The document discusses lessons that can be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. It notes that while pandemics have long been predicted, countries were unprepared for the scale of this one's impact. Key lessons include that coordinated government responses are more effective, public pressure can drive more action on issues, and resilience will be increasingly important. The pandemic also underscores the urgency of addressing climate change through initiatives like making all new buildings zero carbon and prioritizing embodied carbon reductions. Business can adapt by focusing on flexibility, resilience through R&D, and embedding health considerations in workplace design.

1. What Can We Learn from the
Coronavirus Pandemic?
Jerry Yudelson, PE, MS, MBA, LEED Fellow Emeritus

2. Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary!
Welcome to our guest speaker,
Jerry Yudelson, The Godfather of
Green. (Carlsbad, CA)
Hosted by DIRTT’s Green Team:
Jessie Stenftenagel (Chicago)
Laura Lee Bocade (Savannah)
Kyra Kovach (Calgary)
Katelyn Adley (Calgary)
And... DIRTT’s Webinar Guru,
Helen Drebit (Calgary)

3. Jerry Yudelson
“Engineer by training. Marketer by
profession. Writer by avocation.”
Release date: Earth Day, April 22, 2020!
Win an
autographed
copy … find out
how at the end!

4. Pandemic: What Do We Already Know?
• The pandemic is not a surprise, only the particulars
• Pandemics have been widely predicted for the past decade
• The U.S. government game-planned a response, repeatedly
• The U.S. military has long considered it a national security issue
BUT
• Every country was unprepared for the magnitude of impact
AS A RESULT:
• Widespread economic chaos, huge job loss, uncertainty, etc.

5. This was NOT a Surprise!
The World Knows an Apocalyptic Pandemic Is Coming
But nobody is interested in doing anything about it.
BY LAURIE GARRETT
FOREIGN POLICY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2019, 12:48 PM
A new independent report compiled at the request of the United Nations
secretary-general warns that there is a “very real threat” of a pandemic
sweeping the planet, killing up to 80 million people. A deadly pathogen,
spread airborne around the world, the report says, could wipe out almost
5 percent of the global economy. And we’re not ready.

6. Source: Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S. CDC, 2017 Report

7. What Lessons Can We Learn?
Language counts:
“pandemic” gets more
attention than “virus”
It takes time: the public
needs time to change
expectations
Science matters: there’s
no more “wiggle room”
for stupidity
Public pressure moves
the needle: More than
half of adult Americans
are concerned about
climate change
Politicians can count:
the more people
affected, the more
action!
Coordinated government
responses get more
results
R&D is still our global
“Superpower!”

8. Climate Change: Pandemic Multiplied!
• Pandemics come and go
• Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stays there a
long time
• 1.5C degrees of warming is already baked into
the pie
• What we “don’t know we don’t know” CAN harm
us
• “Nero fiddled while Rome burned”
• 80% of excess carbon emitted in MY lifetime
• 50% of excess carbon emitted since 1st scientific
warning (1989)
• Scientific consensus has solidified since 2010
• No excuse for non-action in 2020

10. What Lessons Can We Draw?
• We are ALL still subject to Nature’s “whims”:
• Western US: a "Mega-drought,” worst in 1200 years
• Australia: Massively destructive bushfires
• North America: Many more diseases and epidemics, as tropical carriers
thrive in warmer U.S. & Canada
• Prepare for 2020s to be a “Decade of Disruption” …
• Resilience will become a key value for
economy & society
• Adaptation efforts need to speed up – for
example, 40% of U.S. population lives in
coastal counties

11. We Must Find a Better Way!
We have only a 50% chance to reach emissions goals by 2030, even if we
reduce annual carbon emissions 25% (vs. 2010) by 2030
That means “Business as Usual” (BAU) can’t continue without causing
short-term & long-term harm to people and nature
Coronavirus short-term and mid-term impacts may change BAU (pre-
pandemic), but not in ways we want!
What are implications for businesses in the design and construction world?

12. What Can Business Do?
Adapt to the New Normal: Flexibility and Agility
Resilience: Reserve “dry powder” for R&D
Adapt: Incubate “non-revenue” product teams
Embed health in office & workplace design

13. Effects on Sustainability?
Integrate sustainability
even more deeply into
daily operations
Expand definition to
include climate-change
resilience & adaptability
Adopt circular economy
metrics & considerations
Renewable power &
electric motors to replace
combustion at all levels

14. Effects on Green Building?
Growing sense of urgency to make all new buildings “zero carbon”
Embodied carbon reductions will dominate new building design; more important in next
ten years than energy efficiency
Embodied carbon reduction goals will tax designer & mfg. resources
New models are needed for carbon reductions in existing buildings
Design for health with Fitwell and WELL will be new “standard of care”

15. Design for Health & Well-Being
PRESS RELEASE - April 6, 2020
IWBI announces new Co-chairs and
more than 225 Members of the Task
Force on COVID-19 & Other Respiratory
Infections: Prevention and
Preparedness, Resilience and Recovery
New office
designs:
Back to the
cubicle?
Individual
climate
controls
via VRF
Use WELL
& other
design
tools
Integrate
web-based
apps from
Day 1

16. How will the New Normal affect YOU?

17. Disruption & technology opportunities!
• Is a “green recovery” in the
cards, with massive investment
in electric vehicles, solar/wind
power, microgrids, new HVAC
systems for buildings, etc.?
• Does anyone believe we’ll go
back to “pollution as usual”
once people worldwide get
used to clean air & clear views?
• Distance working vs. office?

18. What Can YOU & Your Company Offer?

19. Ask Yourself:
• What lessons can we learn and put into practice?
• Where ethics intersects with our work, how must we revise
policy and process post-Pandemic?
• Instead of assuming "return to normal," can we design our
business and products to survive the next ”Black Swan" event
(less than 1 in 10,000 probability)?

20. Jerry Yudelson, PE, MS, MBA, LEED Fellow Emeritus
Author: The Godfather of Green: An Eco-Spiritual Memoir
Jerry.Yudelson@gmail.com
https://jerryyudelson.net
Twitter: @jerryyudelson