5 must reads for the AEC industry today: May 19, 2020

1. Infection control in office buildings: Preparing for re-occupancy amid the coronavirus (BD+C) 
"Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the AE firm Gresham Smith had a client in Tennessee that was in the process of consolidating 1,000 of its employees into an office building that already had 1,000 of its workers."

2. Clemson's new Outdoor Education Center uses a Mass Timber Structural System (BD+C) 
"Clemson University's 16,000-sf Andy Quattlebaum Outdoor Education Center has become the first mass timber structure on the campus and the second mass timber facility in the nation to use Southern yellow pine as the primary building material."

3. Will empty hotels provide an answer for affordable housing shortage? (BD+C) 
"Richard Rubin sees the current spate of empty hotels, motels, retail, and office spaces created by the pandemic as opportunities for adaptive reuse to affordable housing, which is in perennially short supply in many markets in the U.S. and around the world."

4. COVID-19 will cause North America construction output to fall by $122.4bn in 2020 (GlobalData)
"Amid the rapid decline in demand for new projects and safety regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic, construction output in North America is now anticipated to fall by 6.6% in 2020, which is equivalent to $122.4bn, and down sharply from the previously expected rise of 0.6% prior to the outbreak (+$12bn), according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company."

5. AI Cameras Police Social Distancing at Work (WSJ)
“Coronavirus concerns lead companies to repurpose sensors that monitor office space, but privacy experts worry about mission creep.”