Or miss an important opportunity (and expose yourself to liability)
In the new year, building owners will continue to face a daunting task: incentivize (and enforce) tenant behavior that complies with regulatory and other guidance regarding viral transmission. As we continue to develop the pathways back to commercial office spaces (in whatever capacity that looks like), there will be many challenges. In addition to design challenges, owners and managers will need to find creative ways to ensure tenants comply with expected behavior, or face significant liability, potential fines and a host of other issues.
During this challenging time, creative building owners can look to other industries, particularly those that have historically been highly-regulated — like airlines — for guidance. These industries have been developing strategies for engagement and compliance for decades.
Alaska Airlines recently released an excellent example of the right way to manage these issues. In the promotional video below, Alaska does the following:
Uses a catchy song and bright visuals to get — and hold — your attention
Clearly explains necessary information (verbally and reinforced with written text)
Includes examples of employees modeling expected behavior (wearing masks, six feet apart)
Alaska Airlines Safety Dance video, https://youtu.be/b9w_paUjzKs
For building owners and operators, there are two additional points worth noting.
Intersection with sustainability
First, while building systems and protocols that address viral transmission are relatively new (at least at this level), sustainable certification frameworks and protocols have a more established place in the market.
While we continue to implement safety protocols as we reimagine the workplace in 2021, we can — and should — encourage related strategies that foster sustainable, healthy spaces long term, and employ strategies that encourage tenants to support sustainable objectives.
Why is this opportunity so critical? Because the sustainability community has historically struggled with negative framing and engagement —the messaging almost always contains a theme of sacrifice or shame: give up comfort to be more sustainable; shame your peers for taking too many single-occupant trips.
The strategies employed in the video flip this script and instead make the desired behavior the preferred choice — sustainability practitioners take note and capture the opportunity to use these strategies to promote safety and sustainability.
Landfill and recycling containers at a grocery store in Portland, Oregon
In addition to the strategies highlighted in the video, there are at least three key ways to foster greater engagement with sustainable behavior:
Tie human-scale conduct to a larger cause — explain how individual conduct aggregates for a greater impact
If possible, leverage the power of storytelling — people engage with and have far better recall when information is shared in the form of a story
Transparently track data regarding performance — this helps identify new strategies (and necessary course-corrections) while inspiring larger goals
The importance of signage.
Second, it is important to specifically call out the importance of clear signage with respect to these issues. As demonstrated in the video, signage can be a powerful and cost-effective form of engagement and reinforcement of verbal instructions. Good signage explains the purpose of a directive and answers common questions.
For example, if you want (or need) your tenants to place certain types of waste in certain bins, use clear signage, and even examples (as demonstrated below), to help them make the correct choice. This type of signage is also a form of risk management, if, for example, there is a potential for fines as a result of contaminated recycling streams.
Signs are so important that certification programs like the Living Building Challenge require “interpretive signage that teaches visitors and occupants about the project.”¹
Living Building Challenge signage at a PCC store in Seattle, Washington
This new year will continue to force building owners and operators to face an evolving array of issues. In addition to the strategies above, I highly encourage building owners and managers to carefully consider both sustainable objectives and necessary signage as part of their tenant engagement, and overall risk management, plans.
[1] Core Imperative 20, Education and Inspiration, https://living-future.org/lbc/
Then, there are examples of confusing signage that could be done better. For example, these “updated” trash and recycling cans that were distributed throughout the City of Seattle. The trash cans also have what is widely recognized as a “recycling” logo.