Health and wellbeing are the fundamental pillars on which human beings build their personal and working lives and would have the opportunity to find them everywhere if every building were constructed according to the principles of bioclimatic architecture. But unfortunately, this is not yet the case.
The current pandemic has also transformed, disrupted and profoundly revolutionized the existence of each of us both at home and in the way we work. At present, the only weapon at our disposal is the social distance, as this virus is extremely contagious. For this reason, the work has undergone an unexpected evolution, as it has been abrupt in the digitization of its processes. Meetings in the office have turned into appointments on the leading online meeting networks with the glances aimed at the webcams of our computers while we are sitting safely inside our homes.
Houses or apartments that, however, in most examples, are not proving to be suitable and sustainable for an ongoing life within the four walls. Let's say "bio-incompatible".
Surely this situation is also proving to be an incredible opportunity for many working realities that are considering keeping the post COVID-19 smart working operational. Those who can work at the computer also have the social responsibility to leave the roads and means of transport to those who do manual and therefore compulsory live work. This decision applied 100% or at least integrated will also help the entire ecosystem not to find itself polluted again as if this stop was useless.
During phase 2 as well as in the following periods, various work areas will gradually be reactivated, and their locations will be populated again. This awareness makes it possible to make some reflections on health and wellbeing so as not to be caught unprepared in the workplace. The central theme in this situation is how to make workers feel safe when they return to their sites. And in addition to this also how to ensure that the environments can be healthy and maintained as those that bio-architecture can create thanks to its attention to the health of the human being.
The perception of safety and wellbeing is a very delicate issue to deal with, as it is extremely subjective. However, when faced with real evidence, the man finds comfort and benefit as well as when he feels in psycho-physical balance with the environment around him. For this reason, workplaces can be the subject of investigation processes, modifications to installations to increase energy efficiency and to environments that guarantee safety in the health and psychological field. It is essential that all the solutions that will be found are the result of work carried out by professional architects specialized in bio-architecture. They will be able to manage each place as a complete ecosystem. Air, water, light and surfaces will be the fundamental elements to update, modify, maintain and use for a healthy, efficient and sustainable working life.
There are already certifications such as LEED and WELL that allow certifying bodies to verify every element of the buildings, as well as the good practices, followed inside to define a green building. This would undoubtedly give the guarantee to workers to consider their workplace safe. But even in non-certified buildings, many activities can be implemented to guarantee indoor healthiness. Some of the main ones are:
- maintenance of ventilation systems and scheduled replacement of filters;
- equipping the building with filtering and osmosis systems for running water;
- updating of the cleaning protocols of the environments (increase cleaning cycles and use of products free of harmful chemical substances;
- redistribution of work shifts to ensure a safe distance between people and the use of the connecting spaces without assembly;
- inclusion of indoor greenery as it represents a real additional air purification system as well as an instrument of psychological wellbeing.
All these elements are based on the principles of bioclimatic design, i.e. the need to consider each place as a man-environment system in which all the parts must be calibrated with each other. This approach considers space as a real organism that today more than ever, we need to take care of every day.

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