Robert Silver Speaks to BPSI on COVID-19 Building Safety

Founding Principal Robert Silver has some advice for institutions planning to reopen their buildings to the public.

Robert joined the Board of Trustees of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society & Institute a few years ago, following Schwartz/Silver’s renovation of the historic BPSI facility in Newton. Now, Robert is helping BPSI plan to reopen, and in a recent virtual forum, walked the BPSI community through the steps being taken to protect members from COVID-19, a virus that the CDC has determined is largely transmitted through the air.

 These steps will be applicable for most buildings, and include:

• Ensuring that equipment is working as designed, including functions that allow for mechanical operation to be scheduled around building occupancy

• Increasing the percentage of outdoor air coming into the system

• Improving the filtration to MERV-13 when possible, and supplementing heavily used spaces like classrooms with portable HEPA filters

For the nitty-gritty details – including the answers to questions like, “what is a micron, anyway?” and “what do HEPA filters have to do with the Cold War?” – a video recording of the presentation is available below. Robert’s introduction begins at 00:17:12.