by Frances Lengowski and Cody Solberg
The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the term essential.
Whether it was regarding human interactions or those workers who kept communities running, essential meant focusing on only the most basic needs. On college and university campuses, it wasn’t any different. As cases spread last March, residence halls were mostly cleared, and what was deemed essential was the core element of instruction, even if it had to occur in a virtual environment.
Since students returned to campus in the fall, campuses policies, personal responsibility, and sanitation have been essential to maintaining students’ physical health and safety. Short-term changes to the residence hall environment during the pandemic have focused on public health bedrocks such as minimizing COVID transmission and providing care for students when they do become ill. As the calendar turns to 2021, with a COVID vaccine on the horizon and hopes of returning to some semblance of normal, there is an opportunity to ask an important question: How should the future of residence hall design respond to lessons learned from this difficult pandemic experience?
Moving forward, integrating the capacity for changes that were essential for student health and safety during the pandemic into building design will be an important start. These lessons about policy and sanitation will be plentiful and easy to quantify. However, focusing on these strategies alone would miss an important lesson from the COVID pandemic. Residence hall design also affects student well-being in powerful ways.
Students have been more physically separated and spending more time inside – especially in residence halls – than ever before. This unique experience highlights the importance of creating healthy environments where they can thrive. After all, well-being is not just the absence of sickness. Well-being is rooted in health, comfort, mental engagement, and connection to others. To create these experiences, future improvements to housing facilities must do more than anticipate health and safety needs. To truly support student well-being, housing facilities should also nurture community, improve the indoor environment, and strengthen connection to support services foundational to student success.
Perhaps the most valuable action in this process will be to provide residents with fresh, clean air. It is clear that COVID-19 is transmitted through droplets exhaled by and closely surrounding an infected person. The relative danger of smaller aerosols that can remain in the air and transmit through HVAC systems is unclear. However, many colleges and universities are adopting the perspective of ASHRAE, an association that writes standards for heating, cooling, and ventilation: “Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through the air is sufficiently likely that airborne exposure to the virus should be controlled. Changes to building operations, including the operation of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems, can reduce airborne exposures."
With so much of student life occurring online, students are gravitating to low-tech experiences for social connection. Simple outdoor games such as spike ball allow students to gather appropriately, socialize, exercise, and build upon their sense of community.
Anthony Harvey, associate director of facilities maintenance at Clemson University in South Carolina, took the opportunity along with his team during the months between academic years to re-evaluate the ventilation systems. “We decided to take a look at our filtration . . . and move all systems that would be able to perform properly with MERV 13 filtration, to that standard. We also looked at older systems that could only increase from a MERV 8 to 10, to also make those changes.”
Optimizing ventilation in residence halls not only dilutes any exposure to viral load, but also provides clean, fresh air that can improve student well-being. The University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, is installing UV lighting in HVAC ductwork in roughly 60 of its buildings across campus to kill any virus particles that may make it into building HVAC systems. Jon Baldessari, executive director of housing operations and facilities, noted that the UV treatment will also relieve residents’ allergy concerns. “We've seen an increase in respiratory allergies. There are a lot of people who come to Florida and are introduced to mold, and pollens, and we’re looking at strategies that we can use to mitigate this." Other ASHRAE recommendations to reduce the threat of spreading COVID include maintaining a humidity range of 40-60% and flushing the building with continuous ventilation two hours before and after occupancy.
Clean, ventilated air also correlates with improvements in thinking and performance. A recent Harvard study found that levels of carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds, and ventilation rate all significantly impact cognitive function. Another study found that reduced carbon dioxide levels are associated with better sleep and next-day performance. Unfortunately, many residence halls lack ventilation that meets today’s standards. Remedying this can be a challenging task that is complicated by the nuances of addressing specific climates and existing HVAC systems. At George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Stewart Robinette, assistant dean of students for campus living and residential education, stresses the importance of facilities assessment. “We've done a full assessment of every building, both residential and academic, and we are prioritizing them in terms of what can you do quickly and then understanding what the cost of some of the changes are . . . If we want to be able to be in a better place, and frankly have more students back [on campus], you want to have buildings that are considered more in compliance with the guidelines.”
According to Tracy Steward, mechanical engineering principal with CMTA, Inc., improving indoor air quality has additional costs, so it takes a champion at the university leadership level to choose air quality, something unseen, over potential improvements that are more visible. “I anticipate that moving forward after COVID-19, the air quality metrics will be prioritized because they will impact recruitment and retention. The good news is that a byproduct of this focus on HVAC air quality metrics will increase students’ cognitive function, wellness, and overall student success.”
Of course, one way to avoid issues with ventilation is to have residents spend more time outdoors. On several campuses this year, students arrived to find lawn chairs along with the usual swag and trinkets gifted by the university. The number of students accessing the campus Wi-Fi from a hammock also likely grew dramatically. Similarly, campuses compensated for limited seating capacity in their dining halls by providing tents and other temporary structures to serve as outdoor dining venues. These outdoor spaces have become opportunities for much needed social interaction while maintaining appropriate social distance.
At Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, Joe Gonzalez, the assistant vice president of student affairs and dean for residential life, explains that “Our interior dining options remain open with limited and reduced options. We offer students small tables with one chair, incorporate shields where necessary, and emphasize grab and go options. Our long-term approach is to utilize outdoor dining as much as possible to support healthy practices.” Moving forward, campuses are likely to explore a multitude of flexible, comfortable, shaded and non-shaded outdoor environments. One option could be a series of outdoor spaces designed to be flexible for when the next pandemic occurs, while remaining hubs for social interaction when social distancing is not as pressing.
It is likely student residents will still rely largely on the residence halls and other indoor spaces. Previously, as campuses explored what style of residence hall to provide, that choice was influenced foundationally by questions of bed capacity, square footage, distribution of space, revenue potential, and the desired experience of community it fosters. A hall’s compatibility with pandemic safety standards is likely to be considered more in the future. Residence halls featuring single rooms, suites, and apartments have been popular choices lately based on student preferences for privacy. For some institutions, like Duke, the COVID-19 pandemic creates yet one more reason to consider these options. Gonzalez notes that his campus converted all their residence rooms to single occupancy, with no roommates, for the fall 2020 semester. “How do you ensure that a sense of community and connection is ingrained in your residential experience, but also allow for privacy for students who want it? When we think about new construction in terms of residence halls we anticipate likely gravitating towards suite-style, a long way down the road.” This is due partly to the impact that the dramatically reduced occupancy is having on the financial bottom line of the housing system. However, on the Duke campus, which is rich with traditional-style residence halls, it is also part of a larger strategy to diversify the unit type offerings available to its students.
However, the social distance embedded in these unit types can also become a barrier to community. At the University of Miami, commitment to the traditional double-loaded corridor layout for first-year students remains strong. As Jim Smart, associate vice president of student affairs for housing strategic initiatives, notes, “ I think that the developmental continuum we've kind of planned on, it's still sound . . . . People value that experience still, at least for their first year. That's kind of a rite of passage . . . I just think there's a real educational value.” Miami transitioned to single occupancy of all double rooms for the 2020-21 academic year. “Frankly, one of the things we're really seeing challenges with this year . . . is about building community.”
While evolutions in unit type will align with larger concerns about residence hall design, the COVID-19 pandemic has given institutions additional reasons to implement changes that were already developing in the traditional model. For example, many institutions have already been turning to clustered private bathroom designs to add privacy and security to the traditional community bath experience. Like toilet stalls with full-height partitions, this additional privacy also manages bathroom ventilation in ways that can potentially reduce COVID spread through aerosols.
Students who have a sense of belonging are happier and do better academically. The social connections they make in their residence halls, in their classes, and on campus are a key foundation for their overall health and success. Seth Weinshel, assistant dean of students campus living and residential education at George Washington, emphasizes how COVID-19 has only underscored these connections. “COVID-19 is as an anti-community disease. Students thrive and require community. We have seen from the virtual environment that they are crying out for community. We have had our live-in staff do some in-person events. For example, we had a staff member who took six students for coffee and bagels last Friday. And you would have thought that the students had won the lottery, right? They were so excited to just be able to do an in-person event and really be able to connect with other people – they just raved about it.” As evidenced by the University of Michigan’s Healthy Minds Study (HMS), as well as many other studies, undergraduate and graduate students are suffering high levels of anxiety, stress, and depression: conditions that can be improved by a stronger sense of connection and community. The uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic adds to the already elevated levels of stress students are continually experiencing, especially those in quarantine or isolation.
The quality of the indoor environment has quickly become foundational to the quality of on-campus student life, which makes it all the more important to maximize the performance of basic building functions such as lighting and acoustics.
Providing spaces to connect with others and the surrounding community at a range of scales helps to reduce social isolation and encourage collaboration for both staff and students. Though the pandemic has changed the occupancy and density of these spaces when occupied, including spaces for community in residence halls and campus buildings has never been more important. At George Washington, creating residential space for community is a core element of an institutional commitment to improving the first-year experience. The renovation of Thurston Hall, where most GW students live during their first year on campus, carves academic and social space into the existing building while also removing part of the building to bring sunlight deep into a previously dark, damp courtyard.
Gonzalez noticed that students at Duke are using these kinds of spaces differently during the pandemic. With so much of student life occurring online, students are gravitating to low-tech experiences for social connection. Simple outdoor games such as spike ball allow students to gather appropriately, socialize, exercise, and build upon their sense of community. Low-tech gaming experiences like pool, ping-pong, and foosball are more popular than usual. This shift in activity points to the need to plan for both variety and flexibility of social spaces in the future. Similarly, Jim Smart, associate vice president of student affairs for housing strategic initiatives at Miami, emphasizes the importance of outdoor areas. Their new residence hall, Centennial Village, is a good example. “We took a risk in [including] balconies. Having places where you could step outside is critical now. But . . . even if our existing buildings had a balcony on the quarantine and isolation floor where students could go out just to get some fresh air and some sunshine without having to go through the rest of the building that's a big plus.”
In the end, with online classes, decreased in-person campus activity, and general social distancing because of the pandemic, students are spending more time than ever in their residence halls. The quality of the indoor environment has quickly become foundational to the quality of on-campus student life, which makes it all the more important to maximize the performance of basic building functions such as lighting and acoustics. During the pandemic, the connection between student well-being and their access to natural light is being made more evident. As Robinette explains, “Some of our students have been isolated in our existing halls, on the lower floors that do not get sunlight. It has become a major issue [with some] of these students wanting to move. In some cases we have had to make the difficult decision to say no, which has led students to actually go home rather than stay in the residence hall. I thought that was pretty powerful.”
In addition, throughout the pandemic, improving the indoor environment has largely centered around investing in sanitation. It is comforting to users and administrators alike to know that surfaces are clean and free from potential contaminants. Frequent cleaning – as well as publicizing such efforts – also sends a message that an institution is taking health and sanitation seriously. While COVID-19 is primarily transmitted through the air, frequent cleaning and disinfecting further minimizes the low risk of surface transfer, according to the CDC. Although antimicrobial materials carry their own risks and are not recommended, selecting finishes and materials for cleanability will prepare institutions for enhanced cleaning regimens in the future, and expanded access to sinks and hand sanitizer stations will increase opportunities for handwashing. Given that COVID-19 is primarily an airborne disease and the risk of surface transfer is known to be very low, each institution should be realistic about the value of investing in strategies to minimize physical contact with material surfaces. For COVID-19, the value lies in the perception of safety. However, low-cost touchless strategies – like foot openers at bathroom doors or bottle-filling stations at water fountains – could help with general sanitation and future pandemics.
There is no question that the COVID-19 pandemic will change the way everyone thinks about campus housing, not the least of which will be the students and their families. While the world remains in pandemic mode, the public is paying careful attention to how colleges and universities are protecting health and safety. They are watching COVID dashboards carefully and are eager to learn in detail about strategies implemented to protect students. Not only will changes need to be made to improve the halls, but these changes must be made transparently. As Robinette points out, “I would say the communication part's really important . . . and we think there is a potential out there to work hand in hand with student groups and others to really show that we're really being thoughtful about how we're implementing ventilation strategies in a building and getting the message out.”
In addition to establishing priorities for health and well-being in building design and performance, rating systems like WELL and Fitwel hold design and owner teams accountable for achieving their claims and offer a chance to communicate achievements in this realm. Like LEED, these programs evolve over time, raising the bar and improving the standards for supporting occupant health. Although the COVID pandemic will pass – hopefully in the near future – the need to understand and improve student health and well-being will only continue to grow.
Frances Watson Langowski is a senior associate with VMDO Architects. She is actively involved in residence life organizations at the state, regional, and national levels and often writes and presents for ACUHO-I. She is the 2019 recipient of the association's S. Earl Thompson Award. Cody Solberg is a designer for VMDO Architects with experience in mixed-use commercial projects, interior architecture, and space planning.
