Adaptation of Indoor Health and Comfort Criteria to Mitigate Covid-19 Transmission in the Workplace

Abstract

The research discussed the application of indoor health and comfort criteria that needed to be reviewed to create good indoor environmental quality and reduce the transmission of the Covid-19 virus where people spent most of their time indoors. A confined area, which was poorly ventilated and reliant on air conditioning, helped transmit the Covid-19 virus easily as air recirculation was the main cause of office clusters. One of the categories of Greenship Interior Space, Indoor Health and Comfort (IHC), could be used as a guide for creating better indoor quality. The method used for the research was a systematic literature review to define, study, analyze, and classify all available research relating to adaptation of indoor health and comfort criteria to mitigate the transmission in the workplace. The results show the adjustment to IHC criteria in IHC 1-10, which focus on providing good air quality by introducing outside air, stopping air recirculation, reducing indoor user capacity, and reducing indoor biological and chemical pollutants. To illustrate the implementation of the new normal, Ciputra University workplace was being observed, as the findings of the results, some strategies that are in line with the objectives of IHC 1, IHC 2, and IHC 5. Adjustment of these criteria must be supported by implementing health protocols through basic hygiene routines, fitness screening, and maintaining physical distancing.

Housing Satisfaction and Preferences Towards Indoor Quality Related to the Environmental Factors in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…A study by Wardhani et.al. stated that improving air quality can be achieved by well-designed natural ventilation, increasing outdoor air exchange rates and the inflow of outdoor air, and minimizing air recirculation [10]. Designers should pay attention more to plan and design appropriate openings for future houses, especially for rooms that are often used.…”

“…These factors are also considered indicators that improve housing quality. Good indoor quality may affect the health of residents and helps to reduce the transmission of the Covid-19 virus [1,3,4,5,10].…”

Criteria Formulation for a Web-based Assessment Tool for the Net-Zero Healthy Building

“…Many studies also explain the importance of good indoor quality to respond to the covid-19 pandemic, the indoor design that supports occupant health through the creation of good indoor air quality in addition to achieving energy efficiency [4][5][6]. The health and comfort of occupants in the building is also an important consideration in net-zero energy building were to achieve performance in energy efficiency especially at the evaluation stage.…”

“…These design elements of netzero energy building can be explained by the following graph (figure 4). To respond to pandemic conditions, good air quality can be created by increasing the outdoor air exchange rate (6-12 Air Changes per Hour) [8], stop air recirculation and maximize outside air through windows or other mechanical systems and reducing space capacity to up to 50% to reduce viral aerosols [4,5,[9][10][11][12][13].…”

“…Before the pandemic, people mostly have done their activities inside buildings [3], and now, especially during the pandemic, with the lockdown policies, social distancing, and the new normal, occupants spend even more time inside the building. Based on this fact, strategies to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 (Sars-Cov-2) can be done through changes in building planning parameters, one of which is Greenship Interior Space Parameters, especially Indoor Health and Comfort [4,5]. 1).…”