Gauging Building Health

Brian Baker and Jack McCarthy | December 1, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how building owners, managers, and occupants think about buildings and their importance in supporting human health. Properly constructed and operated buildings can support health, well-being, productivity and can even serve as a place of refuge from the increasing occurrence of adverse environmental events such as smoke from wildfires, or exposures...

Legionella Mitigation: Implementing a Targeted Response for Prevention

Bryan Connors | November 23, 2022

When faced with a possible infection risk from Legionella colonization within a hospital water system, many health care systems take broad, buildingwide actions to stop the risk before it spreads, and they will continue to repeat those same actions without understanding the root cause. Common recommendations are to periodically add chlorine disinfectant (either low-level or...

Upper-room Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI): What You Need to Know Before Buying

Kathleen Brown and David Shore | November 22, 2022

Heightened interest in indoor air quality is coming from all corners of public and environmental health, including the CDC and the White House, creating a renewed focus on alternative methods for “air cleaning” or disinfection technologies. Improving indoor air quality is a worthwhile goal, but implementation must be done carefully and without harm. Generally, the...

Finding Balance: Risk & Goals in Ventilation

Jack McCarthy, David MacIntosh and David Shore | July 19, 2022

As COVID-19 precautions fall away, with the suspension of masking and social distancing requirements indoors in most locations, facility managers (FMs) may find that the next stage of the pandemic brings new challenges. While COVID cases have been much lower in recent months than during the height of the pandemic, it’s unlikely that FMs will...

Streamlined Management of Asbestos in Soil: UMass Boston’s UCRR Project

Will Wade | June 3, 2022

The hallmark of a successful construction project is marked by proper planning and budgeting. Even so, setbacks such as schedule delays are to be expected. But the sequence of events associated with the unanticipated discovery of asbestos contaminated soil on a construction site is anything but predictable. It can undoubtedly be a major roadblock against...

BERDO 2.0: Compliance FAQ

Andy Machado | June 3, 2022

The original BERDO, or Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance, was enacted in 2013 and started as a reporting ordinance modeled after New York City’s 2009 Local Law 84. Large buildings in the City of Boston were required to collect and report their energy use to the city. The City of Boston published the information,...

Evaluating Waterborne Pathogen Risks for a Stronger Water Management Plan

Erin Higgins | April 21, 2022

Having an effective water management program has proven critical for minimizing patient exposure to a wide range of dangerous waterborne pathogens. In fact, one CDC study found that approximately 21% of HAIs can be transmitted via water. However, many hospitals have struggled with the development and implementation of a comprehensive water management program. Pathogens include...

A facilities approach to preventing infection

Bryan Connors | April 1, 2022

Over the past 10 years, the U.S. has made meaningful improvements in preventing health care-associated infections (HAIs), yet infections remain a major cause of death and disability. In addition to being incredibly dangerous to patients, HAIs also are costly because hospitals are generally not reimbursed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for treating...

California Adds “Forever Chemical” PFOA as a known carcinogen to Prop 65 List

Ankur Singhal | March 4, 2022

As of February 25, 2022, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has officially added perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to the list of chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer under Proposition 65 (Prop 65). PFOA had already been listed as a Prop 65 chemical by OEHHA in November 2017 as a...

Air Tracing Studies: A Simple Strategy to Assess Infection Pathways

Bryan Connors | February 10, 2022

Preventing hospital acquired infections remains an ongoing battle for many healthcare infection prevention and facilities management teams. Fortunately, new tools and strategies continue to emerge to help experts address potential infection risks. One such tool is an air tracing study, which identifies the pathways that infectious organisms can travel from their source to a compromised...