opportunity++

Now it's posh, but London's Soho district was a rather unfortunate place in the mid 19th century.  The region was experiencing dramatic growth, but it didn't connect to London's sewer system.  Residences crammed in with slaughter houses and rendering plants overloaded a primitive sewer system that was unable to serve everyone.  Cesspools ran over and untreated waste flowed directly into the Thames.  This was taking place during a worldwide pandemic. London had seen outbreaks before, but the 1854  outbreak on Broad Street changed the course of history.

 

John Snow is famous for mapping out cholera deaths in the area and noting a cluster served by a water pump on Broad Street. The pump drew water from a well that was contaminated by human and animal sewage. The Broad Street pump was removed from service, but didn't make much of a dent in the three or four thousand cholera deaths in London.  What made a difference was what he did next. - an analysis of deaths in regions served by water pumped from the Thames.  He set up a double blind experiment and showed cholera was carried by an agent in the water rather than the dominate theory that it was "bad air" (miasma).  It was the beginning of scientific epidemiology and modern public health. 

 

There's a pub named in his honor near the location of the pump that started his line of reasoning.

 

Over the last year and a half we've been  learning just how important public health is.  It seems odd to unquestionaingly spend so much on a war industry when a pandemic mixed with politics and a fear of science has prove more lethal than war.  That aside we're learning fresh air is critical with airborne spread diseases.  During an outbreak that means masks universally worn as a first and final line of defense and frequent air changes.  With the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2  it looks like you need at least fifteen air changes an hour to qualify as safe with minimal masking.  Outside of clean rooms and operating theaters that's a tall order indoors.  We can get part of the way there with in-room air cleaners, upgraded HVAC systems and opening windows when you can.  I've been spending some time doing this to learn a bit and have come to the conclusion that, although effective, it's sort of a piano wire and chewing gum approach.   Real fixes require an architectural design approach informed by science to create new spaces as well as retrofit existing ones.  Very few people do the science and much needs to be done.  New technologies probably need to be developed and there needs to be a better understanding of what can be done with what exists.. 

 

Creating clean spaces goes well beyond the current pandemic.  Clean indoor rooms can have an impact on the flu plus there are a number of chemicals that outgas that we mostly ignore.  And many of us have had to deal with PM 2.5 pollution from forest fires and combustion.    The question is how do you make this desirable enough that we learn how to make and implement better designs than we have?   How do you spark a revolution in public health that involves architecture design and retrofit on a massive scale?

 

Unfortunately successful public health measures are often seen as expensive overkill.  Perhaps carbon dioxide concentration is the answer.  Over the years studies have shown decreases in cognitive functions and alertness linked to higher  CO₂ concentrations.¹ Generally 1000 parts per million is seen as a boundary, but some studies show decreased mental ability around 800 ppm.  Many offices and schools regularly exceed 1000 when occupied.  Your car is probably several thousand in a half hour  if you aren't bringing in outside air.  How much would a school spend to upgrade the mental ability of its students?  Would a company pay extra for more alert workers who function at higher cognitive levels and get sick less often? And what about homes?  Many homes are worse than offices - maybe working from home should be rethought or at least certified.   

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¹ A fairly recent study on cognitive function associated with CO₂ and VOC exposure 

 

 

Comments

[BWJones]

That pump was one of the first places I wanted to visit on my first trip to London.