Enhancements proposed for offices as precautionary measures against COVID-19 infection are mostly environmentally friendly in nature. Many companies find an opportunity in giving a biocompatible facelift to the office spaces as they want a makeover of their workspaces to adapt to the pandemic situation.

The workers will be more mobile and the demand for more outdoor workspaces like rooftop terraces along with diminishing line between house and office is triggering the need for such adaptation. Health benefits of external environment are another reason behind demands for green offices. Some companies have called back their workforce but the preventive measures to fight the spread of Covid-19 infection in workplaces are being taken. Such a condition makes the healthy and environment friendly offices even more sought after now. This lets the companies to be even more innovative for designing healthy and green office spaces.

Companies want to redesign and redevelop offices with health benefiting systems. One such augmentation is air filtering system. The pandemic has necessitated a large number of corporations to pay attention to the health and well-being of their employees. A workplace which is healthy and safe for the staff is instrumental in letting the people work without fear of catching this contagious infection. This eases a lot of pressure off the shoulders of employers and employees as well.

Green and sustainable design is a theme around which numerous companies want their offices refurbished. The challenge they face is to have such redesigned offices made in larger numbers to accommodate maximum number of workers during their work shifts.

Having an energy saving system is another important aspect of green design for the offices. For complimenting circadian rhythm, an energy saving LED module known as ‘Pictured’ has been implemented in some offices. To keep the biological clock of the working staff in the office running appropriately, the lights operate at different colours and intensities. The main biometric ceiling lighting system is complemented by this energy efficient lighting arrangement. It has been an effective and environmental friendly lighting system which by keeping the biological clock of the workers in line plays a part in their wellbeing within the workplace.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, indoor air pollution is five times worse than external pollution and the major share (90%) of the lives of US citizens is spent indoors. Such a scenario where the pollutants are found more indoors than the outdoors is due to contaminants such as smoke, cleaning agents, building materials, dust and chemicals in certain paints. Having such harmful contaminants are not good for overall health of the people who spend majority of their time indoors.

There is a growing demand for more outdoor space near the buildings to allow people to move more and maintain distance from each other after the pandemic broke out.

Using of sustainable and natural items like wooden enhancements give more natural feel which can be pleasing to the eyes of the office goers. Another advantage of using wooden enhancement is that it not only stores more carbon especially from greenhouse gases. It also cuts down on labor expenditure to some extent as it is lighter and easier to install. So the wooden enhancement e.g. laminated wood has a set of advantages apart from giving a feel of warmth to the people indoors.

Having sealed windows is very common in the modern workplaces, it is for energy efficiency, but it also carries the risk of trapping contaminants and circulating them within the indoor environment. In Covid-19 Pandemic era, such an issue with closed office spaces make it even more dangerous for the workers inside. To cope up with such an issue, high-quality filtering in ventilation systems is an essential requirement. Multiple elevators are also required so that too many people do not gather in a small elevator space.

We do need healthier and safer building designs to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infection, but it may come at the cost of using of more energy sometimes.