Rob Ioanna Talks Toilets
If you want to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in office buildings, you have to assess risk in every area of a facility, including restrooms.
These are hardly anyone’s favorite topic of conversation, but landlords, property managers, and tenants have to consider them if they want to maintain high standards of safety. Syska’s Rob Ioanna, PE, LEED AP, makes that clear in a recent article he wrote for Propmodo.
The article covers the disturbing finding that the coronavirus can stay active in feces for more than a month. That’s why toilet plume in shared restrooms poses some danger. But Rob also points out that there are many effective ways to prevent transmission, one of which is simple – installing lids on toilets. Other mitigation strategies revolve around killing, capturing, or diluting virus particles.
Kill strategies include ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) and Xenon pulse technology. Capture strategies involve use of filters that catch virus particles. And dilution strategies require installation of fans above ceilings, combined with diffusers above toilets. To further enhance the safety of restroom users, you can also create a touchless environment with automatic sinks and fixtures.
Would you like to learn more? Prepare yourself for a somewhat gross but enlightening read, and click below to access the full article.