Anthropologist (PhD), Engineer (PE), Applied Evolutionist, Focused on evolutionary & HCD approaches to built environment & beyond. Views my own. He/him
Oct 9, 2021 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
Our new office policy we're finalizing essentially takes this viewpoint. In 3 of our offices, we've assessed high vaxx rates combined w/ addressing the Delta far field risk via ventilation/filtration is adequate enough for vaxxed employees (almost 100%) to go sans masks. 1/
Even in metro areas currently deemed by the CDC as having high or substantial community transmission.
To have vaxxed employees go sans masks in our other 2 offices, relative to their current lower office vaxx rates, the Delta far field risk needs to be addressed through... 2/
Oct 8, 2021 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
"'We were in no way expecting what happened,' says Superintendent Adam Hatfield." @TheKLC
klcjournal.com/covid-19-schoo…
W/ the #DeltaVariant we knew districts would be taking larger risks than necessary if all relevant mitigation strategies weren't implemented -
. That we haven't had more districts close for a period of time is pretty fortunate considering everything. 2/
Oct 6, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
A few questions for the UV specialists. 1st, are the studies/modeling that have been done so far relative to Far UVC impacts on eyes/skin sufficient to answer questions regarding a) potential negative impacts from chronic (continuous or repeated) exposure,... 1/
b) age/developmental specific concerns related to short term or chronic exposure, & c) concerns for those w/ pre-existing eye/skin conditions after experiencing short term or chronic exposure?
2nd, have studies been done looking at the impacts on the built environment's... 2/
Aug 15, 2021 • 17 tweets • 8 min read
This is an all hands on deck moment. In-person school is starting. W/ the #DeltaVariant, even w/ the majority of the relevant strategies in place, it’s going to be difficult to prevent transmission in our schools (linkedin.com/pulse/in-perso…). 🧵1/
#ksed#ksleg
In an elementary classroom w/ unvaxxed students, generally ASHRAE compliant ventilation/filtration, the addition of (1) portable HEPA filter unit, & theoretical 100% mask wearing (double layer cloth mask), max exposure is only about 1.2 hrs before an additional student... 2/
Jan 5, 2021 • 16 tweets • 12 min read
These are the type of actions our pharmacies, hair salons, retail stores, offices, universities, k-12 schools, individual residences, etc., need to be taking, particularly w/... 1/
a more transmissible strain spreading in the U.S. & months left before vaccination levels are where needed to be.
CO2 levels can be used to estimate ventilation levels, though it's important to account for factors like the number of people present, the size of,... 2/
Jan 3, 2021 • 17 tweets • 6 min read
I would challenge your point that “No matter what we do, resources will remain scarce and people will compete over them.” First, there’s an abundance of evidence from the archaeological, historical, & contemporary ethnographic records of individuals & groups cooperating... 1/
(employing some or all of Ostrom’s principles) to survive in environments of scarce resources (& not just hunter/gatherer groups). Not saying the evidence for competition (including violent competition) isn’t also there, or that the competition between groups isn’t also... 2/
Sep 22, 2020 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
Sure. I think that’s great advice, whether or not we’re in a pandemic. As high performance bldg consultants, we’ve been doing that since last March. Engaging school districts to help them work through building/behavioral strategies for reopening relevant to their situation. 1/
As part of that effort we also developed a viral infection risk estimator to help districts (in conjunction w/us, by themselves, or w/ other consultants) evaluate the most effective strategies room by room. Particularly important when resources are limited. I know other... 2/
Sep 21, 2020 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Thoroughly enjoyed this week’s @inquiringshow podcast consisting of @indrevis’s interview of Sara Hendrin regarding her new book: What Can a Body Do?: How We Meet the Built World. I love it when the tables are flipped relative to our views of the... 1/
stitcher.com/s?eid=77748790
built environment, particularly when that flipping provides a more comprehensive & inclusive focus on people. This idea isn’t new - that people are disabled not because of their bodies or brains but because of the physical environment we’ve created. But Hendrin provides... 2/
Sep 18, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Ha! Yeah, Lawrencians are rarely shy about sharing their opinions.
It is true that some of what I discussed either requires larger societal structural change or starting the process to address several months ago. And I do recognize we're now faced w/ a somewhat dire situation.1/
But based on what I know about behavior, I think the ordinance/ticketing won't do much to change the risky behavior of those students already engaged in it. Though as I said before, it could help maintain the behavior of those already complying by reinforcing a perception... 2/
Sep 18, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Also good to see it has a sunset provision. I understand the need to hold everyone across the community to the same standard. That perception is important to help maintain compliance among those who've already been complying (& sacrificing to do so).
ordinance/ticketing will have a limited effect on those individuals, particularly university students, who've been flagrantly engaging in risky behavior.
Many of those students have no ties to our community. They hold misperceptions, or are ignorant of, the seriousness of... 2/
Sep 16, 2020 • 15 tweets • 7 min read
Whether or not the results of the 779 tests between 9/7 & 9/13 are a representative sample of the student body depend on sampling procedures & data analysis techniques we're not privy to. Though given that KU's testing at this point seems... 1/
www2.ljworld.com/news/ku/2020/s…
driven more by limitations in it's ability to do more testing as well as laboratory limitations in processing the results, then it's likely this isn't statistically representative. The 10.9% positivity rate may underestimate the % of students infected between 9/7 & 9/13. 2/ #ksed
Sep 15, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Monitoring & graduated sanctions are key for enforcing rules that benefit the campus & larger community, but that requires clearly defining who does the monitoring & enforcement ahead of time.
www2.ljworld.com/news/general-n…
stakeholders (students, faculty/staff, administrators, neighborhood associations, Greek life representatives, city/county representatives, etc.) in the development/modification of those rules, as well as how they're monitored/enforced.
www2.ljworld.com/news/schools/2…
or will likely later in the year, be struggling to keep students engaged, or even enrolled. Doing so ignores the realities facing communities, districts, parents, & students this year.
And unless we a) ramp of the frequency/quantity of testing, b) improve basic community... 2/
Sep 13, 2020 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Just as the pandemic has laid bare so many of our societal injustices & maladaptive structures, it has exposed our decades long underfunding of, & inadequate focus on, public education.
nytimes.com/interactive/20…
along w/ our collective failure to do what it would have taken to equitably/safely have in-person &/or online school, should make all of our faces turn red w/ shame. We have failed our students & educators.
If we can turn this around & begin to contextually... 2/
renewaire.com/wp-content/upl…
of a straw man regarding some newer BPI tech's reported non-ozone producing capabilities.
That being said, I'm generally in agreement w/ what's stated here. BPI manufacturers have historically touted their tech as a means for reducing ventilation rates, despite evidence... 2/
Sep 3, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Not an expert in developing national, coordinated efforts to respond to various crises. But besides a change in leadership, the U.S. must address it's addiction to the myth of the individual & make some fundamental changes to our nested, hierarchical spheres of interaction... 1/
- government, political, economic, educational, etc. The pandemic, terrible as it is, could also be an opportunity for the change needed to address this + other major issues like climate change, racism, wealth gap, etc.
Nice overview of this topic via @NewYorker & Jill Lepore.
We're evolutionarily mismatched to many aspects of our indoor environments so it's important to figure out how to make the indoors mimic the outdoors relative to it's impact on us as well... 1/
And quantifying those impacts, as @j_g_allen & @cleantechcities lay out in detail in their book, Healthy Buildings, can effectively help drive decision-making to give us healthier built environments.
I agree. We are failing our kids, miserably. But it's not for lack of good ideas. You & others have done phenomenal work in researching, compiling, & communicating key strategies.
We lack the necessary leadership in key areas - from local levels to the White House;...1/
we even have leaders using the pandemic & it's suffering to sow division for their own gain. We also fail to recognize how our individual natures and our collective cultures work against implementing these key strategies, or taking the necessary actions to make those... 2/
It’s more difficult w/ greater risk. And some universities are setting R.A.s up for failure by not providing adequate training, PPE, & other support. But that’s really beside the point.
We live in a “loose” culture that places greater... 1/
nytimes.com/2020/08/29/sty…
value on the individual over the collective. Giving up individual freedoms, particularly ones we’re used to having (or expect to have as we reach a new stage in life), to benefit the community isn’t the norm. Especially for those we don’t know or don’t recognize some... 2/
"Architecture is all too willing to align itself with whoever is in power or who has funding, which has often allowed itself to be used as a tool for the continued oppression of the 'other.'"
As an industry, we have a responsibility to address the... 1/
ingentaconnect.com/contentone/arc…
institutional racism that manifests in our firms, organizations, university programs/curriculum, professional development, & the environments we create. Some recommendations are given in the article (primarily focused on architectural education).
One could also argue... 2/
Aug 26, 2020 • 21 tweets • 17 min read
In our current reality, this is basically an extension of the oil/gas industry's long playbook of shifting responsibility to the individual.
But in the reality we must create for collective, comprehensive #ClimateAction, it's actually 1 of many needed multilevel strategies. 1/
Here are a several articles/podcasts discussing what it may take to create this collective, comprehensive #ClimateAction. Similar actions are really needed for other major issues, like the wealth gap, institutional racism & the pandemic.
