How Companies Need to Change Their Office Design in The Face of Covid….Effective Immediately

As the country starts to think about going back to work in the face of this Covid-19 pandemic, our corporate clients are already calling us to say their attorneys are advising they modify their office spaces before employees return to work in order to help prevent the spread of the virus.  Employers have the responsibility of providing a safe working environment.  If they have not taken precautions to keep their people safe, they could be liable if they get sick or, worse yet, die.  Since it will be impossible to provide a 100% safe environment, many employers, if they take the advice of their attorneys, will ask their workers to sign liability waivers in order to return to the office.  They are also considering requiring their employees to regularly fill out questionnaires regarding their current health status and potential exposure to the Corona virus.  Going to work sick will no longer be allowed.  Furthermore, pandemics in general are now on everyone’s radar, and it’s clear that our way of life must adapt to mitigate potential future outbreaks.

In the past few decades, the vast majority of companies have adopted an open office floor plan with open workspaces or desking.  This was done to foster collaboration.  As a design firm, our goal on many projects have often been about getting co-workers to come together in open lounges, informal meeting spaces, and open break rooms to share information and get creative.  But an open, collaboration-focused floor plan is the absolute worst type of layout for physical distancing.  So now what?

Corporate attorneys are advising our clients to eliminate break rooms where people share coffee makers, refrigerators, and sinks, as well as perhaps even meeting rooms.  Solutions that may be less obvious to non-designers are modifications to the HVAC system so there’s negative pressurization, the addition of an air filtration system, the replacement of high-use surfaces with anti-microbial and smooth, cleanable materials, and the addition of high-quality walk-off mats at entry doors. Touch points can be replaced with touch-free devices wherever possible.  Automatic doors on sensors may become more prevalent. Temporary plexiglass dividers between workspaces might be installed until more permanent solutions can be ordered and installed.  Perhaps plexiglass or glass dividers will even get installed in meeting rooms as well.  Furniture will need to be rearranged, and new furniture may be required. 

Many companies will choose to continue to use Zoom and other web conferencing services for group meetings instead of meeting in person.  More people will continue to work from home and many landlords will find themselves with vacant space.  How all of this will affect company cultures, communication, teamwork, and a sense of belonging will be interesting to see.  Companies will have to come up with other methods for fostering these important aspects of their business.  Web-based collaboration software, and perhaps even the use of computer avatars, will increase.  Jobs and systems will be redesigned along with physical spaces.  Some companies may stagger the days that staff members come into the office so that it’s possible to keep people at least six feet apart.  Janitorial procedures will change.  The use of ultra-violet light to disinfect may increase.  We designers have a new challenge ahead of us.  We must completely re-think office design to continue to meet the goals of our clients while protecting their staff from infection.  

Elisa Garcia, AIA, is the lead designer and construction manager at Statement Design.  Her email address is elisa@statementdesignstudio.com

Design Your Space & Design Your Life

Living and working in well-designed spaces can make the difference between living a happy life or an unsatisfactory one. 90% of our lives are spent indoors.  A well-designed space is one that supports and promotes the lifestyle people desire through both functional and aesthetic design elements. Moreover, our health and wellbeing are deeply affected by space design.  Most people understand that living in a cluttered space can cause stress, or that a dark house can be depressing, but there are many other factors to consider when designing for overall wellness that many designers don’t consider.

This article covers just a few of the ways design can influence the quality of our lives, and we’ll begin with light.  Exposure to adequate levels of sunlight is critical for health and well-being, for physiological, psychological, and neurological reasons. Proximity to windows, outdoor views (ideally some nature), and daylight is paramount. Daylight should be the primary source of lighting, if possible, instead of artificial lighting. Ideal lighting involves proper exposure to diffuse daylight as well as careful design of windows to avoid excessive glare and heat gain.  It is important to control glare while in bright light to avoid eye discomfort, fatigue and visual impairment. Glare from windows can be controlled with adjustable window coverings, external shading systems, or other strategies. To prevent glare from artificial lighting, the lighting should be diffused or indirect.

In addition to facilitating our vision, both daylight and artificial light influences our circadian rhythm. Light greatly affects the quality of our sleep. 50 to 70 million American adults have a chronic sleep disorder. Such disorders and sleep deprivation are associated with diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attaches, hypertension, stroke, and other illnesses.  Multiple physiological processes – including those relating to alertness, digestion, and sleep – are regulated in part by the hormones influenced by our circadian rhythm.  Since we spend so much time indoors, artificial lighting has a huge impact as well. To maintain our internal clock optimally, we need periods of both brightness and darkness at the correct times. However, our need for adequate light levels to perform activities such as reading, eating, and other tasks must be balanced with the right lighting that keeps our internal clock on time. Being in bright light during the first part of the day, and lower and lower light levels in the latter part of the day is important. Staying away from artificial blue-ish light that mimics daylight after the sun sets is crucial for good sleep. Certain light bulbs, computer screens, phones, and TV screens emit blue-ish light. There are now lighting products on the market that change intensity and color throughout the day to keep our internal clock better synchronized.

The light level in a space contributes to the perception of spaciousness and overall appeal of a space. Light color also impacts the appeal of space and can either contribute or detract from our eye comfort. Poor color quality can make objects difficult to see correctly. Foods, skin, and plants may appear dull or non-appetizing. Outdoor spaces are also important to soak up some direct sunlight and vitamin D. They should be aesthetically pleasing, quiet, and free of unpleasant odors, so people want to use them.

Physical inactivity poses one of the biggest modern threats to public health. Most of us spend the majority of our time indoors in a seated position. Prolonged sitting is associated with a number of adverse health conditions including obesity, cancer, back problems, and fatigue just to name a few. Sitting more than 3 hours per day is associated with a 2-year lower life expectancy. Regular exercise doesn’t negate the health consequences of long periods of sitting in chairs, so it’s important to create opportunities to reduce sitting and promote movement.  Sitting on the floor or standing are much healthier than sitting in chairs or on sofas. Using standing desks is helpful. Having fewer TV’s is one way to discourage TV watching.  Placing fitness equipment in front of a TV in an aesthetically pleasing way or keeping hand weights and resistant bands in a cabinet near the TV are other ways.  The layout of the space can also affect the amount of movement needed.  Having a TV room next to the kitchen promotes eating while watching TV. Having a bathroom further away from the TV room promotes a little more movement than having it directly off the TV room. 

Noise can be a source of stress. Noise from traffic creates a higher risk for hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and heart attack. Internal noises from electronics, HVAC systems, mechanical equipment as well as the occupants themselves can also be sources of annoyance, distraction, and decreased productivity. The layout of a space should allow for separate loud and quiet zones. Walls should have the appropriate insulation and construction detailing and doors should have gaskets, sweeps and a non-hollow core to mitigate sound transmission between rooms. The noise produced by reverberation can decrease speech intelligibility and cause additional stress. It’s important to use sound-absorbing materials and other design elements. Footsteps and voices can bounce off hard surfaces making them louder. But carpeting and throw rugs can also be a source of dust and germs. Ceiling height also affects indoor noise levels. High ceilings create visual appeal, but to mitigate noise, other design features are necessary. 

This article certainly doesn’t cover all the ways space design can influence our lives, but begins to touch on the key points. For more detailed articles on how design affects health and wellness, go https://statementdesignstudio.com/links-to.  We hope you find this helpful, and don’t hesitate to let us know if you need assistance at https://statementdesignstudio.com/contact.

A summary of The Longevity Diet, Discover the New Science to Slow Aging, Fight Disease and Manage Your Weight

The Author, Dr. Valter Longo, PhD is the Director of The Longevity Institute at UCS and one of the top scientists in the world studying aging and how to stay young for as long as possible. Below is my summary of his book. 

The root disease of all other diseases is aging. If we solve for that, we will solve the other diseases so that we can be healthy for longer and die healthy. Longevity is controlled by genes and lifestyle. Among the factors in your control, what you eat is the primary thing that will affect your health and longevity.

The food you eat can determine how you look and function, whether you sleep well at night, whether you’re thin or you gain weight, and what the shape of your body is. It determines whether your brain will use glucose or ketone bodies to obtain energy. It determines your chances of becoming pregnant if you’re female. Food ingredients are molecules that can cause remarkable changes in your body, and can reprogram the function of our cells and organs. 

What follows is the optimal diet for minimizing disease and maximizing a healthy lifespan:

1. Follow a mostly vegan diet with a little fish. Aim for a diet that is close to 100% plant and fish-based, limiting fish consumption to two to three portions a week and avoiding fish with high mercury content (tuna, swordfish, mackerel, halibut). If you are past age 60 and start to lose weight and/or muscle, eat more fish along with other proteins such as eggs and certain cheeses (preferably feta or pecorino) and yogurt made from goat’s milk. 
2. Consume a low amount, but a sufficient amount, of protein which is .31 to .36 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. If you weight 130 pounds, that comes to about 40 to 47 grams of protein per day, of which 30 grams should be consumed in a single meal to maximize muscle synthesis. Someone who weighs 200-220 pounds should eat about 60-70 grams of protein per day. Intake should be increased slightly (about 10-20% or 5 to 10 grams more per day) after age 65 in people who are losing muscle. Animal proteins (red meat, white meat, cheese) should not be consumed at all with the exception of fish. Plenty of legumes (beans, etc) and nuts, which are high in protein, should be eaten instead. 
3. Eats as little bad fats (saturated, hydrogenated, and trans fats in animal fats and processed foods like mayonnaise) and sugars (pasta, rice, bread, fruit, fruit juices) as possible, and eat as many good fats (3 tablespoons of olive oil per day, salmon, avocados, and 1 ounce of nuts per day) and complex carbs (whole bread, legumes, vegetables) as possible. 
4. Eat foods with lots of vitamins, minerals and micronutrients. The author provides an appendix listing foods rich in important nutrients but it’s too long to include here. As extra insurance, take a multivitamin and mineral pill plus omega-3 fish oil from a reputable company. 
5. Select healthy food among those discussed above that your specific ancestors would have eaten. This will help you avoid foods that you may be intolerant or allergic to based on our geno type. 
6. Eat only twice a day plus one small snack. It’s best to eat breakfast and one major meal per day plus one nourishing, snack per day that has less than 5 grams of sugar and 100 calories. Skipping breakfast is associated with increased risk for diseases in many studies. If your weight or muscle mass is too low, then eat three meals a day. Don’t graze all day. In the elderly, it may be necessary to break the one major meal into two smaller meals to avoid digestion problems. 
7. Follow a time-restricted eating protocol. Confine all of your food intake to a window of less than 12 hours per day. A shorter resting window less than 10 hours per day is more effective for weight loss. Do not eat within 3 to 4 hours of going to sleep. You can drink water and tea or coffee without milk or sugar outside of the feeding window. 
8. Do a 5-day fasting-mimicking diet (see below photo) under the supervision of a trained professional assuming your are under age 70, are neither frail nor malnourished, are not pregnant, or an athlete in training, and are free of major diseases. The frequency depends on your current level of health. 
9. Follow the above in such a way that you reach and maintain a healthy weight and abdominal circumference (less than 33 inches for men and 27 inches for women). 

Fasting has many benefits but also some negative side effects. The fasting-mimicking diet keeps the benefits of fasting while eliminating any negative side effects. It tricks the body into a starvation mode, activating a regenerative self-healing program within the body. In addition to increasing lifespan, people will lose abdominal fat without loss of muscle. Bone density, stem cells and immunity increases. Damaged cells are also destroyed.

Genes are the most powerful factor in determining lifespan. Good genes can often offset a less than ideal diet. Scientists are trying to figure out how to change our genes to live long healthy lives but for now, the food we eat is the most potent intervention available for disease prevention and treatment. 

The second major factor we are in control of that determines lifespan is exercise. What’s important is working all your body parts until you breathe rapidly and sweat for five to ten hours a week. Exercising too hard and too much is detrimental. 

The following are exercise guidelines to increase longevity:

1. Walk fast for one hour every day. 
2. Do moderate exercise 2-1/2 to 5 hours per week with some in the vigorous range. Most of the benefit is derived from the first 2-1/2 hours if that’s all you have the time or energy for. 
3. Use weight training or weight-free exercises to strengthen all your muscles to the point of mild soreness regularly. 
4. To maximize muscle growth, consume 30 grams of protein in a single meal one or two hours after a relatively intense weight-training session. 

Following all of the above can reverse existing health problems and diseases in addition to preventing problems in the future. Much of the book goes into detail about how prevent and treat specific diseases. 

Staying close to family and friends, belonging to organizations, and volunteering to help others are also helpful for a long and healthy life.

That concludes my summary. I think this author is very qualified and I’m definitely going to incorporate as much of his advise as possible. However, in my non-qualified opinion, it seems he’s downplayed the importance of social connections compared to other studies and experts. Moreover, many studies I’ve read indicate that genes only account for 20% of how long we live, yet the author indicates genes are the biggest factor which I feel could disincentivize people from taking control of the lifestyle factors which contribute to longevity. He also doesn’t mention anything about getting lots of good quality sleep or drinking lots of water, which seem crucial to good health and longevity. I’m very curious as to why he left those out. 

Elisa