Want Workers to Return to the Office? Try Making It Greener

Amid a heightened war for talent among companies post-pandemic, U.S. employees have higher expectations for green office spaces and want their employers to make eco-friendly practices a priority, according to new research. Hygiene and health company Essity recently conducted a survey of workers who have returned to the office at least part-time and found that…

How Flexible Design Can Improve Resilience in Uncertain Times

How Flexible Design Can Improve Resilience in Uncertain Times

For educational facilities, adaptable learning environments empower students and staff even through disruptive times. One school in Illinois exemplifies this strategy. Among the many lessons of the pandemic, school leaders have come to expect the unexpected — and in turn, to explore new ways to shape more resilient learning environments. COVID-related worries and concerns plagued…

Impairment Procedures for Sprinkler Systems That are Out of Order

Impairment Procedures for Sprinkler Systems That are Out of Order

NFPA 25, Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems, provides the criteria for the routine activities that must be conducted to ensure that water-based fire protection systems can be relied upon in the event of a fire. These activities range from simple visual confirmation of some things such as valve…

Preventing occupational disease when working with chemicals

Preventing occupational disease when working with chemicals

  When chemicals are used, stored, or generated in the workplace, there are unique hazards. Some have properties that make them an immediate safety concern, like explosive, flammable, and corrosive chemicals. Others cause adverse health effects on our body and even long-term illness. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety notes that over the…

Clean Air Day to highlight important role of building ventilation

Clean Air Day to highlight important role of building ventilation

  Today (16 June) marks Clean Air Day, the UK’s largest air pollution campaign, bringing together communities, businesses, schools and the health sector. The WHO blames exposure to pollution for seven million premature deaths a year worldwide and says there is “clear evidence” that air pollution harms human health “at even lower concentrations than previously understood”….

How data-driven research partnerships deepen energy access across supply chains

How data-driven research partnerships deepen energy access across supply chains

Access to reliable, affordable and clean energy is increasingly recognized as the “golden thread” tying together and enabling many other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite progress over the last decade in making solutions to energy poverty more accessible to the more than 800 million people currently without electricity (and the many more with intermittent or…

How Hospitals Can Create Safer Environments for Patients, Staff, and Visitors

How Hospitals Can Create Safer Environments for Patients, Staff, and Visitors

Step into any hospital or healthcare facility and you’ll be surrounded not only by clinical, administrative, and operational staff, but also by patients, visitors, and vendor representatives. With so many people traversing the hospital daily, protecting them can feel quite challenging. Until recently, almost anyone could enter a hospital with relative ease. Today, while many…

Icelandic startups tackle energy resilience under extreme conditions

Icelandic startups tackle energy resilience under extreme conditions

Greetings from Iceland! The land of midnight sun, spectacular waterfalls and adorable ponies with 1980s rocker hair. I’m here this week looking into how this little country is on the road to decarbonization. The island nation has adopted an incredible goal of being fossil fuel-free by 2040, which would be a global first. The country…