Business Will Never Be the Same - Take Advantage of It: Guest MINDSETTER™ Kenneth Filarski
Monday, March 30, 2020
Things will never be the same. We should not think that our lives will return to normal if we get past this global COVID-19 crisis. Our society, our economy and all the related time worn and time-honored patterns of our ways of life across our planet are slowly and quickly becoming no more. This is not the Charles Dickens tale of two cities but a tale of two stories, one unfolding now, and one yet to be written.
COVID-19 is proving itself to be an extremely disruptive change agent, radically different than the change agents of natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, and wildfires. It is also different from the human-caused change-agent events of the Depression, World Wars, political revolution, and even the Arab Oil Embargo which pushed us to fuel-efficient vehicles, energy efficiency, changing the way Detroit and other companies designed automobiles.
Here are some things to think about. There are many more, but I begin with these.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWith the necessary acceleration of distance-working and distance-learning, many organizations, corporations, and even education institutions will realize that “Hey, we don’t need this...we can do it another way.” This will not only reduce the number of jobs, but it will also reduce the need for physical office space in commercial buildings. That will obviously lead to underutilized buildings, a slow down if not a halt in commercial development, falling lease rates, and real estate failures. Distance learning will give school districts and universities pause to think of how many buildings and how much school space is necessary. Education might transform into a combination of an in-place, face-to-face learning for part of the school year, and distance learning for the other part of the year. That saves capital investment in physical facilities and continues the public health initiative of social distancing and time spacing.
Social distancing parameters gives rise to impacts on building codes. Contrary to the potentially reduced need for building space, public health and social distancing will have an influence on building and fire codes specifically in lowering occupancy capacities for assembly, business, and education uses. The now recommended six-foot social distancing reduces the allowable occupancy capacities across all categories. A greater amount of floor space would then be necessary for each occupant in any of our buildings.
The proliferation of natural disasters is now influencing building designs to incorporate features that accept the forces and dynamics of nature. One example is elevating useable ground floor space off the ground, allowing water to do what it does best - to move! Buildings, particularly health care facilities and associated buildings such as parking garages, will be designed for flexibility in meeting the surge of critical public health situations. Vanderbilt University Medical Center repurposed the upper levels of their parking garage to serve as assessment space for COVID-19. Hat’s off to Vanderbilt for necessary creativity.
The way we design and construct buildings and open spaces will change. There will be a greater appreciation and knowledge of our landscapes and a greater integration of our buildings and sustainable landscapes. We are more aware that many of our buildings are not as healthy as they could or should be. Buildings deteriorate and become less healthy over time. Landscapes have the ability to protect and even regenerate natural systems, increasing the ecosystem services they provide. They also regenerate the human psyche, a needed quality we certainly need in these times.
Going forward we will see greater protective measures in buildings including how we enter, exit, and what we touch in buildings and products. To combat and kill viruses, antiviral nano graphene technology will be integrated and applied to health care protection equipment, our clothing, packaging, buildings, heating and cooling systems, paint, flooring, wall coverings, and all we touch in order to protect us from the viral attacks we are experiencing with COVID-19. The packaging and handling of materials and goods will irrevocably change.
Our decisions will be developed more and more with geo-spatial awareness rather than artificial geo-political boundaries. Watersheds, air sheds, and eco-regions are oblivious to city, state, or national boundaries. Commerce cuts across geo-political boundaries. Geo-spatial perspectives in decision making by governments and the private sector will lead to collaboration and holistic outcomes. We can heal our great mother earth. Since the outbreak NASA satellite imagery tracking shows significant carbon emission reductions in the regions over China and Italy.
Our economic systems, the stock markets and investments will not be viewed in the same way as we do now. Greater scrutiny and analysis will be directed to socially and environmentally responsible companies and to those that invest in them. Supply chain diversification and supply proximity will become more aligned with ecological behavior in that the greater the diversification there exists in a given natural or human ecosystem, the greater is its resilience and capability to not only survive, but to thrive.
Time is precious, it marches on. We are realizing that we truly do not have a lot of time in the big picture of things. Let’s use our time wisely. The resources are there. We can use our resources creatively, wisely, and strategically. COVID-19 is showing us everything is connected, everything is global.
We have a transformational opportunity in front of us. We can regenerate our societies, our planet based upon understanding and practicing principles of ecology, embracing a holistic approach to people, our environment, and our economies. Let’s write our story, a story for all, a story for our planet…a story for the next 2,000 years.
Kenneth J. Filarski is the founder of the award-winning design and ecology studio workshop of FILARSKI/ARCHITECTURE+PLANNING+RESEARCH. Filarski is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a LEED Fellow of the U.S. Green Building Council, is one of only 34 professionals in the world so recognized. He is multi-disciplinary, credentialed in a number of professions. Chair of the U.S. Green Building Council RI, Filarski is also a member of the National Disaster Assistance Committee of the American Institute of Architects currently addressing COVID-19. He is nationally certified by the State of California Office of Emergency Services as a disaster responder, a disaster responder trainer, and as a trainer for disaster responder trainers.
KENNETH J. FILARSKI FAIA, LEED FELLOW, AICP, LEED AP BD+C, SITES AP, CFM, SAP+AEER, NCARB
FILARSKIARCHITECTURE+PLANNING+R
