CREJ

July 2021 — Property Management Quarterly — Page 5 www.crej.com ity Promote Beneficial Elec- trification • House Bill 21-1238 – Public Utilities Commis- sion Modernize Gas Utility Demand Side Management Standards • House Bill 21-1286 – Energy Performance for Buildings • Senate Bill 21-230 – Transfer To Colorado Energy Office Energy Fund • Senate Bill 21-231 – Energy Office Weatheriza- tion Assistance Grants • House Bill 21-1105 – Low-income Utility Payment Assistance Contributions • House Bill 21-1303 – Global Warming Potential For Public Project Materials n The U.S. Green Building Council announced its 2021 USGBC Leadership Award recipients for the Mountain region. The awards recog- nize exemplary leadership of individ- uals and organizations contributing to the creation of sustainable, health- ier, equitable and resilient buildings, cities and communities. “At USGBC, we believe that healthy people in healthy places equals a healthy economy and it is only because of the leadership of orga- nizations and individuals like our award recipients that this vision can become a global reality,” said Charlie Woodruff, USGBC regional director, Mountain region. “In what has been a very challenging year for everyone around the world, the green building industry has continued to carry on.” Among the recipients were Denver Water for its administration building, which was certified LEED-NC v2009 Platinum and is part of a campus project that includes four LEED certi- fied operations buildings; Amanda Timmons, president of Ampajen Solu- tions, for her enthusiastic work with LEED O+M, and embracing Arc and ensuring her clients understand the value of the platform; Colorado- based Markel Homes Construction Co. for its work in creating 79 inclusive and multigenerational LEED certified homes in 2020; as well as L’Avenir Townhomes for its certified LEED 4.1 Residential Platinum four-unit devel- opment on a former brownfield and tiny urban infill site in Fort Collins. n A survey commissioned by Omni CleanAir, a maker of commercial- grade air purification systems, found that over 95% of surveyed compa- nies tried to do something to com- bat COVID-19 transmission indoors in the past year, with the majority focused on improving HVAC systems. “We polled more than 430 HR managers around the country on the importance of various COVID-19 precautions and defense measures, their knowledge of indoor air quality topics, and their budgets and spend- ing forecasts. The survey’s results will help business leaders make bet- ter decisions to ensure the health and safety of their employees and other stakeholders,” said Paul de la Port, president of Omni CleanAir. “In the past year, almost every busi- ness surveyed took some action to improve indoor air quality, but while organizations invested hundreds of thousands (in some cases millions) of dollars, measurable results are lacking.” The nationwide survey, conducted by Pollfish in April and May, con- sisted of an online survey of 436 human resource managers of com- panies with 500 or more employees. The margin of error was +/-5%, with a con- fidence level of 95%. The most popular approach by businesses was to upgrade existing HVAC systems to support improved filtration. After improving or replacing HVAC systems, other busi- nesses reported trying ion- ization technologies. “The noisy environment, lack of transparent and easily understood real- world efficacy data, and unscrupulous COVID-19 opportunists appear to have clouded the landscape so much that many busi- nesses simply were unable to make informed investment deci- sions about indoor air quality solu- tions,” said de la Port. Survey data also show that HR managers and their COVID-19 task force colleagues are vastly underes- timating the cost of HVAC upgrades, which typically cost more than $500,000 and in some cases as much as $5 million, depending on the number and size of the facilities, according to Omni CleanAir. Among those survey respondent who have not yet invested in solutions to improve indoor air quality, a major- ity anticipate they will upgrade their HVAC systems. “What many businesses don’t realize is that HVAC systems, even when they can eliminate the virus, require large amounts of electricity to operate, so the long-term cost will be very burdensome and the result- ing air often won’t be adequately cleaned,” said de la Port. s News Indoor air quality solutions implemented by companies to fight COVID-19, see Other News