Recommendations for promoting workplace health and wellbeing often include monitoring the indoor environment using wearable sensors. Our view is that a fixed sensor network is a better option as it records more parameters, does not depend on who is wearing what sensor and is less intrusive.
The winter vomiting bug is caused by the norovirus which spreads rapidly through aerosols and surfaces, survives for days or weeks between human hosts and is resistant to ammonia and alcohol-based cleaning products. We suggest that ultraviolet could be used to control its spread, especially public toilets and restaurants.
Modernist architecture in the early 20th century adopted the Licht und Luft principle, maximising light and ventilation to combat tuberculosis. Amid another airborne disease pandemic, the same principles apply: the ultraviolet component of sunlight kills viruses and good ventilation is an established approach to limit airborne transmission.
The modern urban environment is ideal for the transmission of respiratory viruses, which is why the common cold spreads so fast. COVID-19 spreads using the same mechanisms but is far more serious because it can cause pneumonia and long-term illnesses. Developing ways to limit the spread of viruses in the built environment will require an understanding of how they infect.
The urban environment facilitates respiratory virus transmission. COVID-19 is now the major threat but the common cold has long had a serious impact on wellbeing, personal income and the economy. The factors by which urban living aids virus transmission are known but little attempt has been made to address them.
In March 2020, the Chartered Institute for Building Service Engineers (CIBSE) published an update to their TM40 guidelines titled Health and Wellbeing in Building Services. It discusses principles that place wellbeing at the centre of building design and management.