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Institutional and commercial facilities and surrounding landscapes typically have to survive various levels of wear and tear inflicted by occupants and visitors, from K-12 students and hospital patients to hotel guests and mall shoppers. Now, facility managers will have to deal with the effects from a different force – dormancy that has settled in as buildings are shut down and sit empty or lightly occupied as the nation deals with the coronavirus.
Consider stagnant plumbing and piping systems. It’s possible that water left sitting for long periods of time could contain excessive amounts of heavy metals and pathogens concentrated in pipes nationwide, say researchers at Purdue University who have begun a field study on the impact of a pandemic shutdown on buildings.
In higher education, the pandemic is exacerbating a range of challenges already besetting facilities. “The combination of swollen campus footprints and declining tuition revenues has been aggravated even further by the COVID-19 pandemic, putting many institutions at risk for the foreseeable future,” according to a new report from Gordian. “Facilities strategies are at the forefront of the industry’s race to confront its greatest challenge in generations.”
For golf courses, mowing is among a host of challenges managers must contend with as shutdowns continue, according to Golf.com: “When grass is left un-mown, it doesn’t just grow longer. It gets harder to whip back into playing shape.”
And finally, even though most facilities are closed or operating on a limited schedule, managers and their organizations must find funding for a basic level of maintenance. Take zoos, for example. “ It costs the Birmingham Zoo $30,000 each day to maintain the facilities and animals while the zoo is closed during the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to CBS 42.
Dan Hounsell is editor-in-chief of Facility Maintenance Decisions.
