Most schools are only ventilated using windows, which are often closed. Installing high-filtration air conditioning would cut the spread of airborne viruses and save more than $1 billion per year.
- Adjunct Professor of Architecture, University of Technology Sydney
There’s no excuse for colluding not to complete on fees, but the time-consuming and complicated bidding process for design work encourages it.
The National Construction Code has no minimum ventilation requirements for schools, aged care institutions, pubs, restaurants and health-care facilities.
$13 billion would buy us safe air in schools and aged care facilities. It would give the same sort of benefits as safe water.
The NSW and Victorian government say they’re providing schools with adequate options for ventilation, including air filters. But schools can’t take proper action without monitoring air quality.
Avoid poorly ventilated parts of the building if you can. And always wear a mask when you open your door.
A capital funding squeeze led universities to seek new ways of developing their campuses. It now appears city CBDs and developers might do better out of those deals than universities.
With evidence showing the COVID virus is airborne, it’s no coincidence many outbreaks in schools have occurred in winter – when windows are closed.
World-leading university campus developments overseas call into question plans for CBD-based campuses in Australia. They might be good for CBD development, but what about the universities themselves?
More than 90% of universities in the world have been built since 1949. The vast majority built large campuses outside city centres, and all for much the same reasons.
Grocon as a construction business might be on its last legs, but Grocon as a property development and landlord business should be fine.
Super-spreader events typically have the ‘three Vs" in common: indoor venues, poor ventilation and vocalisation. But many buildings frequented by the public lack ventilation or the means to monitor it.
Universities are being forced to move to less suitable locations in order to “revitalise” cities.
Most aged care homes are designed to be naturally ventilated. But when windows are closed to keep out the cold, poor ventilation appears to be common – and that’s a problem for infection control.
The design professions are set to go over a cliff in September. Construction is set to follow them in 2021.
The scheme will encourage people who can’t afford to buy homes or are homeless to believe the government has forgotten them.
Not all teaching spaces in universities are big enough to allow students to return to normal study as the pandemic restriction ease.
Construction employs one in ten Australians, with a broad range of skills, using mostly locally made materials. Building social housing would meet urgent social needs as well as creating jobs.
Some architects don’t like the look of automatic doors, but that is hardly a reason not to mandate their use, given their safety.
The proposed law does little to give people confidence in the apartments they buy. And it utterly neglects the role of architects and on-site inspections in delivering sound buildings.
People die protecting homes. They are wrong to believe their homes will protect them.
Plugging ventilation holes in walls helps, but there are dangers.
Governments and regulators assume compliance with building regulations will restore public confidence. But complying with the National Construction Code won’t fix many common defects.
Unsafe apartments are being evacuated as confidence plummets – even the author of a report commissioned by building ministers wouldn’t buy a new apartment. What will it take for governments to act?
The construction industry crisis didn’t happen overnight. Authorities have been on notice for years to fix the problems that now have the industry itself calling for better regulation.
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