency lighting and security are essentially 'always on' technologies, while other systems need significant care and maintenance to be able to shut down for a significant period of time," we wrote in an August article proposing a standby mode for buildings.
The pandemic has affected the world and made public health the number one priority to return to some kind of pre-COVID normality. However, the pre-COVID world was a dirty, wasteful, unhealthy ship heading at full speed towards climate catastrophe, why would we want to go back to that? Instead, we must see the crisis as an opportunity to change, for the sake of public health but also for the environment on which global health depends. In May, more than 350 organizations representing more than 40 million health professionals from 90 different countries wrote an open letter to G20 leaders calling for a Healthy #Recuperación.
"Dear G20 leaders... A truly healthy recovery will not allow pollution to continue to cloud the air we breathe and the water we drink. It will not allow for climate change and deforestation unabated, which could trigger new threats to the health of vulnerable populations," the letter reads. The huge investments their governments will make in the coming months in key sectors such as healthcare, transport, energy and agriculture must have health protection and promotion at their core. What the world needs now is a #RecuperaciónSaludable. Your stimulus plans should be a recipe for that."
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