Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been an influx of construction site managers seeking answers for worker and building owner questions about clean air. That’s not surprising. What is surprising is the temperature-related issues indirectly resulting from COVID-19 impacts.

Jobsite and delivered product air quality top concerns

Employing hundreds of essential workers on project sites, general contractors quickly adopted health and safety practices to minimize the threats of coronavirus infection.

Beyond the basics of worker health protections, general contractors that have had past success deploying temporary power and temperature control strategies needed help addressing building owner concerns about future air quality once the keys are handed over.

Responding to this surge of owner demands for their new builds, and hoping to create a competitive advantage, the largest U.S. contractors are moving quickly to develop standardized playbooks on how to install air quality safeguards for permanent structures. Regardless of the build stage, customers want contractors to ensure clean air systems are part of their builds now to prepare for future pandemic outbreaks once structures are inhabited.

Unfortunately, only a few equipment manufacturers have begun developing air-handling units with built-in contaminant mitigation, but no data exists to prove the effectiveness of these early models. Until further R&D and installed performance can be measured, all clean air mitigation options available to contractors today require bolt-on equipment solutions.

Fortunately, these common temporary applications not only help protect expensive building materials and work completed on the job, but worker health too. When evaluating applications, the contractor’s ultimate air quality goal should be to apply equipment appropriate to each site because each site is unique, and standard procurement orders without proper site adaptation introduce new issues and risks.

The air quality management objectives, depending on the size, location, stage of construction, weather conditions and other factors are to:

• increase the percentage of fresh air circulating the space;
• increase ventilation rates in the work environment;
• filter out air particle contaminants; and
• increase the number of air changes per hour.

Long before site evaluation, one important step general contractors can take to enable the use of bolt-on equipment solutions is to cause a fundamental paradigm shift to make the strategic use of temporary equipment a standard point of discussion and budgeting during the pre-construction stage.

Beyond clean air, many temporary strategies to reduce potential re-work and warranty requests may cost as little as $30,000, but are routinely missed by estimators early in the process because the solutions are never presented. Other systems solutions that upgrade air quality in the permanent structure may require five times that budget but will deliver the value the building owner now expects in an age of COVID-19. Either way, the costs as a percentage of total build are fractional. Contractors that introduce these options during preconstruction can earn a reputation for serving their customers’ interests—while protecting their own.

COVID-19-induced delays generate increased demand for heat solutions

Another COVID-19 issue contractors consistently raise revolves around disruption to standard timelines and skilled crafts scheduling.

Numerous COVID-19 impacts have converged to throw project timelines into disarray: Community stay-home orders; OEM delivery delays due to factory worker sick days and fears of contagion on the job; crews standing idle awaiting overdue materials delivery resulting from tariffs; and COVID-19 impacts on component and materials producers serving key suppliers.

In terms of worker safety, strict occupancy limits and distancing policies for crews appear to be consistently enforced while work is being performed at jobsites. But this capacity-management safety practice has negatively affected project schedules as groups of skilled craftspeople must be rotated to limit the number of people working in a space, which has created production bottlenecks. As a result, much of the work historically performed simultaneously must instead occur in sequence.

Work scheduled for completion during warm summer months is now slated during colder fall and winter periods, which could affect product quality and worker safety. Once walls and windows are installed, crews will be working in closed quarters, which could further exacerbate crew scheduling and worker shortage challenges.

Typically, contractors plan for cold weather rental heat solutions in July with orders placed in August for October and November installations. But COVID-19 schedule disruptions affected forecasting, planning and procurement schedules too, causing delayed equipment reservations. The late surge in demand for heating rentals has now created the likelihood of an equipment shortage for year-end.

Those who need heat to protect costly materials and minimize re-work will be wise to secure their place in line, especially for finishing work that requires temperature control. Those who intend to secure their customers’ trust long term will be wise to explore ways to adapt air handling systems long before the owners’ tenants, employees, shoppers and diners cross the threshold.