AIA releases 3D models, strategies for reducing risk of COVID-19 in polling places

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is releasing a new resource and 3D illustrations for election administrators today that provides strategies for reducing COVID-19 transmission risk in polling places.

Developed in an effort to protect voters and polling place workers on Election Day, the resource provides architectural, engineering, operational and administrative strategies that election administrators and polling place workers can employ—as well as modify—for polling places and voting centers. 3D illustrations—produced by Corgan—provide concrete examples for how the strategies can be implemented and laid out in spaces large and small.

Strategies were developed using current public health information, industrial hygiene practices as well as the American Institute of Architects’ Re-occupancy Assessment Tool, which provides a framework of strategies for making buildings safer during the pandemic. Additional strategies—for restrooms and staff break rooms—are available in AIA’s report, Reopening America: Strategies for Safer Offices.

AIA produced the resource with guidance from its Disaster Assistance Committee and input from the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration Engineers (ASHRAE) Epidemic Task Force, Auburn University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the University of Rhode Island (URI).

Visit AIA’s website for complete details on the Reopening America: Strategies for Safer Buildings reports.

The outbreak of COVID-19 represents an unprecedented test for the global healthcare system. Managing the pandemic—and saving lives—depends largely on the availability of medical supplies, including the capacity of hospitals. But the United States lags behind other nations, with only 2.8 beds per thousand people compared to 4.3 in China and 12.8 in South Korea.