Reflecting on Impacts of COVID19 on Sustainable Buildings and Cities

The pandemic of Coronavirus Disease or COVID19 has disrupted all aspects of our lives in many ways since it was first detected in the early part of the year 2020; personal and professional lives were impacted including workplaces, learning environments, businesses, commerce, and industry. The global toll of impacted people has been higher than many anticipated, with more than 100 M confirmed infections as of this issue and more than 2.5 M of confirmed casualties [1]. To a large degree, buildings are at the center of the pandemic in terms of spread and its control. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) virus spreads rapidly from person to person as the main contamination source presenting major challenges for human socializations and interactions, which occur mostly in indoor environments. Thus, indoor environments are a potential opportunity to reduce infection or to increase risk, if not properly ventilated. At the center of indoor environments are mechanical systems that control temperature and humidity levels, and ventilation rates, all requiring electrical energy to operate. The sudden shift from normal life to lockdowns and the associated reduced economic activities across the world have had unintended consequences to the use of buildings, where people tended to spend longer periods to conduct their daily personal and professional routines. This complex situation that places buildings at the center of human activities raises many questions about our state of knowledge and technology to face these extraordinary challenges presented by global pandemics; what should be the preparedness to properly manage indoor environments? How the energy infrastructure is copingwith these challenges, how energy should be used tomaintain proper indoor environments, and prolonged lockdown states? What are the impacts of extended stays in indoor environments on human health? What are the impacts on social equity and demographics? How pandemics may influence our future buildings’ science and design practices? These are some of the many questions that may need to be answered by buildings scientists and engineers. To reflect on these complex questions and to forge a forward agenda for our scientific and engineering community, a group of colleagues organized an initial open conversation at the ASME 2020 Energy Sustainability Conference, held virtually for the first time, this past month of June 2020. Prof. Max Zhang of Cornell University, and Dr. Kishor Khankari, ASHRAE Fellow President and Owner at AnSight LLC, joined the JESBC’s Chief Editors, to reflect on specific and broad topics that included the following: (a) impacts of COVID19 on mechanical systems for indoor environments, (b) the role of COVID19 in outdoor environments, (c) how COVID19 has impacted energy demands in buildings with a global perspective, and (d) what maybe the role of COVID19 in social equity. Short summaries of these reflections are given in the following sections.