The pandemic hasn’t affected all industries equally, but it may prove fruitful to look at related ones for disaster management professionals. For the commercial building industry, the impact has been enormous, as sites have ended up empty for months on end due to lockdowns and other restrictions. Says Anthony Pizzzitola, director of facilities, business continuity and crisis emergency management at United Surgical Partners International, Inc., “I don’t think that businesses in facilities were prepared for becoming almost totally vacant for two months by COVID-19.”
Al Berman, chairman of the board and treasurer for Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRI), observes of COVID-19, “It’s something that may change the way buildings operate and the way we address future construction.” Berman notes “Everybody’s going out and buying these thermal technologies and saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to put this screening process in place,’ and what have you, but not fully embracing some of the downstream effects.”
As to the potential changes, Sean Ahrens, security market group leader for Affiliated Engineers, says “As it relates to these buildings, the things that we need to think about from a business continuity recovery standpoint is the availability of the equipment, the resources, the technology, the power, the water, etc., to make sure that our tenants will be able to support their operations when they do return to work.”
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