Healthy Indoors Magazine
Issue link: https://hi.healthyindoors.com/i/1302952
4 | October 2020 Bob Krell Founder & Publisher Publisher's Rant A s the Halloween season ap- proaches, the year 2020 has clearly been more of a trick than a treat. Between a global pandemic that appears to have dispropor- tionately affected this country, wildfires in the west and hurricanes in the south, eco- nomic uncertainty, and a truly contentious general election looming, this year seems to be poised for a murky crescendo. How does this all play into the future outlook for our collective indoor envi- ronments? I think a lot of that depends on your perspective. The events of 2020 have caused many jobs to be moved to the home space, albeit a disproportionate number of those currently working from home being white. According to a recent Boston Globe article by Larry Edelman, "People of col- or make up a large chunk of the work- force in these hard-hit sectors, and if they got rehired or found new jobs, they had far less flexibility to work remotely. The work-from-home rate for white employ- ees was 26 percent in August, according to the survey data. It was 19 percent among Hispanic workers, and 9.4 percent for Black workers. The inability to work from the relative safety of home is one reason Black and Hispanic people have higher COVID-19 infection rates than white people." We typically face disasters from natu- ral events on an annual basis, but it seems that they have been increasing in both magnitude and frequency in recent years. Many scientists believe that this persistent uptick of disasters is being fueled by cli- mate change, which is likely being acceler- ated by human activities. We need to take immediate action to reverse these trends before it reaches a point where we no longer can. Now for the elephant in the room. The outcome of this November's elec- tions will undoubtedly have a significant effect on our indoor environments, both in policies and how those policies are funded. I'm not going to speculate on the outcome, but we're definitely looking at a volatile sit- uation. Our Healthy Indoors Show will be airing a 2-part series on November 5th and November 12th to get some perspec- tives from some industry experts on the outlook after the election. Join us on October 27-29, 2020 for the IAQ & Energy Conference—the indus- try's premiere online event. Learn more at: https://www.iaqandenergy.com/ Until next time: Stay safe, vote, and let the important people in your life know you appreciate them! A Haunting Time of Year? Bob Krell Bob Krell is president of IAQ Technologies, Inc., a Syracuse, NY-based indoor environmental firm he founded in 1990, offering consulting, mitigation and training services to a variety of clients throughout the country and abroad. He co-founded IAQNET, LLC in 2013, and serves as publisher of its Healthy Indoors Magazine. Bob is the Producer/Director for the online video series, The Healthy Indoors Show, along with numerous other industry video projects and online events, and is Training Director for live distance learning offerings through IAQschool.online. Contact him at: bob@healthyindoors.com